The WOFOYO Podcast
The WOFOYO Podcast
C-Dub's Yosemite Journey Part 1: Sweat Out Your Problems: Nature's Therapy
C-Dub shares his transformative journey to Yosemite National Park, where he hiked 43.6 miles and experienced profound spiritual lessons while connecting with family legacy and God's presence.
• Walking 23 miles in a single day—almost double his previous record—proved what's possible when trusting God
• Unmistakable signs of God's presence included rain in drought-stricken California and a rainbow over Half Dome
• The "Holy Ghost Matrix" provides reassurance that we're exactly where God wants us to be
• Small irritations like gnats and blisters teach spiritual lessons about addressing problems rather than avoiding them
• Mental strength on the trail parallels spiritual strength needed for life's journey
• "It's the small foxes that spoil the vine"—minor problems can derail major spiritual victories
• Sometimes conventional wisdom (like "don't pop blisters") needs challenging when you understand the underlying principles
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Hey everybody, welcome to another edition of the Wofo Yo podcast. With C-Dub and Bones, we're going to hang loose on this episode. Talk about some lessons learned. This past week has been awesome. I have started to go whenever I take my vacations and stuff. There was something about national parks and hitting that last year, or even just getting out in the wilderness you know that's a big thing with what we talk about and so number one, tied with going to the Holy Land on my bucket list for vacations for a variety of reasons, has been Yosemite National Park and I got to go and prayed about some things getting into hiking and especially being well over 50 pounds down from three years ago and being able to do stuff that I couldn't do just because I'd gotten sedentary. To be quite honest, it gave me some goals, had some thoughts on that, but absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 1:A little family history. I had an uncle who was, you know, my dad, was my dad. Nobody replaced my dad, but I had an uncle, uncle Dave, and he was a very strong influence in my life and in some ways I consider that, given career choices and different things like that, that I probably have imitated him just a little bit more than my pops, and with all due respect to my pops because he's great, and with all due respect to my pops because he's great. So the story is all the uncles on my mom's side during Vietnam were in the Navy. Had two that were nuclear engineers on subs. Had another one was on, I thought, like a destroyer or something. Uncle Dave was on an aircraft carrier and got to see some action and Nam said just because you was on an aircraft carrier, so they fly you in on a Huey to drop stuff off and he's like man. They jumped down, had an RPG, shot the Huey out. I said so just that He'd also talk about different things.
Speaker 1:You'd see the dangers of being on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Also had pretty comical high-pitched hearing loss. He had this alarm on his watch would go off. He could never hear it just from being on the deck. He said those cables that you see, you watch Top Gun and stuff when they land, he said if them cables ever broke, he said it kills people. He said he had a guy he knew got snapped in half by one of those cables that broke, you know when the plane was landed.
Speaker 1:So strong influence. Long story short, he gets out of the Navy. He was a man of many, many facets. He was an artist, he had a keen eye. He was getting ready to. He was going to be a national park ranger was his goal before he ended up going into getting drafted, was going to SIU and taking forestry classes and all this stuff. So love nature, one of the big reasons I love nature, but my dad was also a strong influence on that. Anyway, he gets out.
Speaker 1:He had bought a Nikon camera over in Tokyo Back when you couldn't get Nikon cameras very easily in America. It had some big telephoto lenses. He had also spent some time up in Alaska and had bought a bunch of Eddie Bauer gear, a vast majority of which still works as he's getting out of the Navy. That's like 76, 77. And so I remember we had this picture of El Capitan hanging up at our house. Well, there were some stories behind that and my aunt that was real, real, close to my mom she had a picture of Half Dome. That was real, real, close to my mom. She had a picture of Half Dome.
