We don't need instructors

The last backpacking portion of the course was unaccompanied by our instructors. This meant that as a crew we were responsible for each other's safety, time management, navigation and everything else. Luckily, this happened right after small groups so we all had had a refreshing break from the large group. As it turned out, we had also all learned a few lessons from the short small group travel.

Lesson #1: More time at camp at the end of the day is priceless.

Lesson #2: Any break from hiking shouldn't take more than half an hour, unless otherwise planned.

Lesson #3: Breaking camp in the morning doesn't have to take the entire morning.

After both the girls and guys had learned all of these lessons, it made large group travel much more efficient and fun. In the past we had been traveling with leaders of the day. On the first night we decided this was an unnecessary thing and that we were all leaders and could share that roll as long as we held each other responsible. We also decided to get up in the morning before the sun so that we could get to camp with plenty of time to relax and hang out. It was amazing. This crew of 11 people, now 10 after losing the oldest member, had finally come together as a group. I absolutely couldn't believe it.

Over the 3 1/2 days of final expedition, we covered a total of 40 miles. It was an incredible test of our bodies and skills. It even snowed the first night/day and we still managed to hike 14 miles that day without any complaints from anyone. The whole adventure was following the Mountains to Sea Trail that makes its way through the North Carolina mountains to Mt. Mitchell (the tallest mountain east of Mississippi).

One of the days we hiked, we were going to be without water at our campsite. Therefore, we decided to carry water even though it meant that some of our packs would be heavier. I had offered to carry water and I thought at the time that I had put a full drom in my pack. I therefore thought for the entire day that my pack felt exceedingly heavy. I even go to the point where I was mentally saying, "right, left, right, left" just to make it step by step the best I could. When we finally got to camp, we realized that a lot of people were low on water. I offered to get my drom of water out, promising that it had a huge amount of water in it. As I took it out, I realized that the only full drom I had been carrying was the one in my head. It turned out I had only been carrying an extra liter of water the whole time. Amazing how the mind works!

On our last full day of hiking we pushed forward to make it to an amazing camp site that offered a lot of sun. We were so glad to finally be warm after so many days of cold hiking. Since we were only about 1.5 mile away from our destination and we didn't have to be there until 4pm the next day, we decided to sleep in and have leisurely morning. This was the best gift of all. I watched the beautiful sun rise from my sleeping bag and slowly awoke to have some hot tea. We then made hash browns and pancakes. While everyone finished packing up, a snowball fight was started that went on for quite some time. It was such a fun morning.

It was sad to know that it would be our last expedition, but we couldn't have asked for a better 4 days!