The smell of pine and dirt filled my nose. The sunshine gleaming above the tree branches that seemed to touch the sky. The hot, sunny weather was shielded against by the tree tops. The chirping and singing from the birds could be heard throughout the forest. The sound of the creek rushing and running nearby as if it was full of energy. People chatted and laughed while strolling down the trail was reminiscent of a crowd. Who knew that going hiking can be fun and peaceful? Suddenly, my mind was brought back to reality when my aunt uttered, “Hold on, this doesn’t seem right!”
“What?”, my mom asked with a bewildered look on her face. My aunt responded while pointing at the map, “According to this map, this is not what the trail is supposed
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I didn’t even know if I could make it all the way! I wasn’t an experienced hiker or an athlete like my aunts and uncles, but alas, I kept on going. Eventually, we all were longing for a drink of water and a snack. I rummaged my hands through the bright orange backpack that my family brought with us. I was searching everywhere in the backpack, but no food could be found! “There’s no snacks in the backpack!” I shouted. “Are you serious? Just see if there’s any water bottles then,” sighed my aunt. I looked back down at the backpack and… There was a water bottle! I took it out and my mom exclaimed ecstatically, “Great, can you pass around all the bottled water that we have?” I shook my head and smiled, feeling positive, and reached my hand down into the backpack to get another bottle, but another one could not be found! I stood up, and responded, “Um, there is only one water bottle, so we'll just have to share.” Everyone frowned. I handed the only bottle we had and passed it to my cousin, he raised the bottle high above his head and cheered, “Yes, we have wat-,” He stopped mid-sentence when his hand slipped on the wattle bottle. The bottle tumbled down the forest hill, bumping into the bushes and tree trunks along the way. The sound of rustling leaves slowly faded as the water bottle was a far distance. “Now we have no food or water!” I exclaimed in utter …show more content…
As we were hiking near the top of the mountain, we could see the vast amount of trees in the forest. It was indeed beautiful scenery, but we were much too tired to admire it. We had reached a point where there was a lot of gravel on the trail which was hard to get a grip on. Abruptly, my foot had stepped on an area with loose gravel and I plummeted toward the ground. My hands flew out in front of me to steady myself, the rough gravel touched my hands. My mind was racing with thoughts, I should’ve been more observant of where I was going! My mom rushed to me and made sure I was okay. I felt scared, but from then on I was more cautious of where I was
It was our fifth day in the Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico, the halfway point of the trek. I as the Crew Leader was responsible for the other 11 members of the crew, including 4 adults. I was in charge, and amazingly the adults rarely tried to take over, although they would strongly advise me what to do in some situations. Phil, with the exception of me, the oldest scout and the Chaplain for the trip, was my second. Together we dealt with problems of making sure everyone carried the right amount of stuff in their pack to who had to cook and cleanup each day. The trip had gone well so far, no injuries, and the worst problem had been a faulty backpack. As I walked I thought about the upcoming campsite. Supposedly this one had running water from a solar powered pump—so had the last night’s site but the tank was too low to use for anything but cooking because the of how cloudy it had been of late. But today was bright and shinny, and hot, so I didn’t think there would be a problem.
“Help, we have no food and we need water!” screamed people. “Take us out from here!”
My sweat soaked shirt was clinging to my throbbing sunburn, and the salty droplets scalded my tender skin. “I need this water,” I reminded myself when my head started to fill with terrifying thoughts of me passing out on this ledge. I had never been so relieved to see this glistening, blissful water. As inviting as the water looked, the heat wasn't the only thing making my head spin anymore. Not only was the drop a horrifying thought, but I could see the rocks through the surface of the water and couldn't push aside the repeating notion of my body bouncing off them when I hit the bottom. I needed to make the decision to jump, and fast. Standing at the top of the cliff, it was as if I could reach out and poke the searing sun. Sweat dripped from my forehead, down my nose, and on its way to my dry, cracked lips which I licked to find a salty droplet. My shirt, soaked with perspiration, was now on the ground as I debated my
After three weeks of waiting for the grass to grow, it finally sprouted up and we started our journey for Oregon. After the first towns in the beginning, The people guiding me began to throw materials out of the back of the wagon. That's when I noticed that their was all sorts of stuff scattering the trail. That night, my guiders unloaded a pile of assorted materials. In the morning, not to my surprise the wagon was lighter and easier to move. The journy was very dry for the next few weeks it was very dry, except when we hit these little towns. We would stop for no more than a day to stock up on energy, then keep on walking.
Time drugged along as the weight of a forty-pound pack full of food and water dug into to my bony shoulders. My pack seemed to be getting heaver as the day went on. My shoulders pulsed with pain from the thinly padded straps that connected to my pack. Four hours of this pain was all I could handle. I decided that this was enough I needed to stop. I shouted to Eric that I needed to take a break. He quickly turned around and said it was okay if we stopped. Because it was close to lunch everyone agreed and we all set down to eat lunch. Each one of us was caring five days worth of food for our trek. Every meal was neatly packed in a clear plastic bag and labeled for when it should be eaten. I opened up a package of peanut butter crackers from my lunch package and stared into the open field we had stopped in.
