We don't need instructors

The last backpacking portion of the course was unaccompanied by our instructors. This meant that as a crew we were responsible for each other's safety, time management, navigation and everything else. Luckily, this happened right after small groups so we all had had a refreshing break from the large group. As it turned out, we had also all learned a few lessons from the short small group travel.

Lesson #1: More time at camp at the end of the day is priceless.

Lesson #2: Any break from hiking shouldn't take more than half an hour, unless otherwise planned.

Lesson #3: Breaking camp in the morning doesn't have to take the entire morning.

After both the girls and guys had learned all of these lessons, it made large group travel much more efficient and fun. In the past we had been traveling with leaders of the day. On the first night we decided this was an unnecessary thing and that we were all leaders and could share that roll as long as we held each other responsible. We also decided to get up in the morning before the sun so that we could get to camp with plenty of time to relax and hang out. It was amazing. This crew of 11 people, now 10 after losing the oldest member, had finally come together as a group. I absolutely couldn't believe it.

Over the 3 1/2 days of final expedition, we covered a total of 40 miles. It was an incredible test of our bodies and skills. It even snowed the first night/day and we still managed to hike 14 miles that day without any complaints from anyone. The whole adventure was following the Mountains to Sea Trail that makes its way through the North Carolina mountains to Mt. Mitchell (the tallest mountain east of Mississippi).

One of the days we hiked, we were going to be without water at our campsite. Therefore, we decided to carry water even though it meant that some of our packs would be heavier. I had offered to carry water and I thought at the time that I had put a full drom in my pack. I therefore thought for the entire day that my pack felt exceedingly heavy. I even go to the point where I was mentally saying, "right, left, right, left" just to make it step by step the best I could. When we finally got to camp, we realized that a lot of people were low on water. I offered to get my drom of water out, promising that it had a huge amount of water in it. As I took it out, I realized that the only full drom I had been carrying was the one in my head. It turned out I had only been carrying an extra liter of water the whole time. Amazing how the mind works!

On our last full day of hiking we pushed forward to make it to an amazing camp site that offered a lot of sun. We were so glad to finally be warm after so many days of cold hiking. Since we were only about 1.5 mile away from our destination and we didn't have to be there until 4pm the next day, we decided to sleep in and have leisurely morning. This was the best gift of all. I watched the beautiful sun rise from my sleeping bag and slowly awoke to have some hot tea. We then made hash browns and pancakes. While everyone finished packing up, a snowball fight was started that went on for quite some time. It was such a fun morning.

It was sad to know that it would be our last expedition, but we couldn't have asked for a better 4 days!

Girls Only

During our course we knew there was going to be a 3-day portion where we would be traveling in smaller groups and breaking up the crew. Outward Bound does a lot of all-female courses and so they thought it would be important for the females of this course to get a feel for that. So, we found out our small group would be just the girls. At first I was a little bit skeptical of this since I really only got along with my instructor and one of the females, but it turned out to be just the bonding experience we needed.

It was a great feeling to be responsible for ourselves and not have guys around trying to do everything for us. Although, I will admit that this made for some pretty funny events. We hiked in The Gorge for the entire three days and for the most part had really relaxing days filled with a little bit of hiking and a lot of time at camp. The first night we arrived at camp fairly early and decided we would take advantage of the daylight and set up our bear hang immediately. On our way to look for the perfect tree, we managed to aggrivate a bees nest. Usually when this happens it is the 3rd or 4th person to cross the hive that will get the brunt of the attack. This held true for us. My instructor, myself and one other person had made it through when all of a sudden the 4th in line was running down the hill appearing to have some kind of temper tantrum. Little did we know that she was being stund by multiple bees! As the rest of us attempted to move away from the hive and get down to her for assistance, my friend Katie decide that she was goin to try to get the ropes that we had dropped right by the hive. She walked directly into the hive area and got stung on the forehead. It was one of her finer moments! After all the commotion ended we proceeded to look for a tree in the opposite direction of the bees. Once we found one, it then took us about a million tries to get the bear throw bag over the appropriate tree. Luckily, we all had a great sense of humor about it and we didn't care that it took us nearly an hour.

That same night as we were getting ready to go to sleep, Jenny, who was sleeping at the end of the tarp screams. We asked her what was wrong, no answer. We asked her again, no answer. Finally she explains to us that she thinks there is a black snake right outside of the tarp and her sleeping bag. We asked her how big it was and she held her hands up to model about a 6 inch length. So I said to her, "Jenny are you sure it's a snake?" She then replied saying, "Oh my gosh, it has four legs!" We all started laughing as we realized that there was no snake at all. We gave Jenny a hard time for a few days about her spotting of a "4 legged snake".

One of the nice things about traveling with all girls was that there was much less stress about the food situation. Every meal was great and there were no grubby boys trying to eat as much as they could. We also made it a point to do a 10 minute ab workout every day, which was really great. The following is a picture story of some of the events that took place during the three days.

Katie and I created the most perfect tarp set up you have ever seen.

