Snowshoeing....an adventure to say the least

    Last week was quite crazy for me.  I had an exam in one of my spanish classes on friday, on thursday I had my Modern Latin America midterm, and I had a french exam on friday also.  Many things to study for and so little time!  I was very busy to say the least, but by the end of the week I was so ready to go snowshoeing with my best friends Taylor and Kate through the wilderness program. 
     First off, I feel I should say that I have NEVER snowshoed before and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  We had to get up and be ready for 8:00 am on saturday (very difficult to begin with) and then head over to Alliot to meet our trip leaders.  Both Alex and Alex were leading the trip and made the getting to know each other process very easy because they both had the same name!  We took an SMC van and headed toward Abbey pond.  I'm still not sure where it is exactly, but it was about 1 hr and 30 min away.  We made a wrong turn on the way there, but that's all part of the journey of life isn't it? We sometimes make wrong turns but the way we handle them is what defines us.....and back to snowshoeing.  We got back on the road in about 5 min and then continued on the journey.  We made it to the little side road to where we were supposed to park the van and when we were almost to the parking lot the van stopped moving and we just were sliding on the ice!  We all got out (me, Taylor, Kate, and Alex) and helped to rock and push the van!  It was exceedingly exciting for me because I have never had to do that, so I felt very powerful after that. 
     Once we parked and got outfitted with our snowshoes and gear we started down the path.  There was not a ton of snow on the paths at the start, so we were walking on rocks for a bit with a thin layer of ice and snow, but once we started to get nearer to the pond there was a bit more.  To get to the pond was about 2.5 miles and then we took the path back walking about 5 miles in total.  In the beginning it was exhausting!  We had to stop a lot, plus we were all wearing many layers and then all that exercise was getting us too hot!  I was definitely not expecting it to be such a strenuous activity but I'm so happy I went.  My friends and I shared many laughs and bonded for about 7 hours!  At the end when we reached the pond all our efforts were rewarded because the pond and the view was absolutely beautiful!  And to make it even better, the walk back was so much easier and we already knew the path and how to snowshoe like pros. 

     It was a very exciting trip and we were all sore and tired when we returned that we all showered and watched a movie.  It was a very full day and I am so glad I got to share the adventure with Taylor and Kate!  Please tweet me, formspring me, or contact me (use the contact tab at the top) with any questions you have about SMC.

Kayley