Gear Fest

This dates back to early in the semester but it was one of my favorite River Steward experiences so far. Gear Fest happened on the first weekend of October in Eastwood Metro Park. When we got there is was about 40 degrees and raining while we set up our tents. Personally I didn't do much that first night at gear fest beyond watching the slackliners warm up and eat Monchon, a sandwich cart located usually on the dark side (North Student Neighborhood) on the weekends. That night we slept in the tents and it was so cold that about 15 people slept in the same tent for warmth. In the middle of the night I we were woken up by screams because groundhogs were trying to get up out of their holes and we put the tent right on top of them. The next day after welcoming people in the morning I learned what Gear Fest was all about. I watched people mountain biking, running, kayaking, canoeing, and slacklining.

I went around to the booths set up by local organizations and learned about what outdoor activities they were involved with. I got to watch the national championship of slack-lining and for those of you who don't know what slack-lining is, I placed a clip from Gear Fest below. I tried it myself and accidentally bounced off of it doing a back flip onto my butt. Overall it was an exciting experience and I can't wait to go back to it next year under its new name, Midwest Outdoor Experience.