A 24 Hour Adventure (Part 2)

         A few days before we went canoeing with Friluftsliv, some of my friends from that class asked if we wanted to spend the night at the campsite. I thought that it sounded like an adventure, so I agreed right away. We planned to sleep in hammocks, which we were able to borrow from the NLC storage, along with sleeping bags, mats, and thermoses. 

        While the rest of my class carried day packs, Alina and I--the only two that decided to stay--had on our enormous 70 liter bags. Marianne was adamant that we both have 2 sleeping bags, to make extra sure that we didn't freeze during the night. I wore my wool underwear, as well as two more layers of pants, an insulated shirt, and my biggest winter jacket. (This is Marielle and Valeria from NLC--Marielle in sweats and without a bag, obviously not planning on staying over).

        After the rest of our classes left, there were 9 students that remained. We stuck around by the fire for a while, then decided to walk up to the view point for golden hour. Friluftsliv is the Outdoor Life class, but they also have an emphasis on photography, and some of the students had photo challenges that they needed to complete. We ended up getting the time wrong and sort of missing 'golden hour' but it was still a great view! (That is Alina on the path to the viewpoint, and me posing with a girl named Laura from Friluft--on our bellies because we were near the edge)

        The rest of the night we spent hanging out by the fire, trying to keep warm. My friend Eskil helped us put up our hammocks--right near the lake--and we roasted hot dogs over the fire (yes we brought a whole bottle of ketchup). We also boiled water, and I made some ramen noodles that I ate with freshly whittled chopsticks. As it got darker and colder we broke out the hot chocolate, and later Eskil brought out some harmonicas and kazoos which we had fun with.

        It was really nice getting to know some more of the Friluft class. It was a sort of random group, but we had a great time. I've been spending a lot of time with Linn and Ida recently, who are roommates and who decided to stay over. Linn is a knitting genius, and she's been helping me with my mittens. Most of us brought our knitting which was fun in the beginning, but eventually we needed to put real gloves on against the cold. (My crazy mitten story will have to be a whole different post...)

        When it was time for bed, I had to take off my jacket in exchange for another warm shirt, and put on two new pairs of wool socks. We had stacked our hammocks, and I was in the middle. I put in my insulating mat, and the two sleeping bags, but as I was getting in, one of my feet landed in wet moss, and I learned a serious lesson about not wearing your sleeping socks until you're securely in your hammock. Luckily, I was wearing two pairs of socks so I was able to switch them around. I also filled a bottle with hot water and wrapped it in a different sock, so that it kept my feet warm all night. 

 

        I slept wonderfully! I was super cozy--in a hat as well--and though I woke up a few times, rather confused about where I was, I was able to go right back to sleep. In the morning, it was pretty difficult finding the motivation to leave my warm cocoon for the cold outdoors, but we had to leave at some point. It was so chilly that there was steam coming off of the water. From our hammocks, we could sort of see the sunrise above the lake. 

 

        We ate breakfast--sandwiches that we had packed the day before--and set off through the woods. There was some difficulty with the map, and people had different opinions on which way we should go, but we made it back safe and sound around 11:30--just in time for lunch. I'm so glad that I went, it was a great bonding experience, and an adventure that I will never forget! (The masks are a Friluft requirement they all got from the army store meant for sleeping outside).