The bus rambled through the countryside, making its way towards the mountains in the distance. Its windows were filled with children talking and laughing. A brown car with a trailer attached led the yellow vehicle. The trailer was covered with a tarp, keeping the multitude of enormous bags intact. It had been perhaps two hours when the bus pulled up beside a looming four story building. No sooner had the bus come to a halt, we stood up, clamoring to be let out. However, Mr. Woolner entered, and instructed everyone to sit down. We reluctantly seated ourselves. Another man entered, bearded and wearing a flannel shirt. He introduced himself as Scott, and explained what to do. We were supposed to get out and go over to the field beside the lodge. We did as instructed, and a cloud of people made their way to the field. Once there, several more people introduced themselves, and explained a game we were going to play. After we had finished, we were told to go to their bunks, unpack, then get six things: a warm layer, rain gear, water, a day pack, hiking boots, and our sketchbooks. We grabbed our gear and went up to our rooms, thundering up the stairs. The first floor had a room to pack up, cubbies for shoes, and a room to play games and relax. The second floor had the dining room, fireplace, and kitchen, though nobody stopped to look. They all continued up the stairs, for the girl's and boy's floors were the third and fourth. I walked through the hallway, looking at the numbers on the doors. 200, 201, 202, 203. I was in room 203 with Sammi, Kiley, and Maddie. It was a small room, with two sets of bunk beds. As instructed, I unpacked, putting my gear in a drawer of the dresser and gathering the things they had told me to get. However, I didn't have any hiking boots. Though I had been hiking several times, I always had hiked in sneakers. I went downstairs with my stuff, walking out in flip-flops. I asked Mr. Woolner for hiking boots. He lent me some, and I went to join the group. Everyone was divided up into hiking groups. My educator, as they called the AMC guides, was a woman named Jen. She was of medium height, with red hair and blue eyes. My group members were Evan, Jake, Bryce, Gabe, Tayla and Cami. Tayla's dad and Bryce's parents were the chaperones from Hopkinton. We ate lunch underneath a tree in the field beside the lodge. I had an orange that had come from Georgia or Florida, maybe California. Jen told us we were hiking to Welton Falls. She appointed a navigator, someone who would direct the group, and a point, who led the group. Evan was navigator, Bryce was point. We started hiking, on the Manning Trail. Along the way, we sketched lots of plant life. The hike was long, but easy. The waterfall was a plunging cascade that ended in a pool of water. In the center of the water, was a large rock. Bryce took off his shoes and socks, and waded out. Gabe followed, rolling them up so they wouldn't get wet. The water was shallow, shallow enough that you could walk out and climb up onto the rock. And that's what almost everyone did. Even Jen, our educator waded out. The only ones that didn't were the other chaperones, because they had worn long pants that couldn't easily be rolled up, or they just didn't want to. The hike back went more quickly, as everyone wanted to get back, not observe nature. It was about 4:50 when they reached the lodge. Everyone had free time until dinner, which was at six, which was spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner, there was about 30 minutes before we were supposed to go outside for a night hike. My group and I learned about owls and night vision. We played a hearing game and a game about bats and mosquitos. Then it was back to the lodge a story from Mr. Woolner. After that, it was finally bedtime. Everyone trooped upstairs, and eventually fell asleep.
There were many examples of movement at Cardigan Mountain, such as how we rode from Hopkinton to Cardigan in the bus. The guides that led us were from all over the country, and had moved there. An orange I ate there came from somewhere with a warmer climate, like Florida, California, or Georgia. The gear that we brought had come from another place, and the materials that made them also came from somewhere else and gotten to Cardigan. Therefore, there were many examples of movement at Cardigan.
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We stopped before we had gone a hundred yard to sketch a birch tree. We were instructed to draw it normally, then zoomed in, then even more zoomed in.
Hobblebush was everywhere. The reddish colored plant was named for the stems' tendency to grow into the ground, creating a loop that would trip horses or people. Our educator said that she called it the toilet paper bush for obvious reasons.
