7/17/09

Bushwhacking sucks.

Today that’s all we did, and my arms and face are totally cut up. Although we only went about four miles, it was so tiring having to fight through 6 ft tall willows for hours.

So our day started around 10am, and, not wanting to cook, we ate grape-nuts and milk for breakfast. Worst idea ever! It was so gross but I ate it anyway knowing I’ll need the energy. Not feeling too good (the milk makes me sick sometimes) we got packed up, had a quick search for Eric’s sunglasses around the campsite and were ready to go at our 12:30 departure time.

We fought through willows, followed caribou trails, and went through swamps. It sucked, but the whole time I kept telling myself that it wasn’t a long hike, so it would be over soon.

Our group made it to the meeting site around 3:30, and then set up camp, and started dinner. Also our instructors brought a huge tarp for our kitchen to go under which was awesome because it began to rain extremely hard as soon as we put up the tent.

For dinner, we got some beans from the instructors, and for being the first group to them we got moose sausage!! It was soooo good, and we put it in stir fry which consisted of rice, veggies, moose, beans, and soy sauce. It was really really tasty.

Right as we finished dinner, the rain let up a bit and the other group appeared saying they had gone to a different lake, made brownies, realized they were in the wrong place, and packed up to come to us. Everyone was happy to see each other again, and stories were shared. The instructors were particularly happy that everyone made it through the student expedition without getting hurt.

Next the instructors met with each student group to hear how our expeditions went, and then we had a big group meeting to wrap up the course and talk about future plans, like backpacking trips, college mountaineering trips, etc. Finally we crawled into our tents, and here I am.

I can’t believe I only have 16.5 hours before the bus picks us up! I am so excited, and can’t wait for HUB FOOD! Oh my gosh it’s like a little kid waiting for Christmas day. We’re schedule to get to Palmer around 8pm where I’ll get my first shower and probably eat an apple. Oh speaking of fruit, I forgot to mention that during our breaks today we found ripe blueberries and snow berries that were so good. They put us all in a better mood, and were fun to pick!

We have to be moving by 8 tomorrow, which means I need to be up at 6:30, so I’m gonna get to bed. Night! Can’t wait to call home tomorrow, even if it will be at midnight!

See you in civilization!
~Fia

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