Mar went camping 2k17
This weekend was by far the best weekend yet for me in Copenhagen! My Outdoor LLC went camping at Lake Foresø, a lake about two hours north of Copenhagen by train.
When we arrived, we met our LLC coordinator Anton to go mountain biking. We were split into two groups- those with experience and those without. I'll let you guess which group I was in. Although I gave it my best effort, mountain biking is not my sport. It's fast, it's slippery, and it's conducive to falling. As Sophia put it, I am "too responsible" to be mountain biking, and she's right! I am definitely a leisurely-stroll-down-a-path kind of biker. Moving on.
When we were having our lunch picnic, Anton taught us about mushrooms! He showed us some common types, how to check which are safe to eat, and where we should look.
We split into groups of five, got some maps, and were sent on our hike to the campsite. The hike was about 5-10 kilometers (3-6 miles) depending on your route, and we picked mushrooms the whole way! The trail was beautiful, and I got to know my group a little better.
When we all arrived to the campsite, we laid out our mushrooms. Look at them all! Anton checked through them to make sure they were all actually safe to eat (maybe a third of them were!), and then we set out to build our shelters out of just a tarp and some rope.
After our shelters, it was time to start preparing dinner. Here's our menu:
meat: pork and veal wrapped with rosemary and thyme in salt dough
veggies: pumpkin, carrots, beets, parsnips, garlic, onions, and our mushrooms all roasted in olive oil and seasoning
dessert: apples cored out and filled with almonds, hazelnuts, and chocolate; also s'mores!
Lauren and I were in charge of kneading the salt dough... which turned out to be quite the feat.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am the pickiest eater on the planet, but I really enjoyed this! It was also fun cooking over a fire and seeing all that we could make without a standard kitchen. By the time we finished eating, it was too dark to see much or take pictures. We shared some stories and headed to bed early. Around midnight it began to rain, but our shelters kept us warm and dry!
In the morning, we made porridge over the fire for breakfast and began to pack up. About half of the LLC decided to take a more scenic route around the lake to get back to the train. It was beautiful, and we saw a number of sail boats and canoes.
Overall, the weekend was all that I hoped for and more. It had been a while since my last camping trip, and I definitely realized how important it is for me to make more time for it when I go home.
Well, I'm off to bed, so I'll talk to y'all next time! Good night!
-Mary
(Day 36)
P.S. Hi Dad!