The first year (2008) I hiked from Rialto to Ozette, staying at the good campsites. I went with one of the best leaders in the school, especially when it comes to beach hike. I also had a group of kids that I became very close with. Whole relationships were built on that hike but that happens every year. I guess you never forget your first. These kids graduated last spring.
The next year (2009) was my first school hike where I was the "primary" leader. This means I was the most experienced adult out there. I had been on 5 school backpacking trips at that point. I need to double check, but this beach hike was 18 or 19. I went with a woman co-leader who became one of my best friends thanks to Beach Hike 2009. One of the 8th graders this year was on my most recent (2013) beach hike for his senior internship. Another student has been my advisee for the last four years, and I am handing him his diploma. This trip creates amazing student-teacher relationships. We walked north to south, Ozette to Rialto, and had the "bad" campsites. A point of clarification, the distinctions "good" and "bad" are not very accurate, a better distinction would be "my favorite" and "my second favorite." I have a very special place on the coast, Kayostla Beach. "My favorite" campsites contain this beach.
The next year (2010) was with the same leader as the year before. We walked Ozette to Rialto and had my second favorite sites. Three of the students on this trip are in my advisory. The fourth year (2011) was blogged about here. The fifth year (2012) was blogged about here.
My most recent trip went like this...
We took off Tuesday morning from Ozette bound for Sand Point, the first of my favorite set of campsites. There is a long story here that I don't really want to get into. The short version is this: got camp set up, took a nap, ran into ranger ranger, slept, woke up and dealt with ranger ranger again, packed up camp, started hiking, then walked with ranger ranger for a little.
Wednesday was a long hike, but it was to my favorite camp site. We were a little wet from rain the night before, and it continued on and off throughout the day. We had a great fire at Kayostla. I slept in my favorite spot. We woke to a cloudy day on Thursday. Started a little later than the day before and dealt with rain all morning. We took a good break from 11:00 to 11:40, then started back up. Around noon, the sun broke out, and we busted out a good old yard sale. All our gear out and drying. It was the highlight of the trip for me in a lot of ways. Another great campfire on last night at Chilean Memorial. We shared our orchids and onions.
Our hike this morning was amazing. We took off at 8 am after I made some fantastic scones. We hiked some 3.8ish miles down the coast in two hours and 20 minutes. Back on the bus and into civilization again too quickly.
My mind has been racing a million miles a minute since I returned to the frontcountry. I have been on facebook, email (both personal and work), on the phone, on the internet, on spotify, texting, tweeting, liking, reading, singing, dancing, driving, unpacking, etc. And I have done all of it in little chunks, never holding on to a task for an extended time mainly because many of them have no end. For example, writing this post has been intermixed with texts, facebook refreshing, spotify searching, and email writing. Why do I do this to myself? I told a friend via text tonight how much I enjoyed the last 4 days. I felt at home both in my surroundings, but more importantly, at home in my own skin. I felt like I was me and that was all I needed to be. I have been in cell range since 1:15 pm. I feel amazing after this fantastic trip, but I am feeling nostalgic, literally nostalic. The original greek meaning is a pain from wanting to return home, or at least that is how the word came to be used in the late 18th century. It is cliché, or corny, or overstated, or obnoxious, but no matter what I think about what it sounds like the truth is I feel at home in the woods.
