Our first day on the trails! We adjusted to the weight on our backs, learned about the languages and cultures of our new friends, and began to adjust to life without modern amenities.
I loved waking up to the birds after the first night of camping. We had yet to master the skills of quickly dismantling the tents and evenly stuffing our packs, so taking down camp on that first morning was slow. We ate a warm breakfast graciously cooked by the NatureBridge staff, reviewed how to read the turns and topography of the trails on the map, took some pre-wilderness photos, used the nice bathrooms for the last time, and then we were off. We made our way out of the front-country, and onto a segment of the Appalachian Trail.
We had A LOT of time to talk on the trails, and the conversations gradually shifted from the discomfort of the packs, to the cultures and languages and lives of the people around us. I spoke a lot with the group leaders, Dani and Christina, both of whom treated each of us with so much kindness and respect. They both ask thoughtful questions, and are always ready to listen and offer advice. On the hills and as soon as morale began to droop, our group played Hogwild, so I learned everyone's favorite flavors of ice cream and and song preferences :)
One of my favorite memories from this day, though I didn't know it at the time, was Liam singing "Wonderwall." I remember we weren't all comfortable with singing along yet (and I had yet to learn the lyrics), but time on the trail (and in the rain) would change that.
We ate lunch at a graveyard. It was surprisingly beautiful, and Christina (a teacher at heart and professionally) shared the significance of the graveyard as one of the few that was cared for after many families were forced to leave their homes and relative's burial grounds during the foundation of the park. We looked at the names and dates on the gravestones, and imagined each person that had sacrificed their livelihoods for the creation of the park.
Four miles and lots of schwitzing later, finding a campsite was a challenge. While Dani and Christina scouted, the rest of us made ourselves at home among the rocks on the trail and pulled out a deck of cards. In the middle of a round of BS, two horseback riders made their way up the trail. They were not cowboys (sorry, Liam) but they were extremely kind and spoke to us about our trip. And the horses that they were on top of were, to Lára's excitement, MASSIVE.
When Dani and Christina returned from scouting, we circled up for a dramatic "I'm Excited" chant and made our way to the 'campsite.' It definitely wasn't the front-country - it was impossible to find a spot without rocks - but we made our tents significantly faster than the night before, hooked up the gravity water filters, and began to make dinner.
Nico and Liam had a (very amusing) run-in with a bear (just ask them to share it - they've got the presentation down) and dinner was largely spent discussing bear encounters and comparing our cultures. It was also one of the first nights that Nico and Inés began giving Spanish lessons (thus was born the phrase "Hola, mi llamo Liam," typically spoken with Trump-style hand motions and articulations). We wrote on our flags to reflect on the day, and circled up after dinner for our first bead appreciation ceremony. I gave and received my first bead, and though it was uncomfortable the first night, sharing our appreciation for each other would eventually become second-nature. At the end of dinner, we parted ways (Arrrrribaaa!) and zipped up our tents for the night.