Week Ten: Summits

This past week was the gappers final backpacking trip, filled with plenty of summits, shooting stars, and stunning views. 

Week 10 saw the gappers and instructors up in a cabin in the White Mountains exploring the surrounding backcountry while also spending lots of time with each other.

The trip began with a two hour ride up to the parking lot at the base of Mount Cardigan where we all would be staying. The hike was just about two miles so we were hoping to reach the cabin on the earlier side so we would have time to explore before dark. However, the trail was steeper than we were expecting, which meant that we had to take a slower pace in order to get up to the cabin. Yet, when we reached the High Cabin we were rewarded with mattresses, cookware and a sink, and even a wood stove. As dark was fast approaching, a few of us continued up the trail to the summit of Mount Cardigan to see the sunset. The views at the top were captivating, we could see all of the mountains and lakes around us and even some towns in the far off distance, although we were freezing due to the heavy winds. We headed back down to the cabin to get warm, but at least we got to see a spectrum of colors across the sky before the sky went fully dark. Coming back to the cabin, we found that the wood stove had been started and the cabin had been heated up. After dinner Nora and Maggie held our usual circle outside on some rocks near the cabin where we could see the clear night sky. We were able to do some star gazing since there were no clouds, and we even got to see plenty of shooting stars! Everyone went to bed that night warm from the stove, but it was too hot to some due to it also being warm outside so both instructors and a few gappers ended up spending the night outside. 

The next morning, most of the group woke up to the sun coming up over the distant mountains and got ready for a morning of hiking. The goal was to hike south to the summit of Mount Gilman while also stopping at two other peaks along the way. It was much hotter than many of us had been expecting but it meant that we were able to take our time on the trail, stopping to examine interesting looking bushes, look for animal tracks, and even play some hacky sack on each of the summits. When we reached our last summit, we all found sit spots for a little while, before deciding to head back to the cabin for lunch. We had to get back quickly for lunch so we kept up a faster pace to head straight back to the cabin where we had a hot lunch while playing cards and listening to Nora play music on her guitar. The afternoon consisted of more solo prep as we did sit spots again and practiced putting up tarps. That night brought the return of games with Maggie and Nora joining some of the gappers in a - much calmer than usual - game of Anomia. The night ended with many gappers sleeping outside once again as the conditions were clear again and the moss in the forest surrounding the cabin was really comfortable to sleep on. 

Thursday was a day full of surprises for everyone. The plan was to use off trail navigation with compasses and maps to explore different locations around the area. Yet, within the first few minutes it was clear that although the map made it seem like navigation wouldn’t be too much of a challenge, within each of the topography sections on the map the actual terrain was much more variable. After about an hour we decided to head to the Holt Trail to take us to the summit of Cardigan and from there we would continue our navigation. However, when we reached the Holt Trail we realized that it was less of a hiking trail and more of a bouldering and scrambling trail. The trail was not one any of us had planned on taking and was a little more dangerous than a usual hiking trail, but we all embraced the challenge and worked together so that each of us was able to complete the climb and summit. We ended up eating lunch in a sheltered part of the summit since the wind was so strong before heading to our next destination. We descended the mountain on one of the trails, hoping to find Grotto Cave by path before going off trail to head back to the cabin. There was no signage and so we accidentally went all the way to the next peak on the path, Firescrew. We took a quick look around and decided that on our way back we would look for the cave. Yet, there was no true trail and so a few gappers and both instructors headed down the mountain to try and find the cave. They discovered not a deep cave but instead a grotto, some small holes in the rock, and some rock falls. They returned back to the group and everyone quickly climbed back up Cardigan to head back to the cabin for the night. 

Friday morning found about half of the group getting up at 5:30am to summit Cardigan once again, although this time for sunrise. After seeing the sun come up, everyone met back up at the cabin to start breakfast or cleaning. The breakfast of candy pancakes was a hit, and the group got back on trail to head back to the bus. Along our hike down, we ended up stopping at a bridge that crossed a stream so that most members of the group could stick their heads in the cold, refreshing water. We ended up getting down the mountain much faster than it took us to get up and we had plenty of time to head to a nearby town for lunch. The diner ended up being great and we headed back to camp very full. Once at camp, we had our end of week meeting and decommissioned our gear. The plan had been to chill the rest of the night but we wanted to keep the good vibes going and headed out to a nearby movie theater instead before then coming back to camp to sleep.

The weekend was filled with plenty of chill time as well as even more exploring. Saturday meant a trip to town with the added bonus of heading further away to visit an old rail trail and stream where we saw animal tracks and even a heron. That night found some of the gappers and Nora and Romeek playing grog once again, although this time in the main house which was a lot of fun. Sunday meant the usual cleaning and grocery runs, and continued as usual with a potluck in the main house. This Sunday though, Jake had come back for another night of storytelling with two new tales for us. Monday found the gappers doing solo prep in the morning and starting end of semester projects like the zine and feast planning in the afternoon. 

As the semester comes to a close, come back one last time for the final issue of the Gap ‘24 Blog!