Wyant's reflection from his WFS summer expedition trip with the National Outdoor Leadership School

NOLS Expedition  - June 2015

               

Day 5 Journal Entry:

Today we started off at around 10,000 ft, I cooked cheesy biscuits from scratch, which tasted very good. We hiked today through waste deep snow for about .7 miles. As we worked our way around a snowy ridge, I gained a whole lot of energy. I had a bright idea to try and run through the snow eventually cutting up my knees. As we started up the hill to move through the saddle, a girl in our group had a panic attack, she believed she could not finish out the day. The leader made the decision we should camp where we stopped for the night. The camp spot sucked, we ended up setting our tent on top a pile of snow. Our guy leader took the guys and me to this rocky peak, which was around 11,000 ft. It was amazing. Tonight we set our tents on a pile of snow. Luckily the skies are clear and allowed me to borrow a hammock and set it up so I would not have to sleep on the ground. The hike today to the top of this peak produced the most amazing views I have seen all trip. At the top I was struggling to suck in air, as this was the first time I had hiked anything so high.

               At the start of the NOLS trip, I did not have high hopes about the kids that were going to be with me on this adventure. I expected to be challenged physically with our daily hikes, but I learned so much more than physical endurance. I learned to get along with different people and overcome challenges.  Each day we woke up early, and at the end of every day the only thing I had in my mind to do was sleep, knowing that I went to bed with a sense of accomplishment.

               The first couple days of hiking was tough on my back, as my back was not used to 70 lbs. of extra weight. The other people had their challenges too. Once we started to hike I started to learn more about our differences and similarities and really liked the kids. Each day would start anywhere from 6:00 am to around 12:00 pm depending on the distance we would have to hike. During the first week our group was trekking through waste deep snow, not knowing which foot would fall through the snow would keep us on our toes. The role of cooking meals fell on me due to the mastery of cooking I demonstrated during the first couple of days. This became one of the ways I contributed to the group. The course seemingly got harder as we began to grow more accustomed to our surroundings, allowing us to push further over steep saddles. Our hardest day was definitely when we hiked up over a saddle with about a 1,000ft increase in elevation from our camp the night before.

               Once camp was set up after a day of hiking, we would have a large amount of free time if we did not have a first aid class later in the day. If I wasn’t out fly-fishing during my free time, I was in the tent getting away from the swarm of flies. Along with challenging hikes, I was looking forward to the amazing views, ones that most only see on national geographic. All of my expectations were easily fulfilled as this trip showed me how small I really am to the rest of the world. I finally realized how simple something could be, and have such a great outcome. This trip was a real eye opener to the beauty of the backcountry, which I had never fully experienced.

               We were challenged as a group to get to know each other and work through our differences.  We were able to help push each other on tough hikes allowing for more free time at the campsite. After each day all of us would record the day in our journals.

Day 23 Journal Entry:

Today we woke up at 6:30 and summited Pyramid Peak, which is around 12,300 ft, by far one of the coolest things I have ever done and seen. We got to the top at around 10:00. Spending time at the top was very rattling as the wind was very powerful. Once we got to the bottom we had our first day of ISGT, which stands for Independent group travel. Our hike was very short and easy, only about 3 miles, our group moved very well and efficiently without our leaders.  The camp spot tonight was sweet. It was in the middle of this wide-open field above a crystal blue lake with jagged peaks all around. I caught my first brown trout ever, 19 inches, on the edge of the huge lake.

              

This is our group about half way up the saddle.

               I learned a lot about people on this trip.  I learned how to try and get along regardless of circumstances and different opinions. But I really learned a lot about myself. I learned that I am good at working with people, and have a knack for cooking. I also learned about perseverance.

               I am really thankful for the opportunity I was given to go on this NOLS trip.