I had never been to the infamous White Rocks in the Los Padres National Forest before a few days ago on Tuesday night.

Our head lamps and flashlights were turned off as we ascended up the mountain on our short hike, which took about 20 or 30 minutes. It was dark, but the full moon hovered overhead, lighting our paths. We were not talking; it was silent except for the sounds of bugs and our footsteps on the ground.

After crossing a few areas of water and unfortunately tripping over some big rocks, we had made it to a big white plateau surrounded by 3 towering white rock masses. It was so beautiful to see the white surface illuminated by the full moon.

And so we sat – Coop, Floyd, 15 other student leaders, and myself. We talked about issues at school, had a debate, and took a beautiful group photograph. (Thank you Max, it turned out so amazing!)

AND THEN WE PLAYED HIDE AND SEEK.
It was extremely epic and fun. There were so many good hiding spots too.

I was skeptical at first about this moonlight hike that Coop had planned for us, but I ended up having such a great time. I really did. I did not want the night to end! We have such a fun and interesting group of student leaders this year and I am so proud do be one of them.