Well I did it. I'm back safe and sound and I even have all my fingers and toes.
Wednesday..
I woke up with all my bags packed and the clothes on the floor ready for the day. I did a quick check of all my things then was out the door to catch a big breakfast. Before I knew it the cars we packed and we were on our way. The car ride was relaxing as usual and it was nice to get a look at all the scenery on the way especially since everything was covered in snow! After a little under a hour and a little slipping and sliding in the car we arrived at a circular parking place rite next to an army base. We all got out of the buses and instantly almost everyone was cold. It was only going to get colder though. Before we headed out we had a little pep-talk and then we were off, all going in separate directions into the woods. Now you have to understand, there are no paths, its around 17 degrees and there is more than a 18inches of snow so this wasn't really a walk in the park. I took what I thought to be the easiest route, straight. However, that ended up with me confronting a river that was just big enough to not cross so, I turned around and walked into the army base, across a bridge and then back onto the other side of the border of the army base. I then probably walked for not even 2 minutes before starting to really feel the strain. My toes and nose were cold but the rest of my body was warm, hot actually. I was excited to do the trip but at the same time was exhausted from sinking in deep snow over and over again. I soon decided that I would pick the best and closest place I could to make camp. After about maybe 15 minutes of trekking through the snow I found a nice little place and started to pack the down the snow to make a firm "floor" that I could sleep on.
I think it was definitely different for everyone and definitely tested a lot of people mentally because I know it did for me. When I was out working and such I was moving around and not so much thinking about the fact that I was "alone" in the woods but as soon as I slipped into my sleeping bag (which is not as easy as you'd think it is) everything went silent. I'm not going to lie it was a very peaceful silence but at the same time I was little uneasy. I knew that nothing was going to happen but there was this little peace of me that would not stop thinking about all the little noises I was hearing and thinking there was something out to get me. The cold was definitely a major contributor to my mental status as well. It was just so cold that the only thing I could think about was getting warm so it was hard to think straight. I'm unbelievably thankful for my sleeping bag and mat because they kept me soooo warm through the entire night. I actually woke up with the bottom of the sleeping mat wet because I had melted the snow underneath it.
Thursday..
The plan was to head back to the parking lot when it started to get light outside. I was torn though. My sleeping bag was heated nice and toasty but I had to get out, put on clothes, and pack up. That was a bit chilly lemme tell you that. I packed up faster than I thought and the hike back to the parking lot was easy because my footsteps from yesterday had frozen slightly making a hard surface for me to walk back on if I followed my footsteps. I was back at camp under 10 minutes and was welcomed by our teacher, Arill, with some hot drinks. I was the first one back which was nice but I also had to wait for the others to come. It ended up being over and hour and a half before everyone was back and we were on our way again.
Over all it was a great experience and yes it was freezing but I liked being pushed. So would I do it again, yea I think I would and I think I will because I can definitely say it builds character faster than anything I have ever done and it shows in all the others that did it.
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