3 Day Adventure: Days 2 & 3

Day 2

The boy who cried backpack

This day consisted of the rope challenge in the morning and early afternoon, followed by lunch and then we were given our final challenge. This mental challenge consisted of solo camping from early evening until noon the following day. Each participant had to select a spot away from the cabin to spend the night. After initially climbing up into the mountains, I decided to head down to the valley in this giant clearing where I was surrounded by mountains. On top of the mental challenge, I gave myself the objective of not eating during this entire solo camping trip. It wasn’t so hard until the next day because I must have been up around 6 or 7 and had to battle between self-reflection, temptation and hunger.

Self-control has always been something I have wanted to improve and I think I took a giant step because I had an entire bag of food hung up in a tree about 300 m from my tent. I was also able to reflect on many things, including why I am here and who I am. These are very basic philosophical questions that I, like many others, have never taken seriously enough to allocate time to reflect upon them.

The sun was going down, it must have been about 10:30 and I was preparing myself to go to sleep. I was wandering the valley when, across a creek with raging rapids, I saw a backpack hung up in a tree with a bright yellow strap. Immediately, my mind jumped out of the gates and it was running a mile a minute. I can honestly say that fear took over me for many reasons but mostly because it was no more than 100m from my tent. It is important to remind you that this was bear country and you are supposed to hang your food far enough so that the bear doesn’t associate your tent with the food it is trying to get out of the tree. The creek prevented me to cross over and investigate any further so I opted to go to sleep and not worry about it. The following day, Mike came to investigate with me and it turned out to be dead pine branches that created a copper orange colour on green. In hindsight, I can’t help but feel ridiculous and embarrassed about this backpack story but think about the conditions before you point your finger and hold your cramped stomach from laughter.

Lesson #7: A strong dose of hunger, fear and prolonged solidarity are as potent as any hallucinogen on the black market.

Day 3

Breathe

After eating what would have been the grossest wrap had I not been on the brink of starvation, we had a session of “intentional enquiry” where Mike directed questions for Pablo, and then Hillary, to explore their personal space (one of their personal challenges). It was quite intense and incredible on how quickly one can open themselves to the point where they are fragile and vulnerable.

Lesson #8: Some people go through their entire lives without examining their Self and who they are. I am one of those people until now. This adventure in the outdoors has quickly turned into an adventure within myself where I need to ask some serious questions. I suggest you try the same before you wake up one day and wonder who the hell you are and what you are doing in this world.