By YM/Cpl Michael Manley Atlantic Coast (FL) Have you ever slept under the stars? Just you and nature, as one? I am proud to say that I did and what was even bet- ter is that I did it with my Young Marines family. This may not sound like such a hard thing to do,but nature isn’t always easy on the body. We set up our sleeping bags. Even though that is not hard to do, it took us about an hour to get comfortable be- cause all kinds of insects were biting. Insect bites are normally the worst, but when you look up and see the stars you forget about the bugs. The sound of the crickets were enough to put us to sleep, but thankfully that was all we heard (no coyotes or bears). We woke up early in the morning and got to see the sky waking up for the day. It was so beautiful and the greatest way to start the day. We also felt so accom- plished to have spent the night with just our sleeping bag and our fellow Young Marines. Sleeping under the stars isn’t just for Young Marines, Adult leaders were out- side with us too. They don’t just teach us what to do, they participate with us, which is why we have so much confi- dence to always try something new.With their guidance, we can do anything! New Experiences, Plus Adult Leadership, Equals Confident Young Marines By YM/Sgt Noah Gorlesky Capital City (NC) Our unit’s trip to the North Carolina moun- tains is one of my favor- ite trips that I have taken with the Young Marines. The first day way drove up to Blowing Rock, NC, which is where we slept both nights. We stayed in dorms that were really nice and clean (but very hot), so I didn’t get much sleep. The next morning we woke up bright and early around 0600, we then had an amaz- ing breakfast.There was a lot of food to choose from, and it all tasted so good. Our first event was the Virginia Creeper Trail, which was a 17-mile bike ride down a mountain. It was almost all downhill with amazing views that we stopped and looked at. My favorite part about this event were the 20 to 30-foot high railroad bridges that we drove across. We stopped about half way down to eat lunch. Right after that we hiked up Grayson Highlands, VA and the view was astonishing. We noticed that we weren’t alone; there were a large number of wild ponies all over the mountain and most of them appeared to be pregnant. Afterwards we went back to the dorms. We woke up the next morning and had breakfast and packed our bags and left to go caving. The cave was my favorite part of this whole trip.We crawled through some tight holes and walked through an underground river. We slid on some rocks and visited Leroy’s room, which was this room that we had to crawl up a steep slope to get to.This trip was awesome and I think it went very well (and I would most definitely do it again). The North Carolina Mountains: Challenging Trails Met by Young Marines By YM/Cpl. Michael Manley Atlantic Coast (FL) There is nothing better than great times on the water, something about be- ing on the water that makes you feel so good.There was much to do at Regimen- tal, and the Atlantic Coast Young Marines took advantage of all of the water activi- ties. Some activities that we participat- ed in were kayaking and sailboating. For kayaking, we were able to go out onto the lake. It was so peaceful to be on the lake and enjoy nature. Sailboating was a bit more challenging. In order to be able to sailboat we had to take a class on how to use a sail boat. We were then allowed to take the sail boat onto the water. We had to have at least 2 people on the sail boat; most times had 3 people. It was very cool because the wind would pick up a little and the boat would pick up speed. There was also a floating dock that we were able to sail up to. Once we sailed out we were able to go on the dock and jump in the water. Since it was hot this was great! Boating was defi- nitely a popular activity at regimental because between kayaks, sailboats and canoes there were lots of Young Marines enjoying the lake at all times. Young Marines Learning Water Activty Safety at Regimental Meeting YOUNG MARINES ESPRIT ONLINE 39 ACYM: Safety Instructions Followed by A Few Moments on the Zipline By YM/Cpl Michael Manley Atlantic Coast (FL) Soaring on the zipline Zipline is so fun! Atlantic Coast Young Marines big and small all loved it. Before we were able to zipline,we first had a few minutes of instruction.Once we were instructed of the rules we put on our safety equipment. Before we could climb the steps to zipline a staff member checked that our zipline equipment was safe. Then up we climbed (it looks so much higher when you are on top than on the ground). At the top we were attached to the zipline. The staff member gave us the okay to go and we were allowed to go any way that we wanted. I went sideways. It went fast, but slow enough to see the scenery, a beautiful lake view. We were able to get splashed by the lake which was awesome. Some people even got stuck in the lake. They got them out by throwing a rope and helping you back in. It was a great experience. Some people were afraid of heights, but they challenged themselves and overcame their fears.