We found lots of trash and Haid, my instructor even carried out a chewed up bucket.

In an attempt to find the trail after a bush push, Jenny came back looking like this.


Haid suited up in all her rain gear to go rescue the ropes from the bee hive.
Lacey had to put sting reliever all over her body.

We found a really cool foot bridge.

And finally, we discovered the beauty of fried peanut butter and jelly on tortillas. We were too busy eating to take a picture of this event.

Dread Locked

There isn't much to say about this, other than the fact that your hair does strange things when you don't wash it and you go back and forth from wearing your hair up to under a helmet or hat. We obviously felt it was necessary to document this.

Conquer your fears

After Grandfather Mountain, we were going to have several more days involving heights. First we would have two days of Ropes Course. People have fondly called this "a playground for adults." In my opinion this statement is backwards. It is basically a tight ropes course that is 100 feet in the air. That sounds more like something kids would be all about. Or at least for me as a kid I would have been way more into this than I am now. However, it was definitely really fun and challenging. At the end of the course there is this device that sort of simulates a swing. You pretty much have to just step off this platform and let yourself go.

On day 2 of Ropes Course, we were getting all ready to go when we were informed that two hikers in the Gorge were lost. They had been over due for about 14 hours and as a service, Outward Bound offers their employees in assisting with search and rescue. Since we happened to be on base camp for Ropes Course, we also got to be a part of the search and rescue team. Eager to test our Wilderness First Responder skills and everything else we had learned, we packed our day packs and headed up to the parking lot to get some more information on our mission. By the time we got up there, the couple had been spotted by a helicopter. We were totally bummed. Not only did we have to miss our Ropes Course, but we didn't get to be a part of the rescue team. However, we were obviously very glad the couple was safe and found.

The following day, we began our rocks block. Yet again, testing the fear of heights thing. I guess at this point I felt like I was beginning to conquer my fears. The first day of climbing we learned all the knots and how a belay system works. It was pouring the whole day, but that didn't stop us from climbing. In fact, I climbed the rock in sneakers on a soaking wet rock. I learned the true value of rock climbing shoes, but I was glad I had accomplished such a daunting task. For the next 4 days we continued to learn about climbing, setting up safe rock sites, and belaying. We even got to do a traverse on the last day, which basically means traveling from one cliff to another on a rope. Talk about scary!

On the third day of climbing we got to do a multi-pitch climb. This basically means that you are climbing with at least two people up a rock that either has bolts set in place or is appropriate for you setting your own bolts with climbing gear. You have a lead climber who is basically on no safety equipment until they get to the first bolt. They climb to the first anchor and then belay the second climber. Once the second climber reaches the anchor, the third climber comes up. All three climbers are attached by rope and are responsible for each other's safety. Once we all get to the first anchor, also called the "belay ledge", we go to the next pitch. You continue to do that until you make it to the top. Obviously as students we had professional lead climbers helping us make the climb. It was the highlight of the rocks block, however I ended up climbing an easier route than originally planned due to the crowds and I was a little bummed about that.

The whole sequence of events really helped me overcome my fears. Especially during the rocks block, I really just focused on the rock itself and hardly even thought about the heights. It was probably one of the best weeks of my entire life and I feel so lucky to have experienced it all!

Chutes and Ladders

I just realized that it has been over a month since I last blogged. I still have several Outward Bound blogs to get done and then I will get to my life. Sorry for the month long drought.
During my course, there was a section dedicated to "Main Expedition". This was basically referring to our first backpacking trip since immersion and it would be the first time that my group would lead ourselves as the instructors simply followed our decisions. This portion of the trip came directly after Solo. We had all had three days to rest up and clear our heads before taking on three days of hiking to and on Grandfather Mountain. The first day of hiking seemed rather easy even though an equal day during immersion probably felt a lot more strenuous. The second day we knew was going to be a much longer day and would involve a portion of dreaded bush pushing. All things considered, though, even this day didn't seem nearly as bad as it had sounded. After a long day of hiking we got into camp just before dark, set things up and had dinner. At our evening meeting, our new leaders of the day informed us that we had a lot of hiking to do the next day that would be technical and unlike anything we had experienced before. This all sounded fine until they informed us that we would need to be waking up at 2:45am to leave camp by 4am and get to our destination by 1pm. This might not have sounded so bad if the current time had been any earlier than 10pm.

After what felt like a short nap, everyone was up, fed, packed and ready to go. Amazingly it had been the first time that we were all ready to leave on time. About a mile into the hike we came upon our first technical element. It was a large boulder that required a hand line rope for safety. After finally getting the rope set up and getting everyone through the boulder, we understood the need to leave so early in the morning. It is no small task to get 13 people up a huge boulder safely. Nor is it a small task to get 13 people up and down steep ladders and through rock mazes and down steep boulders. We arrived at a peak right as the sun was coming up and were able to enjoy a much deserved view. Until that day we hadn't really been rewarded with many views.

