On my first mission trip, I was wedged between awkward and apprehensive, unexpectedly guided on a journey through low mountain valleys of South Dakota. My crew finished early on our residences’ house and we agreed to pack what was salvageable of painting and staining supplies and spend the last day we had together. Melissa, our head adult leader, zipped the group down black tar roads in her white minivan while everyone in the back munched on ice cream. Our group’s only boy member, Sam, fed Melissa directions from an informational manual.

We soon learned the directions led down a hidden, steep path, all crammed between two towers of dirt on either side. Melissa made the decision for everyone to continue as she inched the car slowly down the sandy path. Liz and I peered out our side windows as the scenery switched from hilly meadows to dense forest backed by pastel blue skies and cotton clouds. The minivan trudged deeper through the wood, a vast cliff on our left.

The sudden silence quickly shifted to giggling as a clearing briefly melted on one side and we pointed out abandoned furniture which Claire miss took for mountain cows. We venture on until a chunk of missing path made it so the car could no longer continue on. Climbing out, Liz and Sam sprinted on, jumping the sink hole, and leaving the rest of us stragglers in the dust. With just as much enthusiasm, Claire and Grace ventured on after them a moment later. Melissa and I followed in presuit last, fervently waiting to see what they discovered ahead. I remember the sun biting my skin until it goldened and sand sticking between my toes as it slipped inside my shoes as we rushed to catch up to our group members.

A chorus of chattering and laughing voices tickled our ears as we rounded a corner and shuffled up a dirt hill. My breath was pulled from my lungs as I found myself in pure paradise. A crystal creek spread over the ground, vegetation outlining it’s smooth edges. Oaks filled the backdrop of the scene and painted behind was that perfect blue of a sky only the right blend of colors could make. Without realizing so, I let my bag slip from my back and kick off both shoes, sand stinging my bare feet like burning coals. A splash made my head jerk up at Claire floating on her back. Her clothes and hair flew out in long tendrils of beauty around her.

I felt myself dive in after her and as I did it struck me how close an oasis could be without anyone even knowing. The place had been so well hidden. It was that part of nature that still stood tall through all of what humans had done to the planet. It truly filled me with happiness to know I got to see such a gorgeous piece of life and gave me a newly found respect for the wilderness.