The SWEAT saga continues...

Currently: My parents left today to go back to Texas, and with them, left the strange heat wave that pushed our temperatures to the upper nineties. Ironically, it began when they arrived.

SWEAT Day 2 (Thursday 8/20)

And on the second day of SWEAT, our camp leaders saw that campsites near the lake were now open. We repacked everything, moved over, set up camp again (actually, the tent pitching part didn't happen until the evening). And the leaders saw that this was good.

We took a 4 mile hike to Duck Lake (which did, indeed, have ducks). Along the way, we were charged with pairing off with someone we didn't know yet and learning their life story. What followed was probably the most direct getting-to-know-you experience, and it was great. The hike wasn't too difficult, and actually, the views were quite enjoyable. When we reached Duck Lake, we had lunch and then presented our partners to the rest of the group. Let's just say that I think my partner and I won the award for most revealing introductions.

On the way back, I talked to some more students, and I was continuously amazed by the altruism and experience of my classmates. Many have served overseas and have beautiful stories to share. The level of wisdom these people have could fill several books.

I spent the rest of the day at Alpine Lake (whose cold waters I had finally learned to forgive). I explored rocks that I hadn't explored before, and I found a rock that was in deep enough water that I could jump from it. (Clarification: I may have found this rock on the first day, but I can't remember. Also, I did not technically find it. Another family discovered it, and after I verified that all of them survived the plunge, I alerted the Stanford group to its existence.) Immersing myself in that cold water was quite an experience (and a poor substitute for the showers we did not have).

I spent the rest of the day lying on a rock and sunbathing (as you can tell, life was so difficult).

That night, we had spaghetti and played "Never have I ever". At some point, a few of us wanted to spend time at the lake under the stars. Our group of seven trekked through the night with the hope that we wouldn't encounter any of the infamous bears that populated the park. We managed to find a beautiful rocky slope, where we could lay down and soak in the sky. We began to share random facts (favorite mythological deity, fantasy creature we would most like to meet). Along the way, we found out more about each other's lives and saw several shooting stars streak across the sky.

When we got back to camp, I decided to nickname our tent "the adventure squad", since most of its members had either come out to the lake that night or accepted the challenge of jumping off the rock.

And so ended Day 2.