After the sun rise, we continued on through the amazing day. The biggest challenge of the day was the weight of our packs. We had just done a food pack out before leaving for the trip and had 9 days worth of food in our packs. Not only that, but we had switched over to winter rations which meant even more food. Try to picture climbing down a steep ladder that is bolted to a massive boulder that is literally hanging in mid air. Now, add 45lbs to your back. It was intense!

The entire day really proved how well our group was evolving. We were forced to make safety decisions and we were all responsible for each other's lives. Everyone was extremely supportive of each other through the entire thing. I was especially nervous through the whole day as my fear of heights was tested to the max. Sometimes the "trail" was simply a 2 foot wide piece of rock with sheer drops on either side. The other people in my crew really helped me get through the day smoothly.

When we finally reached the parking lot of Grandfather Mountain to meet the trail crew, I was able to take everything in. The day had been incredible and I had overcome a lot of fears to get through it. We were all really exhausted, but in order to hike the trail we did at no charge, Outward Bound had made an agreement with the trail crew to help them with a project. We carried in supplies to build a ladder and then built the ladder. It was definitely cool to be able give back to the amazing Mountain we had just hiked.

SOLO

Solo was my most dreaded event that I knew was going to happen at some point during our 50 days. I also knew that it would be no longer than a 72 hour period. About half way between the length of the course we were told that we were about to be put on Solo. At first, we had been told that we would be there for only about two nights and a total of 48 hours. This had been pretty exciting to me since I wasn't looking forward to spending the night alone in the dark. As we were getting prepped for the event, we were informed that Solo had been lengthened to three nights and closer to 72 hours. The only reason that I didn't completely freak out is because my biggest fear had been encountering a bear during this time, but the earlier incident with a bear had eased my mind about that.

At Outward Bound, Solo is extremely important. Every one has to go through it, no matter what the length of your course. For the first day our journals were taken, our limited amount of food was taken, and for the entire time our knives had also been taken for safety. We were encouraged to use this time to think and just be with ourselves. A lot of people in my crew were definitely looking forward to getting away from each other. We were also given a small tarp big enough for one and only three strands of cord to put it up with. This meant that we would have to get creative in setting up our tarps. We were given two writing assignments that we wouldn't be able to start until the following morning when our food was returned to us and we were also instructed to make a "mailbox" for food and water to be picked up and dropped off in.

Once we were put on Solo, I built my tarp using hair ties, the cord we had been given and shoe laces. Then I built my mailbox and tried to get creative. I attempted to sit outside, but couldn't keep my eyes open so I went under the tarp to take a nap. It started to rain and rained for the next day and a half. I got through the first night without waking up and eagerly awaited my food and journal. We were allowed two bagels, an apple and a small block of cheese for the whole time. I attempted to pass the time with writing, but somehow that went really quickly. I also tried to think about really important things, but somehow the only thing in my head was the song, "She'll be coming around the Mountain when she comes"...over and over and over again.

The next two days seemed to take forever. Being confined to a small area in the woods where you can't see or talk to anyone else is sort of depressing. I guess if I had been able to be more reflective in my head I would have enjoyed it more. I am pretty proud of myself that I managed to get through the whole thing without too much trouble.

Cabin Fever

During the 10 days that we stayed on base camp to obtain our Wilderness First Responder certifications, we stayed in very small cabins that each had 12 bunk beds. This was pretty much the only time where both crews were together for an extended period of time, but we still were split into two separate cabins and interacted mostly with our own crews. Try to picture the smallest possible structure that could fit 12 very narrow bunk beds and you might get an idea of what it was like. Add 12 large backpacks scattered around to that and things get even tighter. Luckily by then we had become fairly close as a crew and the close quarters were something we had become accustomed to. However, it is nearly impossible to be quiet in an all wooden structure. Chances were you weren't falling asleep until everyone else did and you were waking up with the first person to rise, which most of the time was about an hour before you yourself actually wanted to get up. It was one of those situations where the quieter you try to be, the louder it comes off.

There were several people in my crew who also snored. Out in the wild, this was not such a big deal because the sound had far to travel, but in the cabin it was a constant and intense hum of snoring. Thanks to my childhood and my Dad, I have some sort of innate ability to sleep through the worst of snoring. However, some of my crew mates were not quite as easy going about it. We also had some sleep talkers, but again I was pretty unaware of any of that.

The entire time during WFR felt like summer camp a little bit. It was definitely cramped at times inside the cabin, but it was also another really great bonding time for our crew. During this time, my crew realized how insanely organized I like to be. I had my clothes all neatly folded in piles next to my sleeping bag and I had neatly written our food menu for the week and posted it on the wall next to my bunk so that we could check off meals as we ate them. Needless to say, I was asked to organize lists, food menus and many other things for the remainder of course. The sick part is, I liked it.

It was definitely strange to be 50-100 feet away from Rich during that time and not really have much interaction with him, but we handled it quite well I think. Unfortunately for Rich, his sleeping pad suffered a hole that week and he was forced to sleep on flat plywood for the remainder of those few days. It's amazing what an inch of air can do for your comfort at night.