EARLHAM COLLEGE WILDERNESS PROGRAM

ALPINE BACPACKING: UINTA WILDERNESS, UTAH

FEATURES OF THIS COURSE:

THE COURSE:
Utah's rugged Uinta Mountains are the site of this expedition. It is a spectacular range of alpine meadows, rocky summits, and glacial lakes. On this course you'll receive an introduction to the essentials of wilderness travel in addition to learning more about yourself, your new peers and leaders, and Earlham College. You'll cover a wide range of skills including minimum impact camping, mountain travel, map and compass navigation, and outdoor leadership. There will be classes in geology, environmental ethics, and natural and cultural history (among others). You'll work hard travelling over steep, rocky terrain with a pack on your back and you'll find strengths you never knew you had.

Our hikes will be between five and fifteen miles a day at elevations ranging from 8,000 to 12,000 feet. We will make our way through narrow stream valleys, travel broad glacier-carved basins, and ascend some of the highest peaks and passes in Utah. As the program progresses you will take on increasing responsibility for yourself and for the group. There will be opportunities for contemplative activities of varying lengths where you will have the chance to spend a period of time in solitude and reflection. Near the end of the course you will have the opportunity to test the skills you have acquired during supervised independent travel where the instructor role is reduced and students travel together in smaller groups.

This experience is a college-level, three-credit course (EDU 110). As such, there will be assigned reading and you will be expected to participate in all course discussions and related activities. In addition, there will be several assignments to complete in the form of journal essays and presentations. Evaluation and grading on the course will be Pass/No Pass. Students will be given a written and oral evaluation at the mid-way point and at the conclusion of the course.

A TYPICAL DAY:
A typical day might involve the "leader of the day" rousing everyone at 6:00am and then your tarp group of four divvying up morning chore responsibilities including camp breakdown and cooking breakfast. After packing up your packs, you reconvene with the other tarp groups in a central clearing just through the trees and get a morning briefing from the instructors and leader of the day as to the day's route and general schedule (which involves a pass and an afternoon lesson). After the briefing a buddy helps you put your pack on (its still heavy!) and you begin hiking down the trail. After a couple of miles, you take a packs-off break to fill up water bottles and assess the mountain pass that is in front of you (it looks very intimidating!). Your instructors spend some time talking about how to safely travel over passes in alpine country and then you're off. It starts off easy but soon becomes quite steep and the going gets tough. You take one step at a time and, with lots of encouragement from the group and leaders, you are soon at the top of the pass with an amazing view unfolding all around you. It is just before lunch and, with the weather cooperating, you break for a lunch of bagels, cheese, peanut butter, and dried, fruit. One of your instructors uses the great view to teach an impromptu lesson on glaciology and the geological formation of the Uinta mountains, showing how the glaciers formed vast moraines and talus slopes. After lunch, you carefully make your way down the other side of the pass and head toward the gorgeous alpine lake you see thousands of feet below. You are really looking forward to getting to camp early for some rest and relaxation!

But, just as you come down from the steep mountain pass, a thunderstorm appears almost out of nowhere (your instructors warned you this happens a lot in the mountains). Your group responds well and you all don rain gear and scatter into the lower treeline to wait out the storm. After 20 minutes of rain, lightening, and even some hail, you all emerge wet but unscathed. You arrive at your designated camping area an hour later than anticipated but confident about making it through both the pass and the storm. You and your tarp mates set out to look for a suitable place to string up your tarp- far enough from the other groups to maintain the "minimum impact" camping ethic you have learned. You still have some time before dinner so you head down to the lake where you journal for a bit and watch another student try their hand at fly-fishing for trout. Soon, your other tarpmates call you for dinner and you sit down to a nice meal of rice, stir-fry, and pita bread. After dinner, the whole brigade congregates near the lake to talk about the day and have another lesson (this time on judgment and decision-making skills). As the last light of the sun hits the peaks above you and sets them on fire in orange and yellow color, you wonder at the magic of this place. After the group check-in, you wander back to your tarp, catch up on some readings, and, after a few stories and jokes about the day, fall asleep, ready for whatever the next day will bring. Of course, remember that a "typical day" may vary widely course to course and year to year!

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING:
Conditioning before your course is important for your safety and the safety of others. It will also add to your enjoyment of the wilderness experience. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of starting a conditioning routine well before your course. We want to encourage, not intimidate you. This course can be strenuous, but the physical challenges are well within the ability of a person in good general fitness. Being in shape will not guarantee you an easy time on your course but it will allow you to focus on learning skills, enjoying the companionship of others, and the beauty of the natural landscape.

This course requires both strength (carrying packs) and stamina (ascending and descending passes). In addition to doing strength training, be sure to do endurance related activities such as jogging, hiking, cycling, or swimming. Anything that gets your heart rate up for more than 30 minutes will help build your aerobic fitness.

If you're beginning a fitness routine, start slowly. Aim for three sessions a week for about 30-45 minutes each. Gradually increase length and frequency.

ILLNESS AND INJURY:
Injuries and illness are not common on Summer Wilderness, but they can occur. Our staff members are trained in first aid and carry sufficient resources for emergency medical services if they are required. When severe injury or illness requires evacuation and/or professional medical care, the injured person is responsible for costs incurred on her or his behalf. This includes the cost of transportation from the backcountry to medical facilities. If the illness prevents the participant from returning to the wilderness, he or she must pay the cost of public transportation home. Insurance may cover medical expenses and sometimes covers evacuation costs. Coverage for entering students enrolling in Earlham's health insurance plan begins on the first day of Summer Wilderness.

If you have questions or reservations regarding the information presented, please contact the Wilderness Office.

BEHAVIOR ON COURSE:
As a venture of Earlham College, Summer Wilderness maintains certain standards for student and staff behavior. We reaffirm the social rules and expectations stated in the Community Principles and Practices document. Because Summer Wilderness has specific educational objectives and takes place in particularly unique settings, the program adds its own expectations or restates College positions more forcefully. We take especially seriously the Earlham community expectations that "members will treat each other with respect and dignity" and that they "will act with concern for the safety and well-being of others".

Our expeditions are demanding. Safety and learning depend on maintaining physical and mental condition. The use of recreational drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, can detract from performance, and is not permitted.

Earlham's Wilderness Programs are deliberately coeducational. On outfitting day students are assigned to coed expedition groups of approximately 7-9 students under the leadership of two or three staff members. In the field each group will travel as a unit, tenting and learning together. They will share the physical load and camp duties. The maintenance of morale in this close living situation is incompatible with sexual license and exclusive pairings. Participants are expected to refrain from sexual relationships during the program.

Violation of the above rules and expectations is grounds for immediate dismissal from the program while on campus or in the field. Acceptance of admission on the program involves acceptance of its standards.


Contact Us:

Wilderness Programs
801 National Road West, Drawer 87
Richmond, IN 47374
phone:(765) 983-1327; fax: (765) 983-1207
Wilderness@earlham.edu