Spring and early summer for me this year has looked vastly different at different times. For the month of May, I was at Penn State rowing twice a day training for championship regattas. I was then able to come home for about five days then it was off to my summer job out of Pinkham Notch up in Gorham, NH. This summer I am an instructor for the Appalachian Mountain Club's Teen Wilderness Adventures program which runs 5-21 day backcountry trips for high schoolers. The trips can include one or a combo of: backpacking, canoe, climbing, and whitewater kayaking. I actually was a participant on two of these trips in high school, which is how I knew about it. Upon arrival at Pinkham, the group of instructors promptly headed into the woods for a week of training in the field followed by a few slightly less exciting HR training days back at Pinkham afterwards. Here is a little rundown of my training with the AMC. Day 1-3: Backpacking- from Stony Brook, over Mt. Moriah, Imp shelter, Rattle River shelter. Day 4: Backpacking, transition between activities, climbing- at north end of Cathedral Ledge. Day 5-7: Canoeing- on Lake Umbagog, camped at Molls Rock and Big Island. The backpacking was super fun, that is of course my favorite activity. Although it was in the 40s and raining for most of the first 3 days, which was tough, working in a group of such capable and positive people made it feel like the rain did not impede on the experience. We did not log big miles on this trip, rather we would have a short hike to our next campsite and we would do lessons throughout the day that each instructor would teach. For example I taught a lesson on packing, lifting, and fitting a pack. Just to name a few, some of the other lessons included LNT, knots, stoves, debrief methods, group development, and White Mountains natural history. I learned a ton in such a short time while on this portion of the trip, and getting to know my co workers was super fun, the people I am working with are pretty amazing. Our day of climbing was mostly an introduction to Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) because we contract out with them for the climbing portions of our trips. We all got brought up to speed on the equipment, then headed to Cathedral Ledge where we had a lesson and a short while to do a few routes. We then base camped for the night and met up with all the returning instructors. For dinner we did an Iron Chef competition which was just crazy. Everyone was split into 3 groups, and each group had a Coleman 2 burner stove and a WhisperLite- so 3 burners (which is hilariously unnecessary in the backcountry). Each group had a secret ingredient, then we did a relay race to acquire the rest of our ingredients for the meal. Each group had to make a 3 course meal, so we ended up with 9 dishes of interesting food combinations. I tried most of them and was proud of myself for trying new foods and all that yadda yadda until I threw up the next morning... so there's a little negative reinforcement for my food expansion efforts this summer. Anyway, I wish I had a photo of the Iron Chef competition, it was hilarious. The only photo I have from this night is of the tarp that some of us would sleep in each night. It was simply massive and it had bug netting on the sides so it offered rain and bug protection like a tent but felt like you were sleeping out in the open air. We called it the greenhouse because it was so huge that you would almost always get plants in there with you. Also because it is green. Pic below. I believe on this night we had 6 girls sleeping in it The canoe portion of the training was fun as well, for me mostly because the weather turned super nice like mid 70s and sunny each day. Also we had a huge group at this point with all the instructors and all 3 bosses we had 20 people in our canoe pod the first day of paddling which is like double the size we would ever actually be out with on a trip. I had never canoed before except very casually with my dad, but it was pretty easy to get the hang of. On our second night of canoe camping for dinner we made pizza in dutch ovens, which are incredibly heavy and required us carrying charcoal along with us. That's the beauty of a canoe trip, is that you can take literally as much stuff as you want even if that includes 2 dutch ovens, a bag of charcoal, and pizza ingredients for 20 people (the group even made the dough from scratch that morning). We did more "lessons" during this portion of the trip including decision making, AMC policy jeopardy, and creating a full value contract for the summer. Camping on the shore of such a pristine lake was so refreshing, my pictures only begin to depict how beautiful it was. All in all, this training was amazing because I learned SO much in such a short period of time, and the people that I will be working with this summer are just amazing. I guess I was a little nervous but it really feels like AMC Teen Wild is the perfect program for me to be involved in this summer to gain trip leading experience but also to be outside in an area that I love. Since I was a participant in these trips, and that was where I learned a huge amount of my outdoor skills, I recognize the opportunity that I have here to impact kids' lives. I can't wait to show participants the Whites and hopefully instill in them individual grit, selfless team behavior, and of course a love for the outdoors.
I only know my schedule through the end of July right now, and I have 3 trips until then. Expect a blog post after each one with details and pictures. I am very much looking forward to leading these trips and being outside a ton this next month and a half! 1) 7 day multi sport 2) 10 day backpack canoe 3) 7 day multi sport |
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