10/14/08

Red Cedar Middle School Spends 3 Days in Pharoah Lake Wilderness in the Adirondacks

The middle school group and the core staff set out on the morning of September 24 for three days of backpacking in the Adirondacks.

We hiked into Pharoah Lake on the first day.

C and Evan

Margot and Nimaya set up camp

Fishing in the evening

Kellen cutting firewood

Making s'mores by the campfire

Patrick

We rose at dawn

Loon in the Mist
I sit on some rocks at the lake's edge.
It is early morning and the cool water mixes with the warm air.
A layer of mist blankets the lake and I can't see the other side.
The sun barely peeks above the nearby mountains.
All is calm.
A solemn and solitary loon drifts across the lake.
Its head is black and its body white.
It skims the silver water in search of food.
The low mist looks like grey fire. It is beautiful.
The water is pure and calm.
The loon dives underwater.
When it comes up it has a brown speckled fish in its beak.
He swallows it and continues foraging.
After a while, it swims off and dives under again.
It has disappeared into the mist.

—Eliot

Dawn fishing

We had a morning meeting after breakfast

Then spent much of the day hiking Pharoah Mountain

On the summit 

We saw a lot of large white pines

Fresh fish for dinner!

On Friday morning, we broke camp and packed out

Back to the cars, just as it started to rain