So a few weeks ago I wasn’t allowed to shower, use a normal bathroom, I was only given one t shirt, and all I ate was oatmeal and dehydrated beans. I was in the wild for a week with a group of nine other kids who raided Moutnain Equipment Co-Op (Member since August 2009 haha) and here are some clippings from our journal that we took with us on the trip. It was my attempt to become more BC cultured to the extreme. Want to know how to hide your food from bears? I’m single and looking.

PS- Different people from the team recorded each journal entry, I’m only one of them.

Day 1: “Step One: Pack Camp. Step One b) contravene the laws of physics and get EVERYTHING into the bag. I thought that I was done after my sleeping bag and clothes but no.. amazingly (blessedly) we finally managed it and staggered off to breakfast with 20 pound kids on our back.”
“PS, last night, we were checking out constellations in the night sky, and Katie pointed up at something. At that exact moment a HUGE shinning and in all ways incredible and fantastic star streaked across the sky and left everybody in awe. That’s all!”

Day 2: “We started the day off with a hearty breakfast of DELICIOUS oatmeal with rehydrated apples. It was a HUGE hit ;). Thankfully, Peter saved the day (again) by eating the leftovers.”
“When we finally arrived here, at our campsite for the night, everyone was ready for a swim. We all jumped into the lake for a swim. We all jumped into the lake within minutes. It’s amazing what a dip in a cold lake can do for morale! Shortly after setting up camp, the other group (coming up the trail) found us. It was great to see them! If they can hike 16 km, we can too!!!”
“PS: Mike is loosing everything from shorts to sunglasses. This morning, he couldn’t find his shorts, so he wore his boxers over white underarmour. Kept us laughing for a solid 8 hours. ”

Day 3: “The once seemingly long impossible road in front of us has transformed into a seemingly… long impossible road. Today was the longest of our journey and by far the most challenging. The day got off to a rocking start when Justine ate 10 live snails. She seems to be still alive.”

“We didn’t take ANY wrong turns at the beginning because Matt would kill us if we did. I was trying to figure what character of the Lord of the Rings franchise I am on this journey. I want to be pippen. Peter is Legolas, and Sally is Gandalf.”

“I am enjoying the hiking aspect of the trip more and more. I think we’re all waiting for hamburgers to appear in front of us. Sometimes I imagine the other campers as meat products all the time. Ellie is right beside me and I wish she was a steak.”

“PS, I want cookies.
PPS, Erica is the lone “non-thunderer.”      I will fix this.”

Day 4: “Before we could even know what hit us– we had been sent into the wilderness for our solo. There were battles with slugs, mosquittoes and our deepest thoughts. After threeish hours we returned to camp for rice bean surprise and some noodle thing Mike actually liked. Not too cheesy.”

Day-I-don’t-even-know-what-day-it-is-but-it’s-the-last-day….day.: “Before we knew it, we made it to the final crossroads. Ellie and Peter were already gone before we could process thought and were running like awkward turtles towards the finish line. Before anyone could do anything else, we all started breaking out into joy and running towards the bridge. Could you tell that we had been in the park for days? Cars could soon be heard. The sunshine grew larger and soon we saw the other team waiting for us in the parking lot. I don’t know what they thought when they saw Mike in his signature white shirt, us chanting thunder, and hearing us say “Marco Virgillio Giancarlo” over and over again, but if I was them, I would of thought the woods turned us a little crazy too.”

Move Out Day: “The crazy folks that I know as my friends and I slept under the tarp last night and were soaked by rain. Peter used his ninja moved to save us from tarp floods, Justine wanted to thunder and everyone had to crowd together for warmth. Katie used a garbage bag on her head to fight off the water. Just as a side note, Marco Virgillio Giancarlo now works for the space government.“