Hiking Tanglewood

Yesterday morning, our Outdoor Adventure class met at the bus stop, and carpooled to Tanglewood Nature Center, a local hiking area.  Carrying our backpacks, we began trekking the 3.5 mile Red Trail through the woods.  The hike began smoothly, we were all walking at the same pace, joking, and laughing, the ground was slightly muddy, but level and easy to travel.  Then, about a quarter of a mile onto the trail, the terrain changed, and the class began to split up.  We encountered what seemed to be an 80 degree angle of a mountain to climb, that seemed to go on for miles.  The chatter slowed, breathing grew heavier, our pace slowed, and breaks were taken frequently.  Somehow, we ended up dividing into two groups, and traveled separately.  After what felt like a lifetime, we reached the top of the hill and the view was spectacular. 

We stopped for a moment to rest, and enjoy the view before continuing on our way down the mountain.  With the parking lot in sight, we emerged from the woods to find, to our surprise, the other group exiting simultaneously from another trail.  Laughing, we tried to figure out which group had made a wrong turn, and where the wrong turn was made as we returned to the vehicles and headed back to campus.  The hike was difficult, but the group we have made it  enjoyable and I would definitely be interested in hiking again in the future.

Adopt-a-highway

One of the activities that the term three, Outdoor Adventure class participates in is the adopt-a-highway program.  Our coaches spoke with the Highway Department and arranged for our class to clean about one mile of Route 17, and they would supply our class with safety equipment and cleaning supplies.  Usually our class meets Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, but we agreed to clean the highway on Wednesday in exchange for having no class on Friday.  Wednesday morning, we all met at the bus stop, to find two Elmira College vans ready to bring us to the highway, and we were waiting on a representative from the highway department to bring us hard hats, vests, gloves, and waivers.  There was a miscommunication with the highway department, and we ended up being delayed about an hour before departing, which was fine with us because we were able to eat breakfast while we were waiting.  We were brought to a portion on the side of the highway that was steep, and covered with litter and trash.  I have driven that portion of the highway dozens of times, and have never noticed the amount of garbage that was sprinkled on the side of the highway.  Dressed in orange vests and yellow hard hats, our class, in an hour and a half, cleaned about a dozen garbage bags FULL of garbage from one mile of the highway.  As we cleaned the highway, passing cars and trucks honked and beeped and shouted in approval, thanking us for devoting our time and energy to helping keep the environment clean.  It was a rewarding and eye opening experience, and I urge others to take part in adopt-a-highway program. 

Hawaii Class

My term three outdoor adventure class is unlike anything I have experienced in my life.  We have one camping pack and one day pack that we can bring, which seemed reasonable at first, but since we received our packs, we have accumulated more and more items every class that must go on the trip.  Recently we received our sleeping bags, tents, poles, tent flies, stuff sacks, canned food, pack covers, and waist bags that all must come on the trip in addition to the 30+ meals and clothes that have to fit in our packs.  We are all starting to wonder how we will fit everything in our bags, and how we are going to be able to carry everything for the duration of the trip, but our coaches keep reassuring us that it will happen.  A few classes ago we were assigned tent mates and tents, and were told to distribute the elements of the tent, including the tent, poles, and fly equally among ourselves.  I will be tenting with two other people, whom I have not met until this class, and I was assigned the actual tent to carry for the duration of the trip.  The last assignment we completed was a complete, thorough list of every breakfast and lunch we plan on eating while we are in Hawaii.  The challenge with planning meals is that we have to find food that does not crush under weight, melt in heat, spoil or go bad within 10 days, does not need refrigeration, does not need cooking, is compact and able to fit in small space, is not too heavy to carry, and has the nutrition we need to sustain ourselves.  This trip is much more complex than I originally expected, but it is teaching us to appreciate the small luxuries in everyday life that we often overlook, and I look forward to learning how little people can live with and how values change when shelter, food, plumbing, and hygiene are reduced to the basics.