Day 2 at the Mountains

September 28-30

By: Naomi R.

Yellow Group D2B3

On day 2, all of us kids were woken up fairly early. I don't know about everyone else, but I could've used another hour or so of sleep. Luckily, we didn't have to change just yet, we were allowed to go downstairs in our jim-jams for the time being. Before breakfast was served, there was hot cocoa available- which of course I burnt my tongue on. Breakfast that day was muffins, which were delicious, bacon, and a foul tasting melon- was it even melon? Anyway, my hiking group had setup duty for breakfast, so I got to set the tables and lay out food. Shortly after the setup, we all got to stuff our faces with food. Then a different hiking group got stuck with clean up duty, while the rest of the kids -pause for dramatic effect- had to go change and get ready for the day.

After getting ready to go hiking we went back downstairs to make our lunches, which were sandwiches. I had the brilliant idea to pack all of the sandwich ingredients in separate bags and assemble the sandwich on the mountain. So that's what I did. After packing our lunches in classic brown paper bags, we take our stuff and break off into our hiking groups to get ready for the hike of a lifetime. We start off on our merry way, walking at a steady pace. We saw a lot of really cool places while hiking, like Welton Falls , which was a waterfall stuck between boulders, and there was a path that led to a little spot for viewing beneath a hanging rock. The path had some very sketchy looking metal railings that were in no way able to do their jobs as railings. These railing are an example of human environment interaction where the humans change the environment by adding railings. We also saw these really neat cellar hole thingies that were large, square- like indents in the ground, surrounded by rock walls. Sometimes, we came across narrow bridges made of logs. There was no water under them, so I'm not really sure why they were there.

We had several break points, seeing as everyone was exhausted. A lot of the stopping points were very beautiful, they had amazing scenery. I took about a million pictures of the mountains in the distance, I just couldn't help it. I was very proud of myself for actually remembering to bring the camera. Our hiking instructor had a surprise waiting for us- food! She bought trail mix and granola bars that were really good, but we all came prepared with water.

There was also a lot of really cool plants and vegetation, like a mushroom growing on the side of a tree that looked like a brain and A LOT of moss. The moss was light green, dark green, and even white! We took breaks to sketch or just talk about many different kinds of trees. There were also several occasions where we had to take a pee break in the woods. That turned us all into men. There were a lot of steep, wet, slippery slopes we had to climb up, but those parts were more like crawling. That is the part where the environment changed the humans; some of us slipped and got hurt. I honestly did not think I had it in me to make the hike up to the summit, but when we got close, we knew it. It was steeper with a lot of flat, smooth rock all around us, and much less trees and dirt than before. And at last, we made it to the summit.

The summit was absolutely gorgeous. It was a vast stretch of smooth, flat rock. Well, not entirely flat. There were some little hills. Anyways, there was a large fire tower at the very, very top, which was mostly white and appeared to be attached to the mountain with a series of cables. This is an example of humans changing the environment by building a firetower. Close by was an odd little puddle of water. We could see clouds and mountains in the distance. After taking a good amount of pictures, including a Summit Selfie we sat down to eat lunch (finally!). I had a new appreciation for nature. That is an example of human environment interaction where the environment changes the humans. The trails, the log bridges and the rusted out car we see on day three are examples of human environment interaction where the human changes the environment. I assembled my sandwich from the million bags I had brought and proceeded to eat. I looked around at everyone else's squished, soggy sandwiches and felt kind of bad, looking back at my perfect, freshly assembled sandwich. But there was no time to waste. That turkey, cheese and mustard sandwich was calling my name. Just as I was about to eat my delicious sandwich, I realized I was freezing cold. Seriously!? So I grab my rain jacket out of my bag, bundle up, and then eat my sandwich. Then I ate the granola bar, and last but not least the cookie.

The summit was incredibly cold. After a while, I have to put on my gloves. But there is a dilemma when it is time to sketch in the sketchbooks. My fingers are numb, but I need to do the sketch. Luckily, there is a spot below us where the rock dips in a bit, and it is much warmer down there. After eating and completing our sketches and well-earned rest, we pack up and get moving again. I stop to take endless pictures on the way back, because gosh those mountains are beautiful. Not only did I take pictures on Cardigan, but the 4 other mountain we made it to the summit of. These mountains included South Peak, Rimrock, Firescrew, and Orange.

The hike was so long and tiring, all of my energy was nearly gone by the time were on the trail back to the lodge. We hit the summit of 4 mountains, it was 10 miles, and it took us 7.5 hours. There was only a mile or so left to go, at which point the vegetation got thicker once more, there was a lot of moss and roots on the damp dirt trails. I wanted so badly to give up, but there was a little voice in my head. That voice said: You will not die on this trail! You must live to brag about it! So when the miraculous sight of the lodge appeared,I went inside, up to my bunk room, and did just that.

Of course I took a nice hot shower after that, and i changed into my jim- jams and proceeded downstairs once more to hang with my friends. Did I mention that I love my friends? I was so glad to sit on the couch and just relax. It felt so good. Then we had dinner, which was lasagna , and dessert, which was ice cream. And Kody made the wise decision to smear his all over his face. Then, just like the night before, we all crammed into the main living room section and listened to Mr. Woolner's story time. He told us a story about birds. But then came bedtime, which was the same story as last night: giggling gossiping, and staying up late into the wee hours of the morning. And that was day 2.