My Amazing Cardigan Trip

Day 3 at Mount Cardigan

Today was the third and final day at Cardigan. We woke up and got dressed like usual then packed our stuff up and put it in Mr. Woolners trailer outside. We had french toast for breakfast then weighed our ORT, finding out we had none. It was fun to sing the ORT song one last time see the amount of it decrease. We then went outside to the small region of the field and met with our groups. I realized that the lodge was a region at Cardigan and Cardigan was a region in New Hampshire. We did the shortest hike that day and that was the Nature trail. Unfortunately, Tj could not come and Toby was still sick, so we had Mr. Woolner to lead our group instead. Our first stop was at the apple trees right at the start of the trail and Mr. Woolner pointed out that they were two regions at Cardigan.

On the hike, we saw Hemlocks, ferns, Red maples, Oyster mushrooms, more Indian cucumbers, bridges, which Paige had a fun time walking on, and a small stream. We stopped a lot to talk and sketch, so our sketchbooks were pretty full. We also did some more transects and discovered more plants. After more hiking and sketching we got to an opening where people would sometimes camp in and did the mystery of the trees. We used compasses and walked around sketching trees. Some trees were pretty interesting like one we saw with really big pinecones, which was a type of maple that I forget the name of. We saw a small trail of rocks and followed back out into the clearing. Mr. Woolner told us to follow this really steep hill upwards and once we got to the top, we could have lunch. Of course all of us were starving so we did go up even though our legs were sore. There were lots of ferns on the way. Actually, all I could see were ferns.

I teared open my lunch as soon as we got to the top and devoured it. The group sat near an old wheel with a lever thing you could spin to make the wheel turn, and an old car as well. After drawing what was around us, we hiked back down the hill, which was better than climbing up it because we just slid down the whole time. We then saw a Fly Agaric mushroom which was apparently poisonous. It was a red-orange color and I thought it was pretty cool. We then hiked back to the lodge and that's when I realized that the trip was over. We got in a circle and talked about what we learned on the trip and just the overall experience in general. After all the groups returned, we got on the bus and waved goodbye to Andy, Fern and Gretchen. Then the bus took off and I remember casting one last look at the place. On the ride home, I sat with Anna and we talked about our costumes for Halloween. At one point the bus driver got mad and pulled the bus over and separated some kids, which is not really important but I still remembered it.

When we got back to the school, I saw that my mom was already there and I got my stuff and headed towards her. I said goodbye to my friends then headed home. The Cardigan trip was a very good experience and it is something I will not forget. I am glad that many more kids will go on this trip in the future.