laurenmit 1 / - Oct 20, 2012 #1What is one life lesson you have learned that you will want to share with others in the Villanova community?"I think we're lost." Those are never comforting words to hear. As a backpacker you must simply review the map, try to reorient yourself with landmarks such as tall mountains and trudge on. A true backpacker is never lost, because they can call any mountainside home for the night. But I was not always a backpacker. Most backpackers start out as lowly hikers, and hikers do get lost.I have been a Girl Scout my whole life, which to me is synonymous with camper.At camp the leaders ease you into backpacking with shorter trips and day hikes, our first big hike was to "the falls". It was known for being a difficult trail to follow, and we soon found ourselves off of the path. Realizing we were lost we struggled to retrace our steps, to little avail. As the sun dropped lower and lower into the Sierra Nevada sky, I realized that we might not get home that night. Our bodies were covered in scrapes and bruises and we were running very low on water. The whole time our hearts were racing.There are very few times in someone's life where everything is completely unplanned. We didn't know what problems we might face in a few hours and it terrified us. Even though we all had our own internal personal struggles, we worked as a unit.As the hot Sierra day had turned into a cold sierra night, we huddled together in the cold. We saw helicopters fly over our heads in search of us. When the search and rescue team found us at nearly 2 in the morning we greeted them with hugs and delight.Once home my group made a pledge. We had all been terrified by what had happened to us, but we pledged to keep hiking and backpacking. Even though we had seen the worst of it. Our love of nature and exploration should not be ruined by one bad experience. If I was a part of the Villanova community, I would hope to share the lesson of never stop exploring.
EF_Susan - / 2,364 12 Nov 9, 2012 #2"I think we're lost." Those are never comforting words to hear.---Great opening!At camp, the leaders ease you into backpacking with shorter trips and day hikes, and our first big hike was to "the falls".Realizing we were lost, we struggled to retrace our steps, to little avail.As the sun dropped lower and lower into the Sierra Nevada horizon , I realized that we might not get home that night.As the hot Sierra day had turned into a cold S ierra night, we huddled together in the cold.Once home, my group made a pledge.We had all been terrified by what had happened to us, but we pledged to keep hiking and backpacking, even though we had seen the worst of it.:)
