From Maine to New Hampshire

By Wilderness Adventures July 24, 2013

As we arrived in New Hampshire, we set up camp and prepared for white water rafting the next day on the Kennebec river. When we woke up in the morning it was a beautiful day – perfect rafting weather. After the safety briefing, we got on the bus where we sung songs to get us pumped up for the day.  Darby and Jasper “rode the bull” -sat on the very front of the raft and held on to the rope – through class 2 rapids. Brad and Josie got tossed out of the boat after Magic Falls, the big class 4 rapid, and everyone got the chance to swim through the class 2 rapids. After a great day of rafting and an awesome lunch of chicken, steak, fish, pasta, and cake, we played basketball for a while and gave Jack S. and David a chance to show off their skills. Later that night, Brad and Sam set up a beautiful fire and Brad threw fire dust in there and turned the fire all different colors. 

 

The next morning we woke up early and drove to North Conway, NH, where the cook crews grocery shopped for the next few days. The cook crew of the day consisted of Clara, Jack W., Sam, Jack S., and Josie who made a great “breakfast for dinner” consisting of hash browns, eggs, and French toast. After dinner, Clara, Tess, and Natalie drew on the sidewalk with chalk while Becker roamed around the campsite searching for cool bugs and Julia taught everyone how to make different kinds of bracelets. 

 

The next day was our day of rock climbing with the International Mountain Climbing School. We rock climbed by Echo lake, where Darby perfected her belaying skills, David overcame his fear of heights, and Brad & Natalie were innovative and used the cracks in the rocks to climb.  Julia had a great time repelling down the granite slabs, and Sam & Becker were the fastest ones to climb the rock face. After climbing, we went to our campsite and played frisbee in the fields. 

 

The next morning we prepared for our excursion to the summit of Mount Washington and hiked over 2 miles to the Hermit Lake Shelter. We sang songs along the way and stopped to eat lunch on the trail. That night we had soup for dinner and worked together on a bear hang for which David and Sam helped tie the knots. 

 

As we woke up the following day we were all very excited for our journey to the pinnacle of the mountain. Again, we hiked over 2 miles up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and had lunch at the top of the mountain. It was a difficult climb, taking about 2 hours, but it was well worth it as the sky cleared up on the way down and we had breath-taking scenery. Tess and Josie were among the leaders down the mountain. Becker and Jasper also took the lead in cleaning up and making sure that the cabin was bear-friendly. 

 

Tomorrow, we will go to Boston to explore the city and go to the aquarium, which everyone is looking forward to. We will also have a nice last dinner together in the city before going our separate ways. It has been an amazing trip, and we truly did start out as strangers and left as friends.