The Last Trip
Keisha Brown
ENC1101-12
Instructor Lemon
August 9, 2012

Have you ever accomplished something that you did not think you could? My senior year of high school definitely proved this statement. My classmates and I climbed one of the highest mountains in the Shenandoah National Park, while facing numerous challenges.
As I walked outside on my front porch, I thought it was rather cool to be going on a camping trip. I thought, “What the heck,” it was still going to be fun. As I arrived at school, I saw Curry, my teacher, and only a few more classmates. “Where is everyone,” I thought to myself. This was going to be the last camping trip high school. I kissed my grandmother goodbye and got my gear out of the car. “This is not going to be the typical camping trip that you are used to,” Curry explained. I wonder what he had in store for us Curry explained that we, as a group, had to plan the entire trip. That meant deciding what equipment to bring, what food to bring, and which mountain and hike we were going to take. We quickly figured this out and we were on our way.
When we arrived at the park, I noticed that it was a bit cold. Being that I have camped in the past, I dressed appropriately. We started our journey onto the trail. “This isn’t going to be that bad,” I thought. As we were hiking, I looked at the trees that were turning into the colors of fall; red, orange, and yellow. Beautiful. As I was walking down the path, I could hear a familiar sound. It sounded like running water. I remember, as we looked at the map deciding which trail we were taking, not seeing a river on the trail. The farther we hiked, the closer that sound got and before we knew it, we were at a standstill. There was a huge tree that had fallen across a short river. How were we going to get across?
We had the slightest idea how we were going to get across the river. It looked as if we were going to have to walk across it, with all of our equipment. Each of our bags weighed, at least, thirty pounds. This was going to harder than we thought. After the first few girls crossed, my mind was getting calm, and I knew I could do it. There were two girls ahead of me, and then it was going to be my turn. Everybody made it look like a piece of cake. “Finally,” I thought, “I can do this.” Just then, when I made my first step onto the tree, I was shaken by a huge roar of thunder. “This can’t be happening,” I told the girl behind me. Before she could respond to my question, the bottom had fallen out of the sky. It started to rain.
Just when I thought the hard part was over, it was just beginning. How was I going to make it across this river, with the equipment, in the pouring rain? After ten minutes of me taking steps and falling in the river, I was ready to give up. I was wet, tired, and frustrated. I did not think I could make it any further. Just then I heard my classmate yelling and encouraging me to continue. For some reason, this gave me energy. While the rain drops bounced off my face and body, I took one last step to get back on the tree, and I made. I had to carefully and slowly maneuver myself across and I did it. I couldn’t believe I had made it. When I got across, I was welcomed with open arms from my classmates.
We hiked a few more hours until we reached the top. The view was absolutely breathtaking. I was proud of my classmates, and more importantly, proud of myself. We had climbed one of the highest peaks in the Shenandoah National Park. At the end of this trip, I came to a realization; you can do anything that you set your mind to, no matter how impossible it seems.