Yet A Third Adventure

I refer to this as my third adventure, because I had written ficticious adventure stories based on my previous two years of Girl Scout camp. I wanted to say that you may be dreaming of adventures now, but some day, you might actually live one. And if you do, I hope you tell me all about it, along with all your dream stories.

One day of hiking the Mahoosic trail is over, and at this point, I wish I didn't go. My legs aren't strong enough for this hike, and I'm only getting myself into trouble.

It is now the second day of the hike, August seventh. I am at the top of the Mountain Goose Eye. [One of the councelors] said we have [to] climb up something so steep that it has a wooden ladder to climb up the side.

I am so thirsty, and I'd do anything for a cola just about now...

I'd do anything for more water even!

We might go to McDonalds at the end of the trip. I'll be so filthy, but I'll want that meal so badly.

I am with seven other kids named Hannah, Lindsey, Katie, Melissa, Jobie (whose real name is Joanne), Laura, Kristin, and Becky. My councelors' names are George (whose real name is Glenda and who is from England), Julian (whose real name is Erin and is from Arizona), and Giggles (whose real name is Victoria who is also from England).

The next mountain we just hiked I do not know the name of. I am getting scraped up, and I am running out of water. I have an awful taste in my mouth like that gross oatmeal we had this morning.

It was wicked steep on the way up to this peak. Julian dropped her water bottle and went back for [it] after taking her backpack off. She put it back on while she was on the cliff, and I took a picture of her on her way up.

There's this lake or pond I keep looking at that I want to drink after jumping into it. I am so thirsty.

After this trip, I may permanently retire from hiking. This is too much...

I was mistaken before! We haven't even gotten to Goose Eye yet! We're headed that way, but we stopped to rest again. I can't believe this! This is way to[o] much to go, and I'm almost out of water. I can't wait for the end of this stupid trip!

We have been hiking and hiking! I am completely out of water now, and I'm not feeling well. It's way too rocky!

We took a break, and Julian came down to the back [of the line] to see Giggles and George. She said we really need water. They sat and looked at the map.

Then George suggested that we shorten the trip. Tomorrow we might make a four mile hike, then George and Giggles will go an extra mile to Berlin, New Hampshire and call Jae [another councelor back at the camp]. They'll come back and on August nineth, we'll go home...

We'll all be so happy on my birthday. Seeing the summit of Mount Carlo only made me throw my bag and flop over. I'm exhausted.

This is getting to all the councelors. Julian is usually cranky anyway, but Giggles didn't smile, and George snapped at Hannah. This is not a sight I wish to see for three more days.

I got a bit sunburned today, and I just want to go home or at least back to camp where mail awaits me.

Now, it is about six o'clock, and I am so content! I am sitting cozy on my sleeping bag which is all rolled up on my hiking bag. I have a practically full water bottle of wonderful water! We'll be having plenty of water, I heard. The macaroni and cheese we had for dinner was very good!

We are staying at a shelter tonight like we did last night. This one is better. It's a log cabin with no door with a blazing fire in front of it which Jobie made all by herself. It kept us warm, and it was wonderful.

There's a latrine here!! I'm so lucky I haven't had to use the woods yet!

Julian and George want to read their "cheezy" novels. They use that word so much. "That is so cheezy! "This is total cheeze!" They always say cheezy and cheeze. I've never heard that word so much in my entire life!

Zippy (another councelor at camp) and Julian are having a contest: who can read the cheeziest novel? Julian thinks she has a pretty cheezy one now, but who knows what ol' Zippy'll dig up! I said Julian should just read the back of a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box. "It's the cheeziest!"

There's only one other person sleeping in the shelter with us tonight, and there were five in the last shelter along with tons of tents around the shelter.

This morning, there was a woman in a group of four men in the shelter who had a birthday, and we all sang happy birthday to her.

I didn't sleep in the shelter though. I actually slept in the six man tent last night with Becky (who complains that I snore since I have a stuffed-up node,) Jobie (who also has a stuffed-up nose), Katie (who doesn't listen to a word Julian says and is allergic to anything and everything), and Melissa (who has all name brand gear with her).

Melissa always talks about her boyfriend Kal while Jobie always talks about her boyfriend Chris [I'm blipping his last name]. Chris is going on Outward Bound as well as my cousin Tara. They have to survive out in the woods for a while with only the bare necessities. Jobie says she hopes Chris won't cheat on her with all those tons of girls going.

