Jaidan Brass - Hiking Torry Ridge (12/04)

    For my Outdoor Leadership class, LDSP 340, we had to do an outdoor experience as a group during fall break. The students had to be the main ones planning and executing the trip, though they had help from the teacher and textbooks. I was a part of the class’s Logistics and Planning team, which helped to decide and plan the trip. We chose to go to Torry Ridge for our outdoor experience on a four-day, three-night backpacking trip. We left Saturday morning on October 8th and returned on the 11th. We hiked a looped trail that was more than 20 miles long that was located in the George Washington National Forest. The overall conditions during the trip were great. I considered the weather to be excellent for hiking. We camped at no-trace campsites, which was pretty nice. I think it had been a while since the day two campsite had been used because of the overgrowth. The trail was more difficult than I expected. It was rocky and full of inclines and declines repeated throughout the trail. This, however, brought a sense of calmness to the mind that you really can’t get anywhere else. By focusing on how hard the trail is, one lets go of other stresses within their life. And since this was particularly after midterm, it was all that midterm stress that had built up. Otherwise, the trail also had beautiful scenery, and I had a great feeling of accomplishment once I completed it.

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