Some of you may recall a previous post I have made, called “Backpacking Excursion“. If you aren’t, then what you need to know is that my 8th Grade ODE trip was backpacking from Aspen, Colorado to an adjacent town called Marble.

We spent three days hiking thirty something miles, and the fourth day was spent sitting alone in the woods with nothing but a sleeping bag, water bottle, and tarp. Along with a journal we had been given at the beginning of the trip.

We had been preparing for all of a week for our 24 hour solo. That morning we woke up, and gathered around the center of the camp. I’d like to say it was a campfire, but it was much too warm for that. We made ourselves breakfast, which wasn’t more than a small bowl of oatmeal that had come in a pack.

We began talking about what we were about to do, and eventually our patrol leader started leading us to our individual camps. Some were farther away from the main camp, nowhere near anyone else. Others, like me, were placed just out of sight of our numerous tents, and with others just across a mini ravine.

I would much rather have been the girl way out in the middle of nowhere.

The solo started out fine. I wasn’t particularly worried, as everyone I had talked to who completed the program described it as a life-changing experience.

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