September 9th
We’re back at HMI! After two weeks in the Rockies, everyone is thrilled to see the whole group again, and we are ready to take hot showers…
Our expeditions were full of memories that will last a lifetime and probably some of the greatest we will ever have. It was a trip that we could go on talking about forever, but we will try to limit it to a few of the highlights.
Mt. Ouray towered above our base camp, while the sun began to peek behind the San Juan range. Its rays lit the 5:30 sky with the deep colors of orange, crimson, and pink. Everything silhouetted by the dawn light, Mt Ouray seemed larger still than its 13,971 feet. Everyone the camp seemed apprehensive about climbing Mt Ouray, yet thrilled to start. After some cocoa and oatmeal, we began to climb slowly towards our goal: the summit. First was the saddle, a shallow part of a range between two mountains, this was steep with a trail that ran right up in steep slants to the top.
Upon arriving to the top of the saddle, we still had another 2,000 steep feet to climb to the top. It was long, tiring, and steep, but our group remained optimistic and happy, probably due to our belting of the “Piña Colada” song up the entire mountain. Finally, after 3 hours of climbing, every one of us had touched the long-awaited summit pole, and our journey was complete. Not much can be said, besides that the view from the top of the peak was indescribably beautiful. Maybe it was the fact that you could see the whole state, or that our 50-mile journey of 2 weeks across the Continental Divide could be seen in full, or the fact that we were all there to experience it together, but reaching the top of Mt. Ouray was one of the happiest moments of our trip.
Alas, we cannot deny the splendid mom
ents of beautiful cakes and surprises for the birthday girls: Annie, Kelsey and Libbey! One particular occasion landed us on a layover day at Honkey Dorey Lake! Mt. Aetna was visible from our tent door. We struggled to awaken as the sunlight pounded on our closed eyelids. Then we grudgingly trudged through the frost-covered grass to our makeshift kitchen (at least 30 paces away!) where pika greeted us with their gleeful morning chirps. We mustered our culinary talents to create delicious oat scones while simultaneously pooling our artistic efforts to make the most glorious birthday cards of all time.
Just whose birthday you may ask? None other than our fearless leader, Libbey! We celebrated the day by wading in the frigid, clear waters of Honkey Dorey Lake. We commenced our evening activities after a hearty dinner. The evening’s repertoire consisted of a variety of games including Ninja, Dip-Dip, and a fateful game of Fantasy. We finished our activities eager to devour the rich chocolaty cake, topped with “funfetti” frosting. Finally, a jolly chorus of Happy Birthday brightened our spirits for the challenging days to come!
Even though a special day, the delicacies we had for Libbey’s birthday were not the only tasty treats eaten throughout our expedition. Yes, the food in the backcountry was a lot different from the food we eat at HMI- but not necessarily in a bad way! It was often very cold and rainy outside, so most of our food was made to keep us relatively warm.
One morning, after sitting around the stove in the rain despairingly trying to light at least one of our three lighters with cold fingers for a good fifteen minutes, we had to settle for granola and powdered milk. Overall, a lot of experimenting was done with the food we had, but eventually we all got it down. We ate oatmeal and granola some mornings, and we made pancakes and even cinnamon rolls when we had more time to cook. We had tons of snacks throughout the day while we were hiking, and had pasta or rice and beans for dinner. One night, the instructors taught us how to make dough and we made pizza. It was delicious! By the end of the trip we were making biscuits and scrambled brownies, which were amazing because we needed a sweet treat after a long day of hiking. One day, our group found wild raspberries and huckleberries and we made a fresh pie for dessert. Some people even made jam out of the berries! Overall, the food on the trip was really good, and it tasted even better because we made it all ourselves. If only the weather remained as pleasant!
For four or five days in the middle of our expedition, we had some beautiful sunny weather and clear blue skies, all day and all night, making for great star-gazing time during Circle and before falling asleep at night. We even saw a few shooting stars.
On our last full day in the backcountry though, we woke up literally in a big gray rain cloud. Luckily, it cleared up enough by lunchtime for a short day trek to a beautiful lake for a bit of study hall. That night, however, just in time for our last Circle, the rain returned so we decided to all (13 of us!) seek refuge under the boys' four-person tarp, much to their dismay. Somehow, we managed to all fit inside and finish up our last Circle of the expedition warm and dry, if not particularly comfortable.
Thank you HMI, for instilling in us a desire to strive for impossible feats, and happiness and once again, splendid birthday wishes to Libbey, Annie and Kelsey!
By: Gideon Lovell-Smith, Celeste Murtha, Claire O’Brien, Tate Castro and Alessandra Laurent