Trip Report: 20’s & 30’s Young Members Camping Weekend
Photos and article by Dushyant Chaudhari
August 13 – 14, 2022
The ideas, hopes, and plans to have an exclusive young members’ event had finally come to fruition on August 13th, 2022 when we organized a camping weekend in Gifford Pinchot State Park, Pennsylvania. This was perhaps the first event of its kind, and hopefully transitions to semi-annual or annual gathering, to attract young members from DMV area, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
On a cozy Saturday afternoon, seven of us gathered around 3pm at one of the group campsites in the park. Everyone set up tents at their choice of campsite, with most of us privileged to have the cars less than 50 feet away. The restrooms, including warm showers, were close by for anyone who is not yet willing to give away modern luxuries for a day or two. Along with these facilities, the comfort of wide variety of food made available for this event created a very welcoming atmosphere for anyone who is willing to try camping as a first time. So, if you are considering camping, don’t hesitate to register next time!
Initial introductions led to conversations around the type of activities everyone was willing to choose from. Unanimously, we decided to first go to the Gifford Pinchot Lake, where some of us decided to rent individual kayaks to be on water and some decided to be at the shore swimming or relaxing. Our tired bodies then greatly appreciated burgers – vegan, veggie, gluten-free, or meat for option – cooked to perfection in an iron skillet and accompanied by chips and fresh salad!
Conversations are a big part of good experiences and those added the perfect invisible spice for everyone’s appetite. Everybody shared their stories – getting stuck in a snowstorm while backpacking and trying to light a campfire, camping gear stories, upcoming and past adventures, work-related, and non-work-related stories – willingly to curious ears.
To end the day, we sat around the campfire, which took surprisingly more than just one person to get started, shared more stories while some tried smores for the first time! As the sun set, it was time to be creative with photography skills and as ideas bounced around, we captured a photo of a goofy team using their headlamps to illuminate the faces. Quite naturally, everybody clicked an individual picture like this one!
After a comfortable night sleep, we woke up next morning and slowly got ready for a 6-mile hike after breakfast and tea/coffee. We hiked on the trail network around the lake, mostly through the forest, at a comfortable pace while getting to know each other. It took about 3.5 hours to get back to the campsite with a refreshed mind and hungry stomachs. Caught between the desire to stay longer by the lake and the practical option of going back home and getting ready for the dreaded Monday, we had tacos or sandwiches for lunch and started packing to get ready to leave. We took a couple pictures for our memories, cleaned up to leave no trace, and headed back to our individual homes.
I believe we were able to connect, get to know each other comfortably within a relatively small timeframe and regardless of our diversity, the outdoors created a space for everyone to be humble to listen to everyone and share their stories knowing that they felt included in the conversations. I hope we can make this a semi-annual or annual event and you are most welcome to participate or help with organizing! Please reach out to youngmemberschair@amcpotomac.org to let me know of your interest or to share any other ideas for this or another event.
