Day 20: “Inside of the Adirondacks”
Welcome back, everyone! We just finished our journey in the Adirondacks!
It’s been quite some time since you all last heard of the winter adventuring group. Well, we’re incredibly excited to share about our past week!
It was quite an eventful and exciting experience; it’s hard to know where to begin our tale.
On the early morning of February 17, all 19 of us rushed and scurried through the dark halls of UTS; everyone feeling excited and nervous about the journey that awaited us.
We quickly and efficiently packed all of our gear into the vans, and as we prepared to leave, we gathered in a circle and prayed for a safe trip. After our prayer, we all hopped into the vans and drove off.
It took us 5 hours to arrive at our destination. The further we drove, the more snow, mountains, and wilderness surrounded us. It was stunning!
We parked our vans, unloaded our equipment, and headed to our campsite. Our group split off into two campsites, about a mile apart, over the frozen lake. We settled into our camp for the rest of the day and prepared everything we needed for that night.
During the first half of the week, we focused a lot on cutting and preparing the wood. We would take a short walk to look for suitable wood to burn.
The weather every day was below freezing, and it got colder as the days went on. Inside our tents, we have wood stoves. These wood stoves were very convenient. They allowed us to burn wood inside our tents to stay warm in the chilly environment, but we also used it to boil our water and cook our food.
We were also given a fantastic opportunity to go ice fishing on the lake for two days. Not many people were able to catch fish, only a few. However, those that couldn’t catch any fish beamed with joy as the others would catch.
Though that’s not all we did! We also had the opportunity to go hiking. On a bright, windy, and sunny day, we got to hike up a mountain called “Cat Mountain,” which took approximately 5 miles. Once we reached the top, we all had the chance to pray and reflect individually in the beautiful forest.
On another occasion, we had the opportunity to hike our way toward a waterfall. However, as we made our way through the woods, we had to be cautious as everything was icy.
Anyone walking the trails to the mountain and the waterfall could be filled with joy and calmness. We were surrounded by giant trees and snow. During our winter adventuring experience, some in the group had the opportunity to experience snow for the first time!
These were most of the activities that we experienced going winter adventuring. However, throughout these challenging experiences, we understood a deeper aspect of God’s love for us through His beautiful creation. We also learned to work together as a team. Even though there were many instances where we would have different opinions, we were able to resolve them and help one another have a better experience. I believe this winter adventure was packed with many new and unique experiences. Still, through this time, we created beautiful relationships with one another as brothers and sisters and ultimately grew a deeper appreciation for nature.
We’re extremely grateful for this experience and for everyone that contributed to making this experience possible for us. And thank you for tagging along with us this winter adventuring time!
Keep scrolling for pictures!!
Generation Peace Academy
Kenichi Ishibashi & Yoselin Reyes
Bloggers, Winter Adventuring