The last three summers I have gone backpacking through a program called InspireOut which was started by my swim coach and his wife.

We traveled to the trailhead where the four day, three night trip began. Less than a mile up a steep mountain was our first stop, Smith Lake where we camped next to the lake.

Before dinner, some of my classmates, Delaney Halloran (10), Kyla O’Brien (9), McKenna Hubbard (9), and Amelia Iseley (9) and I took a swim across the lake to cool down after our hot hike. We all strapped on our Tevas and waded into the ice water before sprinting to a massive rock across the lake to lay on.

As the group was about to swim back, Kyla found a leech on her shoe and had to peel it off. We all screamed at the top of our lungs. We swam back faster than ever and ran out ofthe ‘Leech Lake’.

The next day my friends and I stopped at this waterfall called Little Jamison Falls where we got to break for a quick swim and stand under the waterfall.

The rush of the water pounding on my back was one of the most scary, crazy, and enlightening moments of my life. I am so blessed to have been able to experience that especially with some of my closest friends.

We all took pictures to capture that moment all of us shared. After the falls we hiked to Wades Lake. It is a place known for its jumping rocks.

I was the first one to jump. When you plunge into the water, you feel as if a bomb is exploding from under you, it even sounds like it. The view at the top was breathtaking.

My friends and I have always been close but backpacking strongly solidified my relationships with them. I even made new friends with the other adventurers out there. It is so freeing to be in nature with no car noises or technology and no people outside of my group. There is nothing else like backpacking.