Giggles is smiling again, and George is back to herself again. I don't know if George has gotten to read her cheezy novel yet.

I think we all were brave when we stuck it out when we were so tired. So much has happened, but it's still too much to ever do again. I still can't wait to leave.

Jae (the trip director) didn't know it for she doesn't really hike and has never been on a trail, but she sent us on a dangerous mission this time. We were climbing straight up so many times, and I took pictures of how steep it was.

There was one point when Julian, who was taking the front, stopped. The next part went straight down, and she was trying to figure out how to get down it. She began down it after taking her bag off, but she climbed back up when she went about one-third of the way.

She went down again, and she did it! She helped Becky and Hannah down after they took off their packs and passed them down to her at the bottom.

I was next when George found an easier way. I went down that.

Julian does get a bit cranky, but over all, she's really nice. She's the one who kept insisting we needed water.

The next day, I'm awake before anyone else at 6:30. It was an obstacle to get out of my sleeping bag without waking Jobie who was asleep next to me and using the end of my sleeping bag for a pillow. I got out without waking her up.

I sit here on the cold wood floor, wondering what the day will bring me. I'm changing my shirt today, and I'll probably wear my sleeveless oversized flannel.

My water bottle still has tons of water, but I won't drink it in fear of what happened yesterday. I'll probably drink some with breakfast.

I hope George and Giggles make it safely to Berlin today without problems. It'll just be the two of them alone. I know they are adults and can take care of themselves, but there are crazy people out there.

Someone's stirring from the top part of the shelter. Hannah, Lindsey, George, Giggles, Julian, and the man who was already there (whose name is David) sleep up there. Down in the bottom are Melissa, Jobie, me, Katie, Becky, Laura and Kristin in that order from right to left.

Julian has a stuffed up nose now too! We're all going to have them! I heard her sniffling yesterday and asked if her nose was stuffed up.

"No." Laura replied. "She's just sniffling for fun!"

Kristin just woke up, and I think someone from the upper part of the shelter may be awake.

I hope this hike doesn't bend everyone out of shape again like it did yesterday; however, we'll all have lots of water before we leave to hike.

I don't want to hike anymore, but it's just one day more of it. I can do it, so can everyone with me. As I wrote in Search for the Better [this is a novel I wrote that is part two of a trilogy. I renamed it Leader of the Pack and called the third one Search for the Better], as Colleen Ingalls actually says, "Hope for those who have given up hope is hopeless." I kept that in mind yesterday when I hiked and was feeling like we'd never get to this shelter. Well, we're here!

And what was my hope? The end! That, in not too long, we'd all have water and be content. It was a long time to wait, but thinking it was soon kept me going. I didn't lose hope like some people in my group did.

It is now 7:00, Kristin went back to sleep. (She has a stuffed-up nose too, I found out, and she keeps waking up to blow her nose.) I am still awake here, writing. It sounds like someone's moving around on the upper part of the shelter, but I don't know if they're awake.

My feet are falling asleep for I have them in the usual position; one leg is rested bent upon the other.

Kristin just woke up again, and I think she'll be up for good.

It is not long later, and the councelors are planning the easiest route to take by using the road map Jae gave them at the beginning of the trip. Julian's going to show us where we're going.

Julian said we'll go down Carlo Col Road which is 2.2 miles of relatively flat grounds. Then we walk down Success Pond Road to the shelter. George and Giggles'll go down to phone the camp the next day.

This is so weird. I am living an actual adventure! As I wrote in Now That's What I Call An Adventure [my first ficticious adventure], an adventure is an event that someone thinks is an adventure. This is truly an adventure!

After walking 2.2 miles, it is 10:40. We are doing quite well, and I am conserving my water. I have only a few sips. We are all hopeful now, and we are having fun with this as we stick together.

Hannah lost her water bottle earlier, so she is borrowing someone else's, but I don't know whose.

I didn't write earlier about what happens every morning at 7:31. Jobie's watch goes off, the alarm on her watch, because her boyfriend Chris set it for that time. We all laugh when it happens.

Giggles said that on our way through, she was thinking of that song that goes, "the forest is a wonderful place," then she said she thought, "no, it's not!"

I can't believe our luck!!! Sitting here, a truck came by. George, Giggles, and some campers jumped to their feet. They stood in the middle of the road and started to wave their hands around in the air.

