To read part seven of day three, click here.

Our next challenge was a short ladder, nothing bad. I don’t think it was even 6 feet long, so compared to the others we had done this was a piece of cake! The only problem? We had to go down it. Not up it.

Going down a ladder with a heavy pack on your back? Not the easiest thing I have ever done. Not the hardest either, but definitely one of the harder ones.

Since I was in the back of the line, I had to wait awhile. It was taking at least 4 or 5 minutes for each person to get down the ladder, and I was at the back of a 13 person crew. I took a couple of pictures, but put the camera away after a bit because I was not getting any good pictures.

Once we were all down that ladder, we started moving again. We had only been walking for about three minutes when we had to stop again. This time it was not a ladder – it was just a big rock that you had to climb over. And on the other side was a four foot drop. You could climb down the rock, (there were a few handholds) or you could jump. I climbed it. Or at least, I tried too.

This obstacle took even longer then the ladder. We were all told to drop our packs and line up to get down the rock. Bruce and Jen went down first, and they helped everyone else down. When the first half of the group was down there, they asked us to bring the packs up and pass them down. Because I was in the back, I carried most of the packs up. I did make Luke, Kayce and Bobby come get theirs – they were too heavy for me. I could lift Luke and Bobby’s packs about an inch off the ground, but I couldn’t budge Kayce’s pack!

I grabbed my pack and headed back to the rocks. My pack was passed down, and I went down after it. I was able to get about halfway down before I was stuck – my feet could not reach the next ledge. I don’t remember how I got down after that – either I jumped, or Bruce helped me. I do remember that I went to get my pack on and could not get up again – Bruce had to pull me to my feet. LOL

We lined back up and moved out. If I remember correctly, the going was pretty easy for a while there. It was going downhill gradually, with a nice even trail. Not very many rocks or roots, which was always a nice thing. After I hurt my ankle, I was always very careful of the rocks and roots, because they made it very easy to twist my ankle, which just hurt it more.

Then the trail got a bit steeper, so I had to be more careful. And then we were walking over rocks that (kinda) formed steps, but they were also wobbly. Thankfully despite the trail I was able to keep up, even though I was tiring quickly.

Then we came to a trail junction, and apparently the LOD’s (Leader of the Day) did not know which way we were supposed to go. So I sat down and took a break. I did not participate in the argument debate about which way we needed to go – I just sat down and rested so I would be able to continue hiking.

When the rest of the crew had decided which way we needed to go, I pulled myself to my feet and started moving again. I really wanted to just take my pack off and curl up in a ball, but I had to stay with the crew.

We walked for another 15 minutes to a half and hour. And then a cheer came from the front of the line – “We made it!”

We walked into the campsite and sat down in “pack circle”. For pack circle, everyone had to sit down in a circle and we talked for a minute before splitting up to take care of “EGGS”.

Essentials – going to the bathroom, getting a drink, etc.
Group – taking out all of the group gear and piling it up.
Group – taking care of setting up tarps, getting dinner going, filtering water, etc.
Special – Um… We never had anything “special”. LOL

On this particular night, I took care of my essentials, and then started unloading the group gear from my pack. Which means, I pulled the extra strings out and threw them on the pile. 🙂

Click here to read the next part of Day Three.

*Everything here is from my own memory and may not be correct. Outward Bound is not responsible for anything I post here.*