Speaker 1:And so we found out that what he had done once he got out of the Navy, got in the vehicle, had an old, either a Jimmy I think it was an old GMC Jimmy first SUV I'd ever seen, you know growing up. And anyway he went on a photo safari in several of the national parks, hit Grand Teton and Yellowstone last year because he had taken some awesome photos from that. But his iconic photos were from Yosemite and that was just a strong influence. He had paid for his trip to Yosemite. I think he also hit Grand Canyon, but he as Uncle Dave, he had a picture of El Cap that basically paid for his trip. So he had this huge telephoto lens and he's out there photographing El Capitan. Well, they have two climbers that got stuck $10 a piece to look through that and he would take the picture and basically did like a mail-order thing.
Speaker 1:Once he got back to my grandma's house over in Cairo and he learned later was a tape decorator and all this stuff and a baker and a man of many skills, later ended up working for the Bureau of Prisons. So I don't know why. It felt kind of like a legacy thing. You know, there was this draw to see this Yosemite, see this Yosemite, and I remember him buying some VHS tapes on the national parks and just the beauty of that particular park was phenomenal. So I spent a whole weekend there and wanted to do some hikes, wanted to push some limits and did that, but all in all, the main goal, having said all that, was to get alone with the Lord and I got with the Lord. One of the drawbacks of a place that beautiful it's hard to get alone with the Lord, being quite honest. But all in all I saw some things that I've never seen before.
Speaker 1:As great as his photographs were. I recreated the two iconic ones, have some more. I know you got to see a few of them Sunrise from the tunnel view coming over Half Dome and the rays shooting through that and and going to el capitan. Those some of the photos were great. But I did a lot of walking man every now and then you just got to walk some stuff out right and by day one I think I'd walked it out, ran into the first day of hiking.
Speaker 1:It wasn't my first day there. I kind of got there and it was just enough to get settled in, get acquainted with everything. But the Lord let me know that's where I was supposed to be, even though it was hard to get alone at times. He, let me know, immediately Flew into Fresno first time I've flown since 97, if my memory is correct and if that ain't correct then it's 98. So it's been a minute Been just under 30 years and flew into Fresno. As soon as I pick up the rental car, there's a white dove flies across the street as I'm pulling out. Okay, lord.
Speaker 1:Also, it had been very, very dry over there. They had some. The vineyards and the groves, you could see brown splotches because everything was so dry. You could see brown splotches because everything was so dry. There were signs about the governor on the wineries and the orchards and stuff. Hey, newsom, stop dumping our water. So I don't know exactly what the politics are of that, but it was just something that stood out because you think of the valley, you think of the Valley and that's our one of our number one produce producing places in the country. They, even when you land, they say welcome to Fresno, the agricultural capital of America. At one time one of the produce capitals was Villa Ridge, illinois, and they switched from a railroad to trucks.
Speaker 1:So anyway, just a little tidbit for you Get in there and I fly, drive this, drive and boy, you're going to do some driving going to that place. It's 89 miles Takes two and a half hours. It's 89 miles, takes two and a half hours because once you get about two towns away from the park and once you're in the park you're slowing down to about 45 to 35 or 20 and it is curvy and you're on mountains and you're going down and you're going up and you're going around. Again, the Lord, when I tell you all that Holy Ghost Matrix is real, holy Ghost Matrix is real, I show up and as soon as I show up to check in, it starts raining. Okay Lord, okay lord, you know, and, and not bragging on me, but I'm just saying the lord, when the lord lets you know that he has you. Sometimes it's almost like the lord saying if you have me with you, you're bringing the rain wherever it's needed. You know, and I again not to make me, I think it's needed, you know, and I again not to make me. I think that's available for every believer. If you're walking with the Lord, you can bring some rain into the dry places.
Speaker 1:And got checked in, stayed at a place called Curry Village. They are framed tents, wooden floor. Step up you got a bare box. They don't have fridges. The only electricity is a light bulb going to this. Basically a double bed, fairly comfortable, especially when you wear yourself out. But you're in the midst of Redwoods immediately.
