The Nearly Fatal Snow Caving Trip Essay -- Reflection Memoir Essays

The Nearly Fatal Snow Caving Trip Sharp pains shooting through muscles, trying to avoid sleep, hypothermia set in on an Antarctic ice crevasse researcher. I had the opportunity to go snow caving with my brother, Josh. I was confident in my winter backcountry skills and anticipated a memorable trip. I did not know what I was getting into. Growing colder day-by-day, winter became more dominant. Deep snow made travel difficult. To navigate through this terrain, I would have to wear special equipment. There are a few ways to travel over snow: snowmobiles, cross-country skis, and snowshoes. The uneven terrain and fresh powder called for snowshoes. Along with shoes, winter camping requires many other types of gear. To cope with the cold, I had to pack bulky warm clothing, and sleeping gear. The Campin' Gaz lantern and stove, both blue and oddly shaped, were necessary for a cold night without a fire. Large, stiff, blue tarps were needed to repel the wet snow while heavy, green foldable shovels comprised the majority of the weight in my pack. The down filled, sleeping bag received much of the attention of my pack's available space. A Kelty 5400 cubic inch Red Cloud swelled with these items, impatient to be worn. With our gear ready, we boarded our transportation, a brown, earth-colored Subaru wagon, was the car of choice. The packs filled the little space of the hatchback. Through the neighboring towns, we made our way to the top of the mesa. After we reached our chosen parking area, we stepped out of the brown machine quickly realizing that we needed to put the rest of our clothes on. After only a moment to acclimate, we prepared our gear. Hurling Kelty over my back, I balanced to put on my orange, plastic, snowshoes. Al... ... to be inside this precarious place, I was careful with every movement. As we both lay in our bags, the cave's darkness soon soothed our eyes and sleep came to our tired bodies. Striking camp early in the morning we traversed over the white, moon lit landscape. We arrived at the car for a late lunch, which ended our camping trip. Thanks to my knowledge of winter backcountry, and my brother, I made it back alive. Now I realize more possibilities and consequences before I am doing dangerous things. Even with all the knowledge and experience, nature can still prevail. Luckily, this was not the case this time. I am extremely thankful for my brother, and he is thankful to still have a brother. I am continually learning new knowledge and skills and am still humbled by this experience. I hoped that this would be a memorable trip, but it turned out to be life changing.