We headed out the morning of June 8. We left base camp two hours earlier than we had planned, so we thought all would be well. As we pulled into the Pinochle trailhead, where we were beginning our hike, it started to rain. It did not stop raining the entire way up to where we were camping. And I, with my $10 Costco rain jacket, was not prepared for such a wet day.

The trek to our campsite began without issue. However, after a couple of miles, I realized my pack was too big (borrowed from my much taller brother). On top of that, my jacket wasn’t very waterproof, and my heart wouldn’t drop below 170 bpm despite the number of rest breaks I was taking.

I started to lag behind the rest of the group, and slowly, I became more frustrated with myself as I couldn’t keep up. It seemed like this was my first real chance to “prove myself” as a true person of the outdoors. For a while, the rest of the group would wait for me to catch up, but eventually, the team helped take some of the load off my pack and continued the rest of the way up to camp. This left me alone with Baxter, one of the two senior staff on the backpacking trip.

The last couple of miles were pretty miserable. I was soaked through and had to stop every 100 yards to catch my breath and calm my racing heart. Meanwhile, I acknowledged that the rest of the group was likely already at camp, setting up. Not everything was terrible, though. One highlight was when I convinced Baxter to bite a tree to find out what it was like to be a moose. By that point, I think it’s safe to say none of us were thinking clearly. We also concluded that trees don’t taste very good.

Finally, we reached the campsite, where the rest of the crew had already started setting up their tents. Since half of our tent gear was in my pack, Hope had not set up our tent yet. As I tried to get the tent out, I realized I was in no condition to pitch camp. The other interns realized this, too, and told me to go warm up inside their tent while they set up mine. I spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in my dry clothes and sleeping bag. Four hours later, I was still shivering, struggling to warm up my mildly hypothermic body. I remember thinking that the next few days were going to be terrible.

After some warm drinks and dinner, we all crashed early. We hoped the rain would stop by morning. At 9am on June 9th, I crawled out to a perfectly clear sky and stood for half an hour, taking in the mountains surrounding me. It was a complete 180-degree change from our miserable first day. I felt lucky—this was the view I got on my 20th birthday.

As we all scrambled out of our tents for a breakfast of oatmeal, not a single one of the other interns gave me a hard time for the difficulties I had the day before. They all just made sure I was good to go for the 11-mile hike planned for the day (luckily without a pack this time), and I was ready to go. To be honest, I didn’t really expect anyone to make this birthday special. I haven’t had much luck with birthdays in the past. And to note, I’d only known these people for a week. However, nobody forgot about me that day.

During the hike, we shared our favorite childhood birthday stories, laughing about disasters and fun times with friends. I got to know the interns better and felt at home. Back at camp, the senior guides surprised me with a birthday cheesecake after a delicious chili dinner. Everyone sang Happy Birthday. It might not seem special to everyone, but it meant the world to me.

Looking back, it’s incredible how those two days differed. I expected a terrible birthday, but instead was surrounded by amazing people who made it unforgettable. That day, the MICA Guides crew became my family and home. I knew I’d have an incredible summer, despite the challenges Alaska threw at me (and there were many). Nothing beats the intern community—the ones who turned a rainy day into one of my happiest. Alaska’s power is real, and I’m eager to see what comes next.