Castle Rock
Adirondack State Park, New York
5:04 AM
Adirondack State Park, New York
5:04 AM
"Ugh, this sucks!"
The campers were resting at a natural break in the trail, where a hairpin curve cut up the slope. They'd been hiking using headlamps and flashlights for more than an hour, using rough cut walking sticks to steady themselves in the pre-dawn darkness. Some enterprising volunteer group or park rangers had dragged a naturally-fallen spruce tree to the flat space, sheared all the limbs down and leveled the top side of the log to make a rough bench. Five teenagers, three girls and two boys, nearly collapsed onto the bench, drinking greedily from their dwindling water bottles. Their leader turned around, already half way up the next length of trail, and called back, "Save that water, kids. You'll want it on the way back."
The five teens grumbled to themselves under their breath, but capped their water bottles. One by one, they got to their feet and began trudging up the trail after their volunteer leader. Last year's leaves stuck to their borrowed hiking boots and worn sneakers. These weren't the kinds of kids who had their own gear. Even their backpacks and headlamps were owned by the youth agency sponsoring this outing. "Teambuilding," they called it. It funded well-meaning adults who wanted to give at-risk youth a chance to expand their horizons. As far as the campers were concerned, it was just time away from the things they actually cared about, like basketball, video games, drugs, sex, alcohol, and petty crime. For the leader, though, they knew what was waiting at the top.
Twenty minutes later, the leader helped the last straggler climb up the final slope. Castle Rock isn't a large mountain, by Adirondack standards, but it was still a respectable climb, crowned by a great exposed rock face which gave it its name. "So...what the hell are we doing up here?" "Yeah, besides freezing our asses off in the dark?" The leader turned and smiled back at them. "Language, friends. Wait for it."
Five minutes passed, then ten. Light began to shine in the east, dark blue at first, lightening until it was the cheery pink of false dawn. "Is that it? So fu-" "Shhhhhh! Not yet!". Another ten minutes crawled by until a sudden shaft of brilliant gold crested the horizon. The sunbeam immediately bathed the mountains and forests with the colors of light and life. Fog rolled away from Blue Mountain Lake, and a bird song cut through the air. An audible gasp rippled through the assembled youths as they shaded their surprised eyes until they adjusted to brightness.
Volunteer leader Alisae turned to her young charges and smiled at them. "This is what you're missing. There's a whole lot of world out there, and I'd like you to have a chance to see it. When you're ready to head back to camp, let me know."