Though we didn’t have signal to post last night, we’ve arrived at Julian Price Park and set up camp! Some of us for the first time! We re-introduced ourselves with our “I Am From” poems, which follow a specific format but are filled with tidbits of our personal histories. What an incredible way to get to know each other and our myriad stories.

Preparing for the week ahead, we launched into observational activities to develop skills we will need to document our natural experiences. Some of the various strategies included using all of our 5 senses, shifting our perspective, or using the sentence starter prompts of “I notice… or I wonder… or “it reminds me of…” to spark better observations and reflections. The process allows us to dig deeper into our experience and perception of our surroundings.

Though it is definitely cooler than the Piedmont or the Coastal plain today, at 87 degrees F, it is quite warm for the mountains, and so we took a quick excursion to a refreshing creek to soak our feet (or our bodies), and to look for salamanders and macroinvertebrates. We concluded our first day with a picnic dinner at the Raven Rocks overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway to catch the most spectacular sunset ever!  We are off to a phenomenal start!