We started off day three just like the first two days, by getting on the bus, and riding it to Cardigan. Once we got to Cardigan we got off the bus and met by the lodge, and then we split into our hiking groups. Today, our group played a game where we stood in a circle, and used our hands to whack a soccer ball through each other's legs, but while we played, it rained. We decided to do a sketch in the shelter of the lodge, where a butterfly hung from one of the overhang's beams. The rain still hadn't let up when we started the nature loop. At the beginning of the nature loop we crossed a short bridge over the flooded stream, which in some places, looked more like a small river. There were occasionally boards slick with water that we would walk over, and sometimes slide. Because this area gets heavy rain sometimes, people create boards to walk on that go over the mud. They also create bridges to cross the stream, but bigger incase of flooding, and both of these are examples of
human/enviorment interaction , as well as us stopping for sketches less, and our sketches being worse, due to the rain. We saw several mushrooms as we walked, but we didn't stop to sketch until we got a good spot to view the water. I missed a chance to sketch a frog, as it had only been pointed out to me after the sketch. It wasn't just frogs we saw though, we also saw several salamanders, as well as a red eft later in the day. We then sketched some hemlock needles or cones as we heard the story of the hemlock, and after, tried to identify some. We saw a green mushroom, some lion's mane, and didn't do any more sketches until lunch. During lunch the rain took a break, and I was able to eat my chicken caesar wrap without getting soaked through. We dined on the shores of a pond near the AMC lodge, did some leaf sketches, and wondered about the strange, wormlike creatures that inhabited the pond, and the spiky beech nuts.By then, it was time for a surprise, we trekked to one of the nearby campsites, before hiking up the steep hill that loomed over it. The vegetation on the ski hill is starting to grow back, not having to worry anymore because the ski hill is no longer open. At the top, we were greeted with the surprise; an old, rusty car, falling apart, it's pale blue paint fading and peeling away. We were also greeted with a rusty old contraption that used to pull skiers up to the top of the hill, which used to be a ski area. We then made our way down the hill, back towards the campsite, and we were almost there, when we saw a giant anthill, which luckily didn't have many ants on it.
After that we made our way back to the lodge, and waited a little bit for the buses to come, and in that time we returned our whistles, and said goodbye to our guide. All too soon it was time to leave, the buses had come, and it was time to return to school, and leave Cardigan behind. We said our final goodbyes as the bus began to drive away from the lodge, bumping up and down on the dirt road, the AMC lodge growing smaller, and smaller behind us, until finally, we went around a corner, and it disappeared from our view.
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