- Expedition: May 26-31, 2002
- Paul
- Detroit Metropolitan Community Center, Atwater, and Owens Valley High School
- Mono Meadow
what is wilderness? are you in wilderness now? this isn't wilderness. wilderness isn't a place where there are 50,000 people and it sounds like we're in the city. no, this is not wilderness. the wildermess is a place where you can't hear anything but the sound of nature. you can't see anything except nature, and last but not least, you can't feel anything but nature. the end.
Goals and Expectations
I guess my main goal is to have as much fun as possible and to enjoy myself as much as possible. Oh yeah, and to kill a bear with my bare hands. Just JOKING! I expect it to be a little difficult without all the things that we take for granted, like showers and toilets. But I think I'll come out on top in the end. It should be fun. It sucks that James and Rochelle aren't going. I think it would be good for them both. I'm also glad to be leaving Disneyland. There's something I don't like here. Maybe it's all the people. The scenery is great, but but it has the feel of a city. Definitely don't like it.
Water
Water is happy
Water is sometimes nappy.
Even sometimes crappy.
You can drink, swim in, bathe,
and drown in water.
Even for the squatter
Run with the flow and
let all your troubles go.
Water is good, no?
Yes water is happy.
It's better than tequila.
Tequila can even kill ya.
Water flows with grace
Some much that it smacks
you in the face. And says,
"stop running your foolish race"
With water you fall
So have a ball while
you can 'Cause water will
soon take all this land.
And it will stop under no hand.
Yes water is happy.
The Hike Out
Today we started and finished our hike. I literally felt like I was going to die. I've hiked before, but not with a 50-pund backpack. It was rough. Every step I took, I just wanted to lay down and close my eyes and never open them again. All my thoughts were concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Depression and Despair had set in. A little voice inside kept saying, "You won't make it. Just lay down and die. You're too weak." So forth and so on. Then a person, a man, an angel, came down the trail and told us that we were only two minutes away. Joy spread through my whole body. The Energy, the inner force, if you will, came back. We were only two minutes away. I picked up my burden (the pack) with high spirits. Then came the most beautiful sight I have ever seen: Glacier Point. After what seemed an eternity of marching through hell, we had made it to civilization, to Glacier Point, to heaven.
The Final Hours
Well, what can I say? It's coming to an end. I must admit, it has been fun, but I'm looking forward to getting home. I am going to miss everyone. Everybody was nice to me from the get-go. Nobody looked at me and said I was a loser. They talked to me and got to know me before they judged me. They were all cool to me. I am going to miss them all.