Another Wonderful Blue Ridge Day!

The weather could not have been more perfect, the leaves were in great color, and spirits were high on Wednesday as students gathered to take off on their Blue Ridge Day hikes. The Middle School took on the Monticello trails, walking from Tandem across the MHS and PVCC campuses, crossing Rt. 20 (with police help) to get to the trail system. Once at the main trail, groups divided into hikes of varying length and level of challenge. The majority of Middle Schoolers also made a short silent walk around the pond along the trail, a sort of walking Meeting for Worship in nature. They ate lunch in the Monticello picnic area before heading back down. Upper Schoolers loaded up on busses to head to nearby Walnut Creek, where there are trails and a little park to enjoy. Like the Middle School, students went on hikes of varying length, and all enjoyed lunch in community in the park. by about 1:15pm, student groups began returning to campus by bus or on foot. They found fire pits blazing, s'mores makings at the ready, trail mix ingredients for concocting individual recipes, and plenty of cider and water to rehydrate. It was such a lovely and warm afternoon that the chocolate had to be moved into the shade to keep from melting. There were plenty of s'mores made. and it's always fun to guess who will roast theirs to golden perfection and who will plunge their straight into the fire to create a marshmallow inferno. By 2:30, our Tandem community migrated to the quad and the Pavilion to enjoy a great open mic, emceed by seniors Riley and Alex with a wide variety of group, duo and individual performers. There were some amazing numbers and the cheers could be heard all over campus. It was a practically perfect day spent in nature and in community. What a wonderful Tandem tradition! Click here to see many, many photos of the day.