Madison Mayfield (PitP)

Partners in the Park Scholarship 2012

Please enjoy Madison Mayfield’s reflection of her PITP program in Acadia, NP. Madison was our PITP Scholarship recipient in 2012.

Madison Mayfield – Acadia National Park 2012

On Mount Desert Island, Maine sits Acadia National Park. Few consider it splendid enough to group with the more celebrated National Parks like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon, yet in the frigid northeastern tip of the US it waits for those eager to discover its beauty, and this past summer I was given the opportunity to do just that.

My Partners in the Parks journey began with a five hour trip of awkward silence in a van full of girls from schools across the nation. It wasn’t until we arrived at our campsite, and had to find food to make our dinner that we began to open up to each other. Names and faces immediately became familiar and somewhere in between trying to light the stove and molding hamburger patties, the barriers that keep you from getting to know a new acquaintance disappeared. Sitting around the campfire later that night, we all realized there was no longer a need to be shy. For the next week there would be nothing but the wilderness and us.

The next few days were filled with adventure. We built art out of nature on the beach; learned about glacial erratic while hiking and picking fresh Maine blueberries; watched a stream of meteors pass overhead while star-gazing in the sand; cleaned the old carriage roads with rakes and hoes (also known as “flossing Rockefeller’s teeth”); seined for fish in the river; ate the freshest lobster; and constantly complained about the lack of showers and boys around camp. But the most memorable experience was our 3:00 a.m. hike up Cadillac Mountain to watch the sunrise on the last day. Embarking on our journey in pitch darkness, we lost track of time until the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon and we realized we still had a long way to the top. Panic stricken at the idea of missing the sunrise, we sprinted up that mountain like goats: there was no way we were going to miss the view after merely four hours of sleep. Running and screaming like madwomen (looking like ones too), we emerged from the woods, making it just in time to watch the sun pop over the clouds below us. I’ve never seen the sun so large and bright, and never heard silence like that before.

Our last night around the fire, we each shared our experiences of the past week. Along with her thoughts, one girl shared a small bandana bracelet for each of us, something to remember our week in Acadia with each other. As cheesy as it was, tying “friendship” bracelets onto each other’s wrists, it made us all sad to leave. Somewhere amongst the maple and birch, on the granite cliffs kissed by the salty sea breeze, we grew together. Even after I said my goodbyes, flew back to Washington, and began the process of “friending” each girl on Facebook to keep in touch, I never took off my bandana bracelet. That part of Maine, the whole experience embodied in a single piece of cloth, will always be a part of me.