A long day....
Wondering what the group has been up to the past couple of days? Saturday was another move day. It took the group 9 1/2 hours to go 1.2 miles. Are you wondering why it took them so long? I'll chronicle it for you below, but this is also part of the reality of backpacking in a remote wilderness area, where there aren't always clearly designated trails.
It started with a river crossing over a lake outlet, where they were able to set up handlines to help aid students across:
Then it was getting belayed (lowered on a rope) down a gravel filled couloir (def: a steep, narrow gully or gorge on a mountainside, frequently carved into rock and filled with ice or snow...in this case, it was filled with gravel!):
Matt, at the top of the couloir ready to lower students!
Once everyone was down the couloir, in true Wyoming weather fashion, a storm blew in and blitzed the group with wind, hail, and rain, dropping the temperature 20 degrees in a few minutes! The group set up a tarp, took out stoves to make hot drinks, and got layers on to make sure everyone got rewarmed sufficiently.
After that little weather detour, the group kept moving, which meant crossings 4 talus fields. What is a talus field, you ask? Well, think of a section of a mountain side covered in rocks that range anywhere from the size of a loaf of bread to a small car. The group has to navigate by finding the sturdy rocks that they can walk on top of. It's kind of like rock hopping, but with heavy backpacks on!
They also encountered their first official snow field:
Paul, instructing how to best cross a snow field.
So you could say, all of that makes for a very long day! The group is being stretched, pushed, and confronting limitations on a daily basis. Which leads to rich evening discussions that involve a lot of vulnerability, and the giving and receiving of authentic feedback.
The group then spent yesterday resting and recovering from their long day!
Here is a journal entry from one of the students:
"One of our primary areas of focus for the trip has been the idea of community. In order to be an intentional, short-term community, we came up with a full-value covenant where we laid out expected behaviors and attitudes that we will all abide by. Signing this has helped us all lean in to the community and keep one another accountable. I feel like we are already one of the strongest communities that I have been a part of after only a short period of time."
It started with a river crossing over a lake outlet, where they were able to set up handlines to help aid students across:
Then it was getting belayed (lowered on a rope) down a gravel filled couloir (def: a steep, narrow gully or gorge on a mountainside, frequently carved into rock and filled with ice or snow...in this case, it was filled with gravel!):
Matt, at the top of the couloir ready to lower students!
Once everyone was down the couloir, in true Wyoming weather fashion, a storm blew in and blitzed the group with wind, hail, and rain, dropping the temperature 20 degrees in a few minutes! The group set up a tarp, took out stoves to make hot drinks, and got layers on to make sure everyone got rewarmed sufficiently.
After that little weather detour, the group kept moving, which meant crossings 4 talus fields. What is a talus field, you ask? Well, think of a section of a mountain side covered in rocks that range anywhere from the size of a loaf of bread to a small car. The group has to navigate by finding the sturdy rocks that they can walk on top of. It's kind of like rock hopping, but with heavy backpacks on!
They also encountered their first official snow field:
Paul, instructing how to best cross a snow field.
So you could say, all of that makes for a very long day! The group is being stretched, pushed, and confronting limitations on a daily basis. Which leads to rich evening discussions that involve a lot of vulnerability, and the giving and receiving of authentic feedback.
The group then spent yesterday resting and recovering from their long day!
Here is a journal entry from one of the students:
"One of our primary areas of focus for the trip has been the idea of community. In order to be an intentional, short-term community, we came up with a full-value covenant where we laid out expected behaviors and attitudes that we will all abide by. Signing this has helped us all lean in to the community and keep one another accountable. I feel like we are already one of the strongest communities that I have been a part of after only a short period of time."