To read part seventeen of day seven, click here.

Waking up to crickets is actually quite enjoyable. It was a gorgeous morning, with the exception of the freezing cold air that made my nose tingle. I burrowed deeper into my sleeping bag, my eyes barely peeking out over the edge.

I pulled my watch out to look at the time. It was 6:03! I sighed and woke up Rebecca, ready to move out of the way in case she woke up violently. She woke up relatively easily, which was good. I pulled my sweater out from the bottom of the sleeping bag, wrapping it around myself as quickly as I could.

Getting out of my sleeping bag was not easy. I didn’t want to. It was so cold out! But we had to be down at the trailer, ready to go by 7:00, and we weren’t going to make it unless I got out of my sleeping bag. Everyone getting up was the first priority.

Within fifteen minutes, we were all sitting up. Ten minutes after that we were out of our sleeping bags. And fifteen minutes after that, we were still getting ready for the day. (We being most of the other girls – I was ready to go after the first twenty minutes).

It was 6:45, and we hadn’t even started to take the tarp down. I pulled my pack out of the tarp and started to dismantle the side that everyone’s feet had been on. By the time I was done with the second knot, most of the other girls had joined me.

We packed up the tarp and I stuck it in my backpack, wishing I didn’t have to carry it. When everyone was ready we headed up the trail, stopping at Jen and Katie’s sleeping clearing.

Most of the boys joined us and I grinned, feeling better now that we were together again. I don’t know why I needed to be with all of them. I just know that whenever we weren’t together I felt an anxiety that I can’t explain.

We headed for the van, where breakfast was waiting for us. We were having oatmeal, and I was hungry!

Click here to read the next part of Day Eight.

*Everything here is from my own memory and may not be correct. Outward Bound is not responsible for anything I post here. Thanks too NCOBS for letting me use their photos.*