We waited a long time at school and left an hour late but arrived early at Babad Do’ag! We met our mentors and split into groups to form hypotheses and choose observations to make on the way up the mountain based on what our mentors specialized in. We learned about the changes going up the mountain. We were fascinated by the differences going from cacti and desert to green pine forest, and huge trees at the top. We stopped at windy point to eat lunch. Windy point: great view of Tucson, great place to stop and eat lunch; highly recommended! Five out of five stars! Then we played a team building game of human knot. We mixed groups so we got to know everybody. Then as an entire group we got up close and personal with a Hoodoo! It was a world in its own with garnet and lichen! Our next stop was Sky School where we unpacked into our dorms. Then we went on a three mile hike and made our last data observations including multiple species of pine tree. As we write this blog we can’t wait for food. Great first day, definitely learned a lot more than expected about how our world works. Can’t wait for tomorrow. – Top Soil