Last Updated December 9, 2022
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Our second day of Cardigan we had our biggest hike, we hiked Mount Cardigan. In the morning we planned our route and set off. We also assigned jobs such as pacemaker, hydration reminder, and navigator. First, we made our way across a couple bridges to get to the trail. The different groups had to spread out on different trails so that each group could still enjoy the scenery without being distracted by other groups. While we walked Mr. Woolner and our instructor's Heidi and Erin talked about the foliage and the different zones of a mountain such as the alpine zone. About a fourth of the way through the hike Mr. Woolner stopped us to talk about ash trees and how they are becoming more and more rare, and how the Emerald Ash Borer Beetle is destroying all of the ash trees. Then we sketched the big ash tree. We stopped to sketch multiple times after that and once we just stopped and drank in the foliage of the canopy above. We stopped at PJ ledge to get a hint of what Cardigan mountain summit would look like. About half way through our hike we reached the high cabin and ate lunch. After lunch we stopped the sketch on a steep bare rock section. Just before the bare rock section, there was a section of spruce trees. Halfway through sketching, we heard another group that came from the summit. My instructor's really did not want us to go to the summit but finally gave in after everyone asked. The summit was the highlight of my day. The foliage was beautiful and the view looked like it stretched on forever. The journey back was much faster than the way up so we had plenty of free time to do whatever we wanted when we were back. On our way down I started noticing different sections of trees, such as birch, spruce and pine. I also noticed regions of ferns and moss. After dinner Sean took us on a journey through the stars explaining how light bleed from cities all over the world was causing our stars to become invisible.