Giggles and George are about to leave now. They're talking to Julian who is saying to tell Jae that the trip's too hard and long, the campers are all sick and dehydrated, and we can't continue.

We'll be having a lunch of crackers and squeeze cheese soon. Both items are in my bag.

I'm saving my water. I'll stay in the shade I'm in now, and I will not drink any of it for at least two hours.

It's 11:00 right now, and we'll probably be picked up at 5:00.

Julian's "relaxing, getting a tan, and just chilling out," in her own words. She says she'll get into her cheezy novel soon. She said she'd perfer that we all stay in a hotel for the rest of the time with a sauna.

George and Giggles have to call collect. Hannah said to call 1-800-COLLECT, but Julian wants them to dial 0 and tack on a big bill to the camp for this.

[Another councelor named] Kirk'll probably freak out when she hears George's voice on the phone when she's supposed to be on a mountain. She'll probably figure someone got hurt.

We set up the six man tent so we can have more shade from the sun. I'm staying inside.

Jobie, who is pretty bored, decided she wanted to read my diary. I let her read some, and she said it was interesting; however, it didn't keep her busy for too long.

The people from the first shelter drove by as we sit here, but now we're all just sitting around in the tent. It's only 12:40, and we have a long time to wait. Katie and Laura read books and Lindsey, Hannah and Kristin are getting water from a stream while Jobie, Melissa and Becky just sit around, jumping up every time a car goes down the road. Julian is outside the tent...

George and Giggles just got back!!! They brought back bread and potato chips along with Pepsi for the counselors and Gatorade for us campers! I'm so thirsty, conserving my water!

"This is going to be the longest five hours in my life," Katie said, and I believe it.

I drank some Gatorade and now I should take a nap...

I just slept until 4:00, and I awake to everyone just lying around. George and Julian are reading their cheeze. Giggles is listening to her Walkman, and the rest of us are playing cards or just sitting around.

Becky and Laura switch off pacing by the roadside, looking for cars to come, hoping to see Jae and Kirk.

Julian says her novel is getting too cheezy, so cheezy that she doesn't want to read it; however, she reads on.

I'm just sitting outside the six man tent, observing my surroundings. I think Julian finally fell asleep. Giggles is having a hard time finding a radio station to listen to due to weak signals. Laura wanders aimlessly across the road and back, occasionally looking out to see if a car is coming.

When a car comes by, we all become silent to hear it is the wrong car.

Giggles has given up her radio for the time being, and Laura continues pacing around on the grass, just hanging around.

Hannah, who has lost her original audience who watched her card tricks, now shows them to Julian. They woke her up when she was sleeping with that cheezy novel of hers in her hand.

We're not as hot as before, but we become more restless. We all just sit in the shade of the tent, talking. Everyone's talking about beating each other with a ladle. George is singing it, and Julian's saying it to Hannah.

5:45, we got picked up! We told Jae about the powdered milk incident^* and climbing straight up cliffs.

We're going to McDonalds! It's the best news I've heard all day! [Couldn't this story just be a McDonalds' ad?]

We're telling Jae everything that happened. We must sound nuts, but Jae can't believe half of it. I guess it's interesting...

It really was an adventure!

I got two cheeseburgers with no meat, a medium fry and medium coke. I also got a sundae later. It was like the best food I have ever tasted, but it'll never top how water tasted to me yesterday after three hours without it. [Instances like this really make you appreciate water. Since then, I have been drinking far more water than ever before!]

I washed [up], used a "real flush toilet", and I feel much better.

We'll probably get in at about midnight, but as long as we get in tonight. Tomorrow'll be a bright day, but especially for me for I'll be fifteen years old, finally.

Well, we made it in one piece! Some of us are scraped and bruised, but that's not anything to worry about.

The red truck with Kirk, Giggles, and George in it rides in front of us. What are they talking about? The hike? Well, we aren't in the gray van, but I bet we're all thinking it.

We're on the road again, and we're soaring through the open road home. Well, to camp, but that's excellent at this point.

The sun is starting to sink in the distance into the mountaints. Some of the mountains I have climbed; some are left unconquered. I may have said I'm retiring from hiking, but some day I may go back and conquer those mountains untouched by my wear[y] hiking boots. It's not my goal in life, but it's something I might just do...

By Kellyanne Lynch
8/7-9/94
^* Powdered milk incident: To improve the taste of the iodized water, we added Gatorade mix. No matter how much we added, it still tasted gross. We figured out later, we must have been using the powdered milk.