Day 2: A Very Long Hike

The second day of cardigan was kicked off with a rousing breakfast of bacon and eggs. Everyone tried pretty hard to eat all of the food on their plate because of the constant reminder of ORT. They then announced that there was a new guide. Her name was Tabitha. The groups got smaller because of her taking a few people out of each group. Then there was about 10 of us. Even though we were all dressed, we still had to put the final touches on our hiking packs and put on our shoes. Once we were all ready, we then proceeded to go on the hike we had all come to do. Our guide decided to have us hike the mountain Fire screw. I started the hike wearing pants and a long sleeved shirt with a short sleeved shirt on top. As soon as we got a little way down the trail, I had to take of the long sleeved shirt. The weather was not necessarily that hot yet, but it was very humid.

On the mountain we learned a lot about all the regions we were passing through. First we went through the hardwood or deciduous layer. The majority of hike was on this region. We stopped a few times to sketch but mainly we told riddles and talked as we hiked. At that point the trails were not that steep or rough, but we still took water breaks often to keep up our energy. After we entered the boreal region the hike got harder. The trail was rock and the trees were farther apart. Out water breaks got closer together and a few people wanted to eat their lunches before we got to the top. The time after exiting the boreal zone felt like a very very long time. At this point we were in a false alpine zone. The rocks were bald, with the exception of a few trees, and steep. In the alpine zone there were a lot of cairns to mark the way.

The victory of peaking Firescrew was great but we ate in a hurry so we could sketch the view then move on to the next mountain, Cardigan. The view from Firescrew was very good. If you looked in the right direction, you could see many mountains. Over a few of the shorter mountains there were tons of huge white windmill. Autumn was evident in many of the trees in the lower regions.

My groups next move was to hike the saddle between the two mountains. It was not a very long hike and we found ourselves moving very fast on a mostly flat terrain. To our surprise and joy we were able to meet up at the top of the mountain with two of the three other groups. After we took a few photos we parted ways and my group follows the cairns down the mountain. The way down was not harder than the way up but it was definitely a different kind of exercise. We took the alexandria ski trail down. It was steep and had a lot of ferns all over it. We stopped to sketch a bridge once. Another group caught up to us there but we quickly lost them. Our group was the first to get back so we showered. After showering we were able to share tales of our adventures with other groups.

The last bang of our second day at cardigan was surely the campfire. We sang repeat songs and made rain with our hands and feet. Our groups also were able to present what our day was like in a skit form. One of the staff members told stories of how the world became what it is today. It was sprinkling a little bit of rain throughout the entire thing. This only added to the scene because it made the air slightly smoky. By the end of the night I was very tired. I was ready to go to bed so I could get more energy for the next day.