Speaker 1:But I go in and hadn't really eaten anything all day, had some coffee and they have this pizzeria you can order pizza. So I ordered me some pizza and as soon as it starts raining again and they have a rainbow forms over half dome. All right, lord, see what you're saying. You got me all right. You know it was, uh, it was astounding beauty. That definitely was reassuring. And then you had to deal with the challenges that come, because then it was time to push. Oh, yeah, the, the lord, let me know. Hey, you're gonna push yourself, it's gonna be worth it. And, uh, I got you. There's something when you know about the lord, has you, man? It gives you some confidence that, although you might be coming up on some trials, you already know the outcome. You might not know it exactly, but you know that you're winning it's nice to have those reassurances.
Speaker 2:Oh man, it's easy to have the sensation of being lost when you're in the wilderness, the spiritual wilderness. It's easy to have that sensation of being alone, being by yourself and whatnot. And in a lot of ways you are. A lot of times we say we're alone, we call ourselves being alone and that's because the enemy has tricked us into not including the Lord in those things. If you think about it even just the verbiage that we use in our daily speak we oftentimes don't include God in the way that we talk. We don't include him in the way that we talk. We don't include him in the way that we think. It kind of becomes an afterthought, a last resort.
Speaker 2:I think for me anyway, that adds to that feeling of being alone. So it's really, really nice when you see those signs of reassurance, Because it kind of snaps you back into perspectives and brings you back and says, Okay, I'm not alone, I'm not lost, I am squarely in the palm of your hand, I am right where you say I need to be. I am all those things that you promised and you are all the things that you promised to be all those things, Because life will wear you down. It is a slow grind, for sure.
Speaker 1:I think as much as him. Letting me know, hey, you're not alone, understanding that I was in the right place at the right time, smack in the middle of his will, was one of the most reassuring feelings I've had in a long time. Anytime that, anytime that comes along and you and I have both talked about this you, you get to walking with the Lord and you're just following the last set of coordinates it's land nav, you know, and sometimes you got to stop and do the map check, get in the word, do some praying, make sure you're on the right track. And then there's times where the Lord, like this, he just lets you know hey, you're, you're, you're where you're supposed to be. It also let me know this that you know granted the family history and all that other stuff, there was something in me that felt drawn and he was letting me know that that wasn't selfish, that he wanted to get me alone in that area, that he put that desire there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's a very good point, because a lot of folks could say that well, you don't have to go all the way to Samity National Park to get alone with God. You don't have to go all the way to wherever you think you need to go to get those reassurances from the Lord. And my answer is, yeah, you're right, you don't to something. If you feel drawn to a certain place, to go somewhere and do something, it may be the Lord pulling you there, it may be the Holy Spirit drawing you to that place. It's okay to ask and say, lord, is that you? It's not selfish in doing so. It's okay to ask the Lord, you got something for me there. What are we doing?
Speaker 1:Kept a little journal, little notebook, after every day. First thing in there it was like the Lord saying let's go on an adventure. Yeah, and this was as much as I say. You know, getting alone sometimes was a challenge because there was people everywhere. Man, we went on an adventure and the first day of actually hiking and stuff, I had four days of getting with it and, long story short, when I totaled up the hike, some of them were just short as half a mile. Some of them, you're about to find out, were considerably longer. But in the six hikes that I did, it was 43.6 miles and 6,136 feet elevation gain and I learned some lessons on these.
