Spring break: the week every college student looks forward to. They envision themselves on the beach somewhere tropical, spending time with friends or going home to spend time with family. It’s the cliché week represented in movies as a nonstop party.
However, for my friends and me, it was quite the opposite. We decided to go on a backpacking trip in Los Padres National Forest. We had a great time, but it was definitely not the stereotypical college spring break.
We, (Jason Tweedy, Kellie Cochran, Jess Langsted, Ali Odabashian and myself), started with a leisurely night of camping at Nira Campground, a few hours from campus. We hung out around the fire, gearing up for our hike the next day. The following morning, we started our adventure. Some opted out of doing the entire four-day backpacking part. However, a few brave ones went on.
They hiked the White Ledge Trail one day and had an awesome experience enjoying the views and being out in nature and away from the hustle and bustle that goes on here in SLO. After a night under the stars, they hiked the Hurricane Deck Trail and acquired some crazy stories there. They went on 14 more miles on a mostly unmaintained trail — they have the leg wounds to prove it!
They had planned on getting their water from the river once they ran out, but thanks for the drought, it was dry. In the scolding sun, they had quickly run out of what they carried with them.
After a 12-hour day of hiking in the grueling heat with very little water, tensions were running high. But they finally reached the camp. They were greeted by fellow backpackers that were generous enough to share their food and water and point them in the direction of more water. The group took a long rest and regrouped before another tough day of hiking. Luckily, the last two legs of their trip were not as intense. They were able to filter water to replenish their supply, and they started the next hike off fresh and rested.
Their last night, though, was a doozy. They had chosen not to carry a tent with them, believing the weather would be good enough for them to sleep under the stars and save the weight of a tent. Unfortunately, that night, it poured. They and everything they owned got soaked. By the time I met up with them at the end of their hike the next day, it was obvious that the trip had taken its toll.
I was greeted with tired hugs and the exhausted statement, “We are not camping again tonight! We are getting a hotel!”
So we loaded up the car and headed to Santa Barbara. We got a cheap hotel for the night so the hardcore backpackers could get their rest and dry their clothes and sleeping bags before we embarked on the second part of the trip. We treated ourselves to a dinner out and went to bed early.
The next day, we were able to hang out in Santa Barbara and take advantage of the coffee shops and clothes stores. We went on a shopping spree! Then we chose to camp on the beach instead of hiking into a campground somewhere. We took a long walk on the beach, roasted marshmallows and had a calm night sitting around the fire and watching the sun set over the ocean.
We enjoyed the beach so much that we decided to scrap our initial idea of doing another backpacking portion of the week and spent the whole next day on the beach. We napped, tanned and enjoyed relaxing. Then we found another campground back toward the Nira site.
We stayed at Paradise Campground in the Los Padres area. Our first night, we were exhausted from doing nothing at the beach all day and went to bed nice and early. We woke the next day ready for adventure.
We wanted to find a swimming hole. Having heard about the Whiterock and Redrock Trails and the swimming holes in that area, we went exploring. We found awesome places to climb rocks and jump into the cool, refreshing water. It was a great last day of the trip. A couple people chose to go on another quick hike that afternoon and the rest of us went back to camp and listened to music and read books aloud.
Our final night of spring break was celebrated with a delicious dinner and more roasted marshmallows. Unfortunately, what was an amazing day turned into an awful night. It started pouring. We were awoken in the middle of the night by pounding rain that very quickly drenched our sleeping bags. We pulled a tarp over ourselves and tried our best to get some rest. However, most of us did not. We woke up and quickly packed our things — we were ready to go home.
We stopped at a delicious diner for a celebratory breakfast and had some of the biggest omelets I have ever seen. Then finally, we were back to campus and reality. We showered, did laundry and napped while we begrudgingly prepped ourselves for having to go to back to classes, though we were all ready to get back to normal schedules.
It was an amazing spring break with amazing friends. We all have unique stories and experiences that stand out differently, but the trip further bonded us. Our spring break might not have been typical, but it was great.