8th Grade Camping Trip
By Luke and Aisha
This year's eighth grade fall trip was kayaking to the San Juan Islands. We took at ferry to Camp Orkila and met our guides. Then we took the wet exit test, you have to flip the kayak, pull off your spray skirt, and swim from underneath the kayak. This is a very important test to take. If you can't take off your spray skirt while flipped, you can't continue on the trip because there's a chance you might drown. Everyone was very nervous but luckily, everyone passed and it was very successful.
Once that was over we got settled into our cabins and went to dinner. The food is amazing and we had no ort the whole trip. Ort is the leftover food on your plate that you couldn't finish. For that, we got our names on the Hog Log. The Hog Log is a large board where your name gets written on in large letters under a pig. After dinner we did the giant swing. This trip was all about team building and pushing ourselves to another level of comfortability. On the giant swing, you and your partner are harnessed in. Your classmates pull you up into the air with a big rope until you no longer want to go up any farther. The best part about it is you're in control of when you pull the rope and plummet several feet, swing back and forth, and come in close contact of passing trees. It was a great rush and new experience for many of us.
The next morning, bright and early, we loaded our 2-person kayaks and paddled to Jones Island. The paddle from Orkila to Jones was around 7.5 nautical miles. We split up into 2 pods, leaving 30 minutes apart from each other. This made groups smaller and easier to keep together, this allowed us to be more more careful around boats. The paddle took most of the day. In the middle of the paddle we saw 4 Orcas which was very cool, and many Seals. Once we got there, we immediately started to unload and set up camp. We stayed on Jones Island Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. While on the island, we did many team building activities. The games made us work as a class to achieve a certain goal. They would occasionally add little things to make our trip more challenging to push our limits, Like no speaking. There were a lot of little perks that made this trip special. Like watching the sunset, seeing a dead shark, and having fun kayaking in the bay.
When Thursday came around, we woke up early and packed up camp. We all said our goodbyes to Jones Island then started our long paddle back. This time we went the other way back around Jones cause the guides said it would be much easier because of the current. We were also much better in the kayaks so we moved much faster. On the way back we saw two seals and lots of sea kelp. When we got back we were all looking forward to taking showers, and heading to bed, but there was still lots to do. We split off into groups and individually cleaned, sorted and hung up our gear around Orkila. After that we finally went back to our cabins and took showers. That night we had an amazing dinner with over 12 other schools and went to bed. The next day we packed up and walked across camp to the zip line. After the zip line we got on the buses and drove to the ferry and headed home.