Speaker 1:I always learn lessons on these hikes, always learn lessons getting alone in nature, and then the Lord will start to speak to you. And that's kind of why we're sharing this. It's not just about CW's vacation but just when you get alone with the Lord and you start to pay attention and you get out of yourself, start to pay attention and you get out of yourself, he'll start to share some they're profound truths. Sometimes they're simple, that doesn't mean they're not profound, but I'm going to go on a hike I don't know where this this first day I know where I'm not going, and that's. I had this one hike that I saved till the day before I flew out and had some hikes. I was considering like Lord, talk about throwing a fleece. I was thinking about doing half dome or trying to do the half dome hike with the cables and all that and going up didn't bother me. But the idea of you know, trying to get down on that hike, get down the dome. I said Lord, if you you don't get down on that hike, get down the dome. I said Lord, if you don't want me to do this, just let it rain. I won't do it. First day it rained and it rained four out of the five days I was there. Also, it lets you know that sometimes you bring an abundance of rain and you know I'm not saying I was like Elijah commanding the rain or commanding it not to rain, but it's always good when the Lord lets you know. You bring me with you and I got what you need. And they have Pete's Coffee out there. I'm grabbing me some coffee because if you want to start your day with love, no better way than some liquid hate to give you some energy. Grab some Pete's Coffee. Ran into. A couple there from LA Met some super nice people. As far as the LA weirdness that everybody talks about and that stereotype, some of the most down-to-earth nice people I've met while I was there were from Los Angeles.
Speaker 1:Why don't you just get familiar with the valley? That's a good place to start A couple. They had been hiking and done it several times, and stuff. I said okay, and so there's this thing called the Valley Loop, and I just start walking it, and by the time I was done, I was able to recreate the photos that my uncle did Saw some black bear up close, a decent mule deer.
Speaker 1:Grand Tetons has so much more wildlife in it, though, and so did Yellowstone. You're going to see about four or five things over there in Yosemite. You're going to see about four or five things over there in Yosemite, but by the time it was all said and done, you got to see this three or four settings. It was either meadow or big rock formations or coniferous forest that you were going through, with something called the Merced River running right through that valley, and you understand immediately. You know just how special of a place it is and why people you know in the past were drawn to it.
Speaker 1:But by the time it's done and I took me a little 40 minute break because I was using this app called all trails. More about that later. They're not always accurate, but I've learned some lessons, you know for, from some previous hikes. Might've talked about one of them where I had heat exhaustion and all that Weather was beautiful, but by the time it's all said and done, I might have started in a place. That would have been more beneficial for me not to have started, but it also allowed me a 40-minute break and I got right back at it, changed my socks out and all that stuff and by the time it was done, I'd done, walked 23 miles. I done walked a lot of frustration, a lot of uncertainty, you know, and, to be quite honest, the furthest I've ever walked before was about 12, 12 and a half. So just let me know that you can do it.
Speaker 2:There's something very interesting, I think, and therapeutic about those long walks, those hikes, if you would. There's a movie out there called Wild and I think it has Reese Witherspoon. She is a troubled young lady, in and out of trouble, drug user, yada, yada, yada, and anyway in and out of bad relationships. And she decides to, out of the blue, just out of nowhere, decides to through-hike the Pacific Coast Trail to PCT and it changed her life. It brought her out of all the bad stuff that she was doing. It caused her to reassess a lot of things. It's not just a movie. This is actually based on actual events, so there's some precedent to it. What I'm getting at is there's some therapy in hiking and taking those long journeys, because it's not easy. No, it's not.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of boredom in walking 20 and 25 miles a day. There's a lot of boredom. You get to see a few minutes of beautiful scenery, the big grand shots, but most of it is just trudging on one foot after another and it can be very, very boring. So you have to occupy your mind, because your mind will wander on you. Your mind will tell you to quit. Your mind will tell you to quit. Your mind will tell you why are you here, man? You could be doing so much other stuff. The mind can be evil to you.
Speaker 2:I remember going to RIP, the Ranger Indoctrination Program. We had some SF guys in rip and they were dropping out just because you know a ranger instructor would walk in the patrol base in the middle of night. All right, who wants to quit coffee and donuts up the hill? Whoever quits, dude tabbed sf guys and screw this man. I got my tab, you know. Uh. So the mind can really really play games on you. So hiking, getting out there and it's not just the suffering through the boredom there's, uh. You have to plan, uh you know you have to be deliberate about what you're doing, especially if you're working. You know you're going to do a through hike or something longer and you have to decide I'm going to do 25 miles today, I'm going to do 25 miles today so that I can only do 19 tomorrow, and then, if I do 19 tomorrow, then I have to do 23 the next day. So it is a lot more than just going out there and wandering.
