| Moondance Leadership log (2004-06-20 -> 2004-07-10)
Leaders: Margot Rubin, Ashley Knight
Students: Phillip Bracikowski, Sam England, Haley Hackendale, Kacy Holocomb, Dargan McMaster, Rachel Miller, Amy O'Neal, Sarah Riser, Jennifer Robichaux, John Shelton
These Moondancers prepare to take their trip to the next level as they make decisions that will sculpt their summer adventure and leave a lasting impression for years to come. Incredible tales of young leaders and exciting adventures coming soon!
BEACH BACKPACKING the OLYMPIC COAST
After arriving safely to the Seattle airport we jumped in our van and eventually arrived to our campsite at Sequim Bay. Our ride gave everyone time to get to know each other. Our next day was a prep day for our beach backpacking section and we all learned proper technique of packing our backpacks and rationing food before heading out. Rachel and Dargan were the first Leaders of the Day (LOD). They basically assumed the role to make sure we safely and efficiently got to our campsite that first night. It was weird to be backpacking in the forest and have the ocean breeze running through our greasy hair. We were happy to wake up with the whole crew there considering the high tides had nearly gotten us all wet! Amy, Kacy and Sarah were watching the seals eat breakfast at the same time they were watching our crew. After Jen finished her bag of gorp (good old raisins and peanuts, a staple for all backcountry travel!), she started to dig into everyone else’s bag. Our second day of climbing included a steep incline and muddy terrain. Amy fell in the mud and decided it was a new spa treatment. Haley had the most fun wrestling her human sized backpack, but she won. Phillip continuously found treasures on the beach along with interesting flowers. He also read the entire LNT (Leave No Trace) book. Sam whipped everyone into shape on the third day and took control. He carried most of the food for everyone. John has been at the head of the pack scouting out trails for the rest. Kacy, Sarah, Dargan and our leader, Ashley, played an intense game of UNO while rapping to our favorite songs. We all played a great game of football with the volcanic islands glittering in the sunset. We ended the fourth day sitting around an empty fire pit listening to Margot’s adventures as we munched on Ashley’s jambalaya.
BACKPACKING OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK- Written by our team!
Starting in the northern most part of Washington’s Olympic National Park, we surpassed our expectations going six miles over what was originally planned the first day. The next day passed by quickly with a variety of trail games. Everyone learned that Sam’s grandmother holds a speed record in women’s snowmobiling, during our 11.6 mile hike. The terrain was moderately hard, but the forest was gorgeous. During this long trek we had to ford a couple of rivers. Phillip always surprised the group by appearing on the other side of the river completely dry, although he never had his pack and eventually had to get with all of us! John was in it, continuously falling, but keeping his camera dry! We also enjoyed a relaxing tan by the river during our third day lunch. The fourth day as Sam’s birthday!! Jen, Amy and Dargan painted signs while others cooked backcountry cinnamon rolls. Margot always surprises us with her baking skills, preparing great goodies. On this day the group was in for a great adventure with Haley and Phillip as Leaders of the Day. We had a three mile UP HILL CLIMB!! The view from the top was beautiful with Kacy always chanting “the toughness of the climb makes the view even better” we all made it to the top. After this grueling hike, the group had a great day. We camped at Low Divide. We all went swimming in Lake Margaret and Rachel finally learned how to float. She said that her family has been trying to teach her forever, so she felt this was a great accomplishment. As the group prepared dinner, Amy, Dargan, Kacy, Sarah, Rachel and Haley hiked out and saw their first black bear. It was amazing to see a bear in the wild and after a little while, he just rambled off. We then celebrated Sam’s birthday with some oreo no bake cake.
On the hike we have encountered a few mosquitoes with Jen and Sarah having the sweetest skin to keep them away from the rest of us. Sarah graced everyone with her cooking abilities by cooking corn pones. She flipped and tossed batter wiled balancing a mosquito head net over her head.
The next day we embarked on a 14 mile trek. After Jen, Kacy, Phillip, Sam and John were persistent we all agreed to this challenge. The funniest part of this hike came with our river crossing. We somehow lost the trail, so crossing was inevitable. This crossing came when we were all quite tired. Margot, Ashley and Kacy all had a great time watching the rest of us. First, John slipped and fell in. Dargan was determined to stay dry, but this didn’t happen. Sam successfully made it across until he the last rock and then…yep, he took a little dip too. Rachel was the only one to stay completely dry. Jen decided to just get wet and go safely across along with Sarah. Phillip, Haley led us to camp after a long day. Our campsite was awesome and it was a great day. The last miles of our hike passed quickly with Ashley’s singing and quoting from Saturday Night Live.
We are having the best time!! Another update coming after our climbing. Until then.
7-6-04
Rock-climbing on Leadership 1
This section of the trip was a rock-load of fun! It was great to have a seasoned climber like Sam who could show us all the ropes! He flew up every climb available. We all learned how to belay each other and added some cool rock climbing lingo to our vocabularies! John’s favorite climb was the 5.9 (a challenging intermediate route) which he made look like a breeze. Dargan amazed us all with her signature fanny shimmy, which helped her up a hard climb. Rachel was a spider! One moment we would see her at the bottom and the next she was at the top already. Jen had a few difficulties getting into the groove at first, but luckily got the hang of it and enjoyed a lovely day of birthday climbing. Haley overcame her fear of heights and preserved her way to the top. Amy wasn’t afraid to get her hands and knees scraped up if it meant getting to the top, which she did frequently.
Phillip impressed us all with his agility and smooth moves. Kacy was an excellent slab climber, finding ways to climb up any flat surface. And not one of us would be surprised if Sarah’s closest relatives are monkeys. She had no trouble doing difficult moves on cracks or slabs. Ashley surprised us all by climbing in Chaco Sandals to add a little difficulty to her day.
We are all a little bruised and scraped but we think it just adds a little more character to tackle Rainier!
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