Frontenac Park Hiking Trip reflection.

The Hiking trip was a great experience that I will not soon forget. I had a great time and learned many things along the way. There is a few things we could have improved on,and a couple things we could have not forgotten.Generally we were pretty well prepared other than a few minor errors. Overall it was a great experience and i would do it again in a heartbeat.

We started our journey by meeting Mr Brouwers class as they were coming out,hearing their stories and some of their woes along the trip excited me more for the trip and made me hope that i don't make the mistakes some of them made. We packed our bags and i had packed very efficiently so there was extra room in my bag,because of this i ended up carrying a sleeping bag that someone from the previous class had left behind, and two tarps that were brought in case it rained.After this additional weight was added i could barely get my bag onto my back it was so heavy. After this we started our first trek of the trip which was around 9km if I'm not mistaken and would be the longest stretch during the trip. This was not difficult for me and i enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Others struggled with injury and fatigue during this stretch so we stopped often. Although I wish we could have traveled faster I understood that others were not physically able to hike long stretches without stops,which is fine. After this first stretch Nick and I went to campsite 9,it was beautiful there.After setting up camp we ate a delicious dinner of smoked salmon,boiled carrots,and mashed potatoes. It was a great meal after a long day of hiking. We later had some nutella that other groups brought and made the mistake of letting Ghadeer,who we were sharing a platform with,eat lots of and he kept us up until at least 12 because he was so hyper and couldn't go to sleep. For breakfast the next morning we had some bagels that Ghadeer and Mahad were nice enough to share with us as Nick forgot to bring the oatmeal. We also had some carrots and fruits. We packed up and were ready to go for a while before we departed as mr Brouwer had to get the garbage out of the outhouse. My hips and shoulders were feeling it by the end of this hike. But it was well worth it. The lookout which we stopped at for lunch was stunning.Lots of great pictures were taken. We ate hummus and pita. I continued to campsite 4. It was a really interesting campsite and had a cool peninsula on it. We had a nice fire going while cooking our meals that kept us nice and toasty. This night we ate tacos. I had made so much beef that we shared with 3 other groups and still had leftovers the next day. For breakfast this morning we had mashed potatoes, bagels from other groups,and apples. After this we packed our bags for the last time and said adios to the campsite, and departed for our last hike out of Frontenac

I always see camping as an opportunity to separate myself from reality for a little while. Yet again on this trip i came to this realisation. I have learned that i love getting away from it all,leaving everything behind and not thinking about it. I did not bring my smartphone in this trip. No technology at all for that matter. Technology has become such a distraction to us that we forget about just having a good time for the sake of having a good time. It has to be plastered over social media. I enjoy things for what they are, Not for the instagram picture opportunities. I felt bad for the people on this trip that were constantly on their phones.They had an opportunity to escape from reality for a little but instead chose to bring reality with them. I learned that I love escaping from reality,and camping,of course
 A piece of advice for anyone going on this trip,don't bring your phone. If you have to,then use it only to take pictures,it will truly enhance your experience.

I enjoyed many things beyond just escaping from reality on this trip. I enjoyed the scenery,the stress-free environment,being with friends,the card games,the food,the physical challenge... All of these things combined made a great trip. I enjoyed every aspect of it(except maybe the outhouses,they were pretty smelly). I didn't enjoy any aspect specifically more than another.

My least favorite part of the trip was probably leaving the park. On the final day when we were about to start hiking out,I had this realisation that I was going back to my normal life of school, and it made me want the trip to be longer. I remembered about all the tests,and homework,and everything else i have to worry about. It was really saddening having to head home.

The Hiking Trip was an  amazing experience and reminded me of how fun camping is and excited me for trips this summer,and the canoe trip next year.