Yesterday afternoon we finally started dinner. We sat around on rocks chatting while Wendy and Jen fixed a delicious Thai meal. I normally won’t touch Asian food, but this was very good. Some sort of rice noodles with a coconut milk peanut sauce. After dinner I presented the Lakota virtues. It went well and people actually asked some good questions. Then we had a dessert of CHEESECAKE! I’m not a cheesecake fan, but it was REALLY good. Ryan made it in honor of Wendy & Kevin’s birthdays. Then Jeff and Ryan asked us to meet them in 20 minutes at their upper camp.
We started cleaning up and getting things ready for the night. Wendy and I both suggested that we wear our helmets up to the pinning ceremony. We got some great laughs out of it and took some awesome group pictures. We went up the hill to find Jeff and Ryan also wearing their helmets. We had been laughing so loud they heard us and looked to see what was going on. After a few more laughs we settled in to the moment. Jeff and Ryan spoke and then we were invited to give a pin to someone we felt deserved it. For the first time all week I jumped at being first. I wanted badly to give the first pin to Wendy. She was actually tearful saying thank you and then she in turn gave a pin to Betsy. Betsy gave a pin to Kevin, who gave one to me. Since I already gave one out, Kristi took the next one and gave it to Jen. Jen said she was glad Kristi was the only one left because she had planned to give her a pin.
We sat around the campfire for a while longer, just talking and laughing – enjoying our last night together. Around 10 PM, most of us stumbled blindly down the slope back into our camp. I looked at Jeff and said “if you hear me yell for you later…” and he said “I’ll come down and put a tarp over you.” We both laughed, but I knew he’d do it if I needed it in the middle of the night. That’s just the kind of guy he is.
I handed out everyone’s letters to them before we went to bed, but it was too dark to read them until daylight. As we were getting ready to turn in, Jeff starts playing with his green laser light and it looked SO cool going through the trees. Jeff walked the other two down and I gave him the letters for him and Ryan.
I settled in and slept pretty well all things considering. By 5 AM though I was WIDE awake and ready to go. Kristi was awake too – which was both unusual and very funny. Kevin and Betsy woke up right after that. Betsy, Kristi & I were talking quietly. Betsy was teasing me saying I was like a kid at Christmastime – “Is it time to get up yet?!” A deer walked up, looked at us and started walking to the creek. Kristi settled back into her bag, Betsy laid back down, and I just sat quietly. Suddenly, something scared the deer and it BOLTED. Kristi cringed in her bag, which I found funny, and after the crashing noise stopped she said “I thought the deer was going to trample me.” Betsy, Kristi and I were then laughing outright. We cracked up completely. After Jeff’s story about the buff 25 year old guy saying a mountain lion ran over his chest, the thought of telling him a deer trampled Kristi was just too entertaining. The deer actually came back a few minutes later and looked at Kristi like “WHAT?! You are in my path to the water.” We just cracked up again. Jen woke up, looked at us and said “what?” We just kept laughing. When Jeff & Ryan came down we told them Kristi got trampled by a deer, laughed at their reaction, and then told them the story. It was really funny. You just had to be there.
We finally got up, packed up, and headed out. Fifteen minutes later we were at the campground. If I’d have known how close it was, I’d have probably snuck to the place the night before – just for running water and a flush toilet. Ryan had been teasing me about sneaking to the campground – and that’s when I thought it was about 45 minutes away. Funny thing was, Kristi, Kevin & I had gone for water last night and must have walked right up to the campground. We never knew it! Probably a good thing. It made sense then why Jeff had said another 5 minutes of us getting water and he’d have come looking for us!
At the campground, we got out the bear cans and emptied them. We dumped our trash – finally – and got things organized. Someone started breakfast and Jeff made everyone eat something. I choked down some lukewarm oatmeal. The other group got there and Margaret and I immediately started chatting and trying to catch up. One thing I forgot to mention – during our “Rock Assault” day (as we dubbed day 4) – one of the girls in the other group left the course. So when the group got to us at the campground, we were skirting around the issue. However, it didn’t take long for the group to fill us in on what happened. Apparently she didn’t know what she was signing up for and wasn’t prepared. She said if they didn’t walk her out she was walking herself out. So Jason walked her 7 miles out and then walked 7 miles back in. He stopped at our camp that morning looking like he’d had a very rough night. Indeed he had!
We loaded up our gear and got into the van. STINKY!! In the van, I realized I hadn’t talked to Jeff about last night. I turned and told him that I’d made it the whole night without my tarp. He patted me on the shoulder. It may have seemed trivial to others, but he knew how big of a deal it was to me. It was quite an accomplishment and it was nice that he acknowledged how big of a thing it was for me.
The van took us to the top of the Four Mile Trail at Glacier Point. Kristi was feeling sick after the van ride. My knee was killing me. We were all out-of-sorts. Plus, there were lots of people around. Weird after being around no one but each other for a week. We started hiking. It was DOWNHILL. Big time. I thought I was going to die from the pain in my knee.
