*ps...it's my younger sister, Elise's 17th birthday today! Happy birthday smoochie poochie!*
***also...this is a pretty lengthly post...mostly because it was such an EPIC and meaningful day!***
This morning we awoke and ate breakfast together. Then, our director, Rob Simpson (the one who we ate dinner with at his house) came to our cabin. He taught us a few things about emergency situations that we might potentially face this semester. This could be anything from psychological issues to major medical emergencies. To be honest, this kind of scared me. I really hope I don't have to deal with too many scary situations...but...being out in the woods with so many rigorous activities...it has definitely been known to happen often! Hopefully I won't pass out if someone comes a running bleeding....
Then, we all set off to go rock climb (Rob is a notorious adventure man) He took us to the base of a mountain that we had to climb up. Let me emphasize the word CLIMB. The hike started out pretty mild, but proceeded to get steeper and steeper until the point where we were literally crawling up boulders (keep in mind this is still part of the "hike" not even the "rock climbing") It was definitely the most challenging hike I have ever been on...but I kept up! it took us probably a little over an hour to reach the top...aka the base of the climb. We ate lunch and then Rob and Jeff set up the ropes.
Let's talk about how...I have NEVER been real rock climbing before...I am terrified of vertical heights (like not when I'm walking horizontally...but when I'm going up...confusing...I know) and for this reason am even scared of man made rock walls. These walls were HUGE and ranked at a 5'8...look it up if you're not familiar with rock climbing terms (no...this does not mean the wall was 5 feet 8 inchs :P) Everyone could tell I was super afraid...so they let me sit and watch as they each proceeded to dominate the wall.
As I was sitting and watching...I decided that I came up to High Sierra on purpose to challenge myself. I decided that I did not scramble my way up this monstrous mountain to just sit and watch. So, I put on my climbing shoes, strapped on my helmet, tightened my harness...and off I went! Robert Hake (the intern) was so gracious with me as my belayer. Instead of saying "On belay" and "Belay on" we were told to used "I am ready to be supported" and "I am ready to support" you for communication as a metaphor for our roles this semester. This was one of the SCARIEST things I have ever done in my ENTIRE life. There were no bright colored hand holds to grasp, and I had to scale my way up finding the tiniest cracks in the rock to just barely balance my foot or hands on...for those of you don't know...rock climbing is all about the legs...not the arms like some assume. whew! what a workout! About half way up...I literally got stuck for about ten minutes...I could find no holds and literally felt hopeless and got really discourages. However, as I looked down (semi-BAD idea) I decided that I was going to conquer this. I slowly made my way up and about 3/4 near the top I scrambled up to finish! I have never felt so proud! And the support from my team could not have been more appreciated. They all expressed how proud they were and gave me big hugs! WHAT?!? I just scaled up a freaking huge rock...already at the top of a huge mountain (the view was SPECTACULAR). I hope this is a metaphor for the coming semester...taking challenges and huge leaps of faith...gaining a new perspective on my fears. Look out world, McKenna is going to conquer you!
After climbing, we all proceeded back down the mountain just in time before it got dark! (We heard some growling from either a bear or mountain lion on our way down....FRIGHTENING!) but we made it safe back to our cabin!
Then...it was girls night to cook! We cooked a BOMB chinese dinner meal with chicken chow main, beef terriyaki, rice, pears, and left over spinach! We also bought martinellis and I made homemade chocolate chip cookies (with the recipe in my head!). Girls being girls, we also bought a table cloth (red and white checkered) and matched all of the cups and plates too it. We also made name cards with some inscription describing each person, keeping it a secret from everyone, even the 2 other ladies kept mine from me! I ended up getting "McKenna the Conqueror"...because of the day's earlier feat. Most of them were funny, but this one meant a lot! We ate dinner, I took a shower! (finally), did life stories, and played games again! Tonight we played "What if" again and then played "He said, she said, they did" We went to bed...but us girls didn't fall asleep until after pillow talk of course!
Such a good day...but let's be real...gonna be sooooo sore tomorrow!
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