Camp Ondessonk Narrative

Imagine yourself stumbling through the woods in the middle of the night with no flashlight. Recently, I had a similar experience at Camp Ondessonk during a night hike, but don’t worry. I was not in any serious danger because I had a guide and my group accompanying me. None the less the experience was still exceptionally terrifying, and I spent the hike clinging to the hand of Ana. Before any of this happened, first the eighth grade had to ride to Camp Ondessonk on a bus. After we arrived we gathered our things and congregated outside the old dining hall, played some games as a grade and then gathered into our assigned groups to play ice breakers. Following the ice breakers we walked toward the ominous looking woods and began our night

During one game we were each given a crayon and told to guess the color. Making out the color in the dark was almost impossible because of the lack of light. This is because we have rod and cone-shaped organs in our eyes. Rods allow us to see in the dark but don’t allow the seeing of color. Cones let us detect color but don’t work in dark settings. We were going to find out the color once we were back in the light. After playing the games, we went on our way. At one point we reached wide stone steps. Going down the stairs was rather hard, and I relied on the people in front of me to know when there was another step coming. As I walked down the steps cautiously, I still clung to Ana’s hand. Once I slipped and fearing that I was going to fall over the edge, I gripped her hand even harder. Little did I know that stairs were the least of my worries. After the overcoming the stairs, we came to a rope bridge hanging above a lake. Since I am afraid of heights, walking across the bridge was one of the biggest obstacles that I faced during the hike. The group walked across the bridge single file, and I was forced to let go of Ana’s hand. As I made my way across the bridge, it shook from the others’ walking, and I grasped the side of

As we walked the counselor talked about how the trees curve over the trail competing for light, as if they were animals fighting for food. Eventually, we reached the bridge again. I hadn’t noticed that we had made a loop. For a second time, I was going to have to make it over the bridge one last time. This time I was not as anxious about going over. I let go of Ana’s hand and walked gingerly over the shaky bridge being careful not to look down at the glistening water. Before I knew it, I reached the end and walked down the steps. After the bridge we had to walk up the harrowing stone steps. I took hold of Ana’s hand once more and we made our way up. This time I got to the top without incident. My eye had adjusted by then, and I could see the outline of the people around me. One object that stood out to me in the dark was Mason’s bright American flag hat. As we walked on the trail, we were quiet and took in the nature around us. The frogs croaked, the crickets chirped, and leaves crunched under our feet. I breathed in deeply, enjoying the fresh smell of leaves and damp earth and after a few minutes, we reached the building. As we walked inside I squinted against the bright lights. Compared to the darkness of the forest it was as if I was looking directly into the sun. I breathed a sigh of relief, for we had done it, we had made it through the