Speaker 1:Big inspiration. Just for perseverance. I thought about this guy. I have a guy used to work with and he just retired at the end of March named Barry, and he had actually worked my uncle for a few years over at the end of March. Named Barry and he had actually worked my uncle for a few years over at the penitentiary in Marion and double, triple dipping retirement. But the dude's a machine, yeah, and he started the first or second week in April and the Friday before I went out he just completed the Appalachian trail Humping it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But he said I got a lot of stuff. I need to walk out.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And and some of the stuff that he's seen, some of the frustrations of seeing how things can go. Yeah, yeah, no, I get it. There's something about, I think, the native Americans, without getting too mystical, something about sweating out your problems, right, something to that. I'll tell you this I got done. I got done. First thing I wanted to do was shower. You can't get plastic bottles over there in California.
Speaker 1:I drank Not only did I, I had to have drunk about four and a half to five liters of water, easy. Also drank about four cans 12 ounce cans of red Gatorade. Man, I was down them suckers like nobody's business. I tell you what I had more salt come out of me and was clinging to my face and all that stuff. And just what is that? And it's salt right on your fingernails. But I also figured out that you know you're doing this great thing. And then there was this back half of it. That was just miserable. That is awesome, is that? First I say back half, um, back. Third, that I did that was miserable because all of a sudden the gnats came out. Oh, yeah, and it's just. You know you're in the middle. It's just, you know you're in the middle of doing something. There's another lesson You're in the middle of doing something significant and if you're not careful, it's some itty-bitty bugs that are ruining your day, oh yeah, and just cause your mood to be pissy. Yep, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's another reason why the trail is so great. There's the planning, the logistics. It's just you. You learn to rely on yourself and the Lord. You know there's no one out there doing it for you. You got to put in the work and then, you're right, there's those, those little, those little things that that bites you in the butt so, so to speak, and those are the things that determine how you're going to react. Is it going to devastate you? Is it going to blow your mood? Is it going to make you turn back around and go back to the car?
Speaker 1:You know what's it going to do.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, so close. You know, man, there's so many mind games out on the trail. In the Army, you know, we call it being mentally strong. You've got to be mentally strong. So how does all this play in the big world, in the spiritual world? Well, you have to be mentally strong. You have to be spiritually strong Even here, day-to-day, week-to-week, as we're trudging through the spiritual realm. Um, because it is so easy to say and screw this and just lay down, um, the enemy will throw stuff at you. We talked, you know bible talks about the fiery arrows, the fiery darts put on the full armor of God and all that stuff. But it's those little things. And all those little things will add up to one big thing and it feels like a great big, crushing weight. But if we'd have dealt with them when we had the chance and cleared our mind and not let it eat at us, then it wouldn't become a great big thing.
Speaker 1:It's the small foxes that spoil the vine.
Speaker 1:Small foxes that spoil the vine. And let me tell you one other thing, and you're so right, it's these little things that start to get to you. And you're so right, it's these little things that start to get to you. And I thought I'd maybe had some rocks or some kind of debris, you know, from the wood or stuff that got down in my boots. And I've already started back out and I'm like man, I forgot to get something. I cleaned my boots out a couple different times to make sure and I got about five miles to go in this thing and I realize what this irritation is. It's a blister, blister, and you know, start to feel the the mushy thing from the fluid and all that stuff and I'm gone. Just Just what I needed. This is day one. So that that's a mental thing. But but I thought about.