Jeff, Margaret & I walked down the hill together for a while. I had initially been upset that I wasn’t in Margaret’s group, but as the week went on I knew I was in the right group for me. After hearing Margaret talk, I knew for sure I had been blessed with my group. The three of us had a great chat as we walked. After a group break, Ryan led the way with Margaret and I. I think I was just in the front because I knew at the bottom it was OVER! The three of us also laughed and talked. The funniest thing was Margaret saying there were really not emotional times in their group. Ryan just looked at me and we both cracked up. Our group was a chain of emotions. Especially during Rock Assault. We were moving at a pretty good pace. After another break, Margaret and I went ahead on our own. We just kept talking. It was a great first attempt at trying to explain what we’d gone through during the week. At least we’d had similar experiences. I have NO idea how I’ll explain it at home to someone who wasn’t there.
Ryan caught up with us and we finished the four mile hike quickly. We were all tired, sore and ready for a real lunch. When we reached the bottom of the trail, Ryan monkeyed around on some boulders. A few minutes later we saw Jason. We teased saying we’d have been there 10 minutes earlier but Ryan had to stop to play. Everyone laughed and then Margaret and I caught sight of lunch. FRESH fruits and veggies. Real cheese. COOKIES! We just started drooling. Jason told us to dig in and we both dove at the cantaloupe. I didn’t even bother with a plate. I just devoured it. I grabbed a slice of bread, some cheese, cucumbers and a cookie. As others came in, we smiled at their expressions, knowing now what we’d looked like a few minutes earlier. We ate really well and then packed up and headed to the van. My knee was throbbing by this point. Jason had let me ice it for a few minutes, but it hurt like the dickens.
In the van, I sat up front with Margaret – the two car sickies – and John. I propped my leg up for the hour trip to base camp. We got to base camp and piled out of the van. We had one hour to unpack all of our gear, separate the group gear into piles, fill out an evaluation, help clean the group gear, put our own stuff back into our luggage, get our shirts and certificates, say goodbye, and get back into the van. Wendy had a 7 PM flight, so we had to be at the airport by 5 PM.
The mad dash began and we got everything done. For the first time in my life I voluntarily did dishes. My fingers ALMOST got clean! Jason gave out our certificates, stickers and shirts. Then we said goodbye to our staff. Ryan gave me a big hug. So did Jason. I was avoiding saying goodbye to Jeff because I knew it’d be the most emotional. Jeff and Kristi were really the two people I connected to this week. Everyone else was saying goodbye to Jeff and he actually looked around and said “there you are Kriss – come here” and gave me a big hug. As he hugged me he told me he hoped everything worked out for me and to keep in touch. He said something else, but I was getting teary and just nodded and turned away. It was tough. I hate goodbyes. He had thanked me this morning for the letter I gave him last night, saying it was nice to read before turning in for the night. He laughed and said he knew he was embarrassing me by thanking me in front of everyone, but that he really appreciated it. He is definitely someone who “got” me and who I will keep in touch with.
We piled into the van AGAIN. I sat up front with Lea. Jen, Margaret and Wendy sat behind me. I started calling people as soon as the first service bar appeared on my cell phone. The call to Stacy was good but quick. Text messages started flying. I called John and told him about my knee. I talked to the boys but all they would say is that they were going to Aunt Maureen’s and that she had orange juice and berry juice. I begged Lea to stop at a gas station. She did. I grabbed a Coke and had started drinking it before I even got to the register. I also got a 3 Musketeers bar, some gum, and some tic tacs. It was a FAST stop. Everyone was grabbing snacks and getting back into the van.
We dropped Wendy off at the airport and everyone said goodbye. Margaret left there too. Then we dropped Bev, Sue, Jen and Betsy off at the Holiday Inn. Then we dropped Paul off at the Piccadilly Inn. Then Lea dropped Kristi & me off at Kristi’s car. We said goodbye to Lea and she left to drop Kevin off at the Marriott. The seven of us with Sunday flights planned to meet at 7:30 PM at the Steak and Anchor at the Piccadilly. Kristi drove me to my hotel. We both showered and got ready. We went to pick up Kevin and then went to eat.
Dinner was awesome. It was really the first chance I’d had to get to know Paul, Bev and Sue from the other group. We had a great time. We ordered a slice of Snickers cake for Kevin’s birthday. We ordered and ate way too much food, but it was a wonderful ending to the week.
After dinner, Kristi took Kevin to his hotel. While she drove him, Betsy, Bev, Sue & I waited outside for her to come back so she could drive us to our hotels. While we were waiting, a car drove by and the driver threw a cup out the window. Betsy gets all riled up, walks over, picks the cup up, and walks over to the guy. My last image of the trip is Betsy saying “I’m sorry – I think you dropped this” as she hands the cup to the driver. I’m laughing so hard I’m crying. Betsy walks back to us as Kristi pulls up. Bev, Sue and I were laughing so hard we could barely tell Kristi what happened. I said it would be my first email to Jeff – telling him Betsy was teaching some guy in the hotel parking lot the Leave No Trace she learned on the trip.
We dropped the three girls off at the Holiday Inn and Kristi took me to my hotel. We said our goodbyes, promising to keep in touch. I went in, checked my email, saw I had 215 messages and said FORGET IT! I did a quick status update on my myspace and checked my bank account. Then I went upstairs. Even though it was already 10 PM, I decided to do my laundry. It finished around 11:40 and I went to bed.
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