To read part seven of day nine, click here.

Bruce and I ended up moving the water filtering station. Up the creek was a culvert that water was pouring from – it wasn’t much, but it was easier to get water from there than to get it from the creek.

While we were in the middle of setting up the station again, Kayce came and told us that dinner was almost ready. I thanked him and we hurried to get the water going so it was still filtering while we were eating.

As soon as it was set up we hurried up the road, eager for dinner. I ran over to my pack and pulled out my things, setting my mat down in my normal spot (on the cook’s left).

The smells were heavenly. I could smell vegetables cooking in soy sauce, the scent filling the clearing. Everyone was sitting, the anticipation building. None of us had eaten vegetables in nine days, and we couldn’t wait to get some!

We started passing bowls and my stomach started growling. Thankfully I was on the left the cooks, so I didn’t have to pass around too many full bowls. Having to pass a bowl full of food would have just made it worse.

I watched my bowl come around the circle, trying to figure out what vegetables I had before I saw my bowl. I saw a big piece of broccoli (yes!), a big chunk of carrot (yummy!) and some squash and zucchini (yuck!) in my bowl.

When I got my bowl I stirred it around, looking to see what else I got. There was a chunk of garlic and some meat, the vegetables, and some rice. It looked amazing. 😀

The moment everyone had their food, everyone took a big bite. There was a lot of happy people in the circle at that moment – we were eating vegetables! As I was eating I thought about that night Bruce and I had eaten stinging nettle and how that had started a craving for vegetables. I was finally getting them!

As soon as dinner was over we started cleaning up, getting ready to get back on the road. We still had two miles to go, and now it was dark.

Click here to read the next part of Day Nine.

*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.*