Three Hearts: Base Camp and Banners

A relatively smooth trip to Tulsa. On the first leg to Dallas, I sat next to an enormous man wearing an enormous cowboy hat. Fortunately, on the second leg the seat next to me was empty.

My old friend Shelly picked me up from the airport in Tulsa. I haven’t seen her or her kids in years. Hung out with her and daughter Lulu at her house for a bit. Briefly spoke with her son Francis, who was once one of our altar servers at Holy Rosary.

Slept in a hotel last night, which allowed me to put my hiking kit in order. TSA definitely went through my duffel bag, no doubt because the camp food I had packed showed up as a dark blob on their scanner. They clearly had a heck of a time getting everything back into the duffel.

Shelly picked me up about 10 or so, and we started the long drive to the base camp. On the way, we stopped for lunch at something called the Amish cheese shop. Can heartily recommend!

We arrived at the monastery just after one, and I bid Shelly adieu as I boarded the bus for base camp. After another 45 minutes on windy rural roads, we arrived. I’m more or less immediately met up with Francis and his sisters and set up camp. This was basically done by about 2:30 PM. Our tents were so close together, we had to tie them to each other to support some of the fly lines.

Good Lord, was it hot out here!

Base camp is somewhere near the banks of the Illinois river near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. This is in the foothill of the Ozarks, and the terrain and tree cover reminds me very much of parts of the Camino in Spain, perhaps particularly of the section around San Juan de Ortega.

The base camp was enormous, covering probably several acres. There were hundreds of tents. We are divided up into groups, indicated by color. Within each colored cohort, there are several parish and scouting groups and assorted independents gathered together. Every group seems to have a banner!

The program for walking is apparently to stay with your group. There are U-Hauls here for sending ahead luggage. This is definitely a necessity, as there are many families here with tents far too large to be carried.

And goodness, it was hot. Not a cloud in the sky. I absolutely slathered myself in sunscreen, but I’m not sure it helped much.

The whole thing had a bit of a carnival atmosphere. Boys played catch, others folks wandered about looking for or meeting with old friends, and everywhere tents were rising.

The rest of the Copeland crew – or at least the ones walking the pilgrimage – showed up later in the afternoon, and we spent a while catching up.

Once the sun set over the hills, the temperatures started dropping rapidly.

Dinner for the three thousand was served at 6 PM. It consisted of chicken and vegetable soup with bread. And water, of course. There are pallets of water here. 

The logistics required to pull this entire thing off amaze me.

Date: 09 October 2025

Place: base camp, somewhere in Oklahoma 

Today’s Photos!