To some people, leading an eight day trip into the wilderness with someone you don't know very well is terrifying. Especially adding in the fact that the people you are leading are fourteen and fifteen year olds who have never met each other, and who could be crazy. Yes, definitely terrifying. But for me, it has been the best part of the summer.
Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely terrified to have that much responsibility. I love being outdoors and going camping, but having to cook food for nine people everyday as well as being a caregiver for those them was daunting. I was also afraid that my campers would not be as enthusiastic about hiking and being in the outdoors as I was. Getting people excited about things they don't like can be very hard. However, when I met my campers, I was surprised by how excited they were to be in the wilderness and how well they all got along with each other. They soon became one of my favorite groups of campers, and the trip was the best one I've been on.
One of my favorite parts of the trip that I think is very telling of our entire group's dynamic is when we saw a fox on our last day of hiking.
We had long awaited an encounter with wildlife bigger than a squirrel, and finally we had it. A bright orange fox trotted up to us on the trail, and the group hushed as one by one we whispered back down the line, "There's a fox!"
The group created a sort of semi-circle around the fox, and it sat down in front of us. We all silently watched as it yawned and scratched its flank, without a care in the world. How comical it seems to me now, this small group of people enraptured by the sight of a simple fox in the wild, while the fox paid no attention to us.
I loved seeing my campers appreciate the beauty of the moment. We were all quiet, and I was so proud that none of them were disrespectful or obnoxious, because sometimes they were very obnoxious. But when it came to that moment, we all were able to recognize how amazing an opportunity we had to be able to get so close to a creature that has such an established reputation and meaning to people in every day life for being sneaky and cunning despite most people probably having never even seen it.
Being a part of something so special means a lot to me. I think that that moment for those campers and for my co-counselor meant a lot too. Although we had been hoping to see a moose, seeing that fox was the icing on the cake for the trip. That moment, as small as it seemed, was really a big moment for everyone in the group. Also, moose are absolutely horrifying and aggressive, so I'm kind of okay with not having a run-in with a moose. The fox was big enough for me.
