To read part two of day eleven, click here.

As soon as Katie was out of sight, I got to work as quickly as I could. I was going to be reunited with my crew! I put my journal away, rolled up my mat, and wrestled my pack on. Within less than five minutes, I was ready to go.

I said goodbye to my solo site, glad for the experience but very happy to be done with it. I wanted company again. I was tired of being alone. After living with seven younger siblings all my life, I’ve gotten used to always having someone around. And while it’s nice to get away for a time, after a day or so you really start missing people. 🙂

I started marching down the trail, happy to be on the move again. I wasn’t going to be happy about that by the end of the day, but for a couple of moments I was happy to be hiking. I had a song in my heart and I was hiking towards my friends – how could I not be happy?

There was a lot of rustling happening in the woods to my left. A turn in the trail revealed the cause of that – Rebecca. She turned and waved to me, clearly happy to see another human. I grinned at her and waved back before continuing to hike. It looked like she was going to take a while – she hadn’t even taken her tarp down yet.

There was a clearing coming up, and I decided that it was my destination. I could tell that it was open, and there were splashes of color here and there through the trees.

I could see some of my crew! I felt so much more peaceful when I saw them and knew that I was back with my crew. It’s really strange and I can’t understand it. I just remember it. I remember how happy I was to be back, happy to be with my crew again.

Everyone looked up at me when I walked into the clearing and I was greeted by smiles and waves. Bobby mouthed “well?” at me, and I made motions to show that I was ok. I pointed back at him to ask how he was, and he motioned back that he was fine.

I grinned as I sat down in the circle, knowing that I was back. And I was ready to face whatever needed to be faced.

Click here to read the next part of Day Eleven.

*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.*