Speaker 1:I thought about Moses in the middle of doing these great things, the super great thing bringing the Israelites from Egypt, from bondage, leading them to the promised land. And as as great as his experiences were, it was the rumblings of the people it was having to deal with, the little things that ultimately derailed him. There's a whole bunch of things that happen. You know the story about Moses striking the rock twice. You know that's between two other stories. The first one is Miriam dies, right. The second one is that Aaron turns over the priesthood to his son and immediately dies. In between those two things, moses is going to get a pass, right? No, you still got to perform up to standard. Always, remember you know no excuse, no excuse, no excuse, keep on.
Speaker 1:I said, oh, and this thing was lord, I believe you're enough to to see me through this, and so we finished it. But man that one and you talk about the games. Okay, now I have this blister about the size of a 50-cent piece right on the ball of my foot, and is this going to be? Am I going to be able to do all this other stuff that I thought I was going to do? That's where the mind games come in and the Lord's like I got you. Okay, lord, I trust you. So, even though you're not supposed to man, you, pop that blister and disinfect it.
Speaker 2:I got a story on that. When you get done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because they say you're not supposed to pop that blister. I just remember, oh, oh, gunny Hartman, pop that blister. I just remember old Gunny Hartman.
Speaker 2:Pop that blister. I'll tell you about blisters. I've seen my fair share, not only on my own feet but on my buddies' feet and stuff like that, and the medical protocol in the Army is to not pop them. That's what they tell you. Don't pop them. And the reason is to increase risk of infection. What you do, old Bones popped every single one of them First chance he got.
Speaker 2:I opened up my sewing kit and I would use an alcohol swab and clean a needle and I would lance it and lance it and then drain it and by doing that that was the fastest cure to any blister I'd ever had and I'd ever seen. I was only able to do that because I knew why they were saying don't pop it. It's not because popping it was some great evil where it was going to make it worse. They were just simply trying to keep you from getting an infection. Because if you just popped it and went on or stuck something dirty in it to pop it like a skill, craft, ballpoint, ink pen, then yeah, you have a bad day. But if you know the reason why you shouldn't be doing something, then you can adjust fire a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I definitely used disinfectant. I actually used and disinfected them to the little scissors on my leatherman just to cut a little thing in and man. That stuff shot out and it but made sure I could feel the antiseptic going in it and then I packed it with triple antibiotic ointment and had gauze over it, you know, to everything else, and we made sure that thing was treated the whole rest of the time.
Speaker 2:Now, when you do it like that, when you lance a blister like that, that skin, you pull all the liquid out and the skin goes back down on itself and it starts to heal and you don't lose that big flap of skin like you normally do. So now you've saved the skin and everything. But man, I've had so many people tell me, hey, don't pop it. Don't pop it Like man. Well, if you don't pop it it'll eventually burst itself, yeah, and by then it becomes one big dead flap of skin that has to be cut off. And then you have this large raw spot that you got to deal with.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely more painful, and I'm you know. The thing is I got thinking back about this. Is man? There's a lesson in that. Sometimes the best way to do it make sure you do it righteously, make sure you do it according to the word, make sure you do it with the power of the Holy ghost. But the best way to deal with the irritation is to deal with it. Yeah, you don't just let it fester.
Speaker 2:You just deal with it, you deal with it, you deal with it. And sometimes, when people are telling you not to do something or not to deal with something or not to do it this way, they don't know what you're talking about. Amen.
Speaker 1:You should forget it. Maybe you got to address it before you can get over it. Yeah, you know it's hard to. I think I might have said that recently it's hard to get over something you don't address.
Speaker 2:You need to forgive and forget. Well, hold on, I can forgive, but Jesus ain't said nothing about forgetting. Matter of fact, he don't forget, no, he's covered it. You'll find that out at the Great White Throne Judgment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hey, folks, thanks for listening. This discussion went long, so we're going to continue it on our next episode and continue talking about lessons learned from Time Out and Yosemite. You can always check us out at wofoyoorg or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or check us out on YouTube. Remember, folks, if you're going to grow, you've got to go for you. Get in the work for yourself.