I woke up to the sound of rain, pouring against the cold, mushy earth. Instinctively, I reached for my rucksack to pull out my canteen and stumbled through the thick foliage in hopes of finding a fair sized leaf where I can funnel the fresh rainwater into it. Our squad has not seen any sort of water, fresh or murky, in days. Squatting, I gently fixated the tip of the leaf into my canteen, and watch as the rainwater gushed in, quickly filling it up to the brim. Picking up the canteen, I tilt my head back and took a large gulp.
I almost fell off a cliff on the side of a mountain. I was in Pitkin, Colorado, on a camping trip during the summer of 2009. The trees were green, the air was fresh so were the lakes, rivers, and ponds were stocked with fish and wildlife was everywhere. Usually, on these camping trips, I would be accompanied by a large number of people. However, this time, it was just my parents, my three brothers, and my two sisters. I was almost 12 years old at the time and having three older brothers made me very competitive. Naturally, when my family decided to climb one of the mountain’s which were around us, I wanted to be the first one to reach its peak.
While my family all took a break I decided to go on one more trail before lunch. My pertinacious cousins believed I was not prepared for the expert trail. “ This is my last injunction I’m giving you to abstain from the expert trails”, my cousin
The grills, too, were closed to prevent escape. Air entered only through the cracks. So we travelled for 24 hours, without food or water. We were hungry and thirsty. But the desire and hope to see our families made us forget everything else.”
By 4 PM we had conquered most of the peaks. As we were climbing what we thought was our sixth peak, Big Red, a storm struck. It was a cold driving rain that froze us as we struggled up the mountain. We reached the top jubilant, but exhausted. As the crew tried to get a bearing I came to the slow realization that we were not on Big Red, but another peak. We had two peaks to climb, and in freezing rain! With no options, we hiked on.
In October of 2011, my life changed forever and would never be the same. The day started off just like any other fall day, except there was excitement in the air for what was to come later that night. Halloween was just around the corner and the time was here for me to finally get to join my sister and her friends for their Halloween tradition. I was nervous to the point of butterflies in my stomach, and I could not hold still. My entire body was alive with part excitement and part fear. I had no idea what to expect, but what happened was beyond anything I could ever have imagined. We were going on a haunted trail.
With stress on my mind and a cookie in my hand, I headed towards the wooded area behind her home. At the beginning of the trail, there was an old rotting tire swing barely hanging onto a low-hanging branch. The extensive amount of muddy puddles and the surrounding damp grass made me hesitant to follow through with my grandmother’s suggestion; the mountain of homework that waited for me back at home convinced me to continue. Trees towered over me, adding to the existing weight of stress that sat upon my shoulders, as I carefully maneuvered around the biggest puddles, beginning to become frustrated. Today was a terrible day to go for a walk, so why would my grandmother suggest this? Shaking my head in frustration, I pushed forward. The trail was slightly overgrown. Sharp weeds stabbed my sides every few steps, and I nearly tripped over a fallen tree branch. As the creek barely came into view, I could feel the humidity making my hair curly and stick to the sides of my face. After stopping to roll up the ends of my worn blue jeans, I neared the end of the trail. Bright sunlight peeked through the branches and reflected off the water. The sun must have come out from behind a cloud, seeing as it now blinded me as I neared the water. A few minutes passed by before I could clearly see
Her spry, Timberland-clad foot planted itself upon a jagged boulder, motionless, until her calf muscles tightened and catapulted her small frame into the next stride. Then Sara's dance continued, her feet playing effortlessly with the difficult terrain. As her foot lifted from the ground, compressed mint-colored lichen would spring back into position, only to be crushed by my immense boot, struggling to step where hers had been. My eyes fixated on the forest floor, as fallen trees, swollen roots, and unsteady rocks posed constant threats for my exhausted body. Without glancing up I knew what was ahead: the same dense, impenetrable green that had surrounded us for hours. My throat prickled with unfathomable thirst, as my long-empty Nalgene bottle slapped mockingly at my side. Gnarled branches snared at my clothes and tore at my hair, and I blindly hurled myself after Sara. The portage had become a battle, and the ominously darkening sky raised the potential for casualties. Gritting my teeth with gumption, I refused to stop; I would march on until I could no longer stand.
We hiked till five and camped beside a tranquil spring in a small, grassy clearing in the trees just off the trail. Because it was our first day back on the trail, we were flush for food, including perishables like cheese and bread that had to be eaten before they went off or were shaken to bits in our packs, so we rather gorged ourselves, then sat around smoking and chatting idly until persistent and numerous midgelike creatures (no-see-ums, as they are universally known along the trail) drove us into our tents. It was perfect sleeping weather, cool enough to need a bag but warm enough that you could sleep in your underwear, and I was looking forward to a long night's snooze--indeed was enjoying a long night's snooze--when, at some indeterminate dark hour, there was a sound nearby that made my eyes
I turned off the car and took a deep breath. Looking slowly up into the pink sky, I began to watch the golden sun go to sleep. The beach seemed deserted, quiet, but peaceful. I opened my door and put my feet out on the soft sand. I started taking my shoes off, then my socks. I threw them in the passenger seat, and then shut the door. I looked out over horizon of the lake and started walking towards the still water. With each step I took, I could feel the warm sand crunch between my toes. Then suddenly, a sharp rock, but not sharp enough to break the skin.