EARLHAM COLLEGE WILDERNESS PROGRAM

ADIRONDACKS BACKPACKING COURSE

FEATURES OF THIS COURSE:

THE COURSE:
New York's Adirondack State Park is the largest state park in the country and the site of this new 11-day course.   The Adirondacks are made up of a large network of mountains, rivers, and lakes with public land intermingled with privately owned land. 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, backpacking, and outdoor leadership. There will be classes in geology, natural history, wilderness ethics, consensus decision-making, and navigation (among others). You'll work hard traveling 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 2,000 to 5,000 feet.  We will make our way through narrow stream valleys, travel broad ravines, and ascend some of the highest peaks and passes in New York. As the program progresses you will take on increasing responsibility for yourself and for the group. There will be times that push your physical and emotional limits, but also time for contemplation, relaxation, and fun. By the end of the course you will have the opportunity to test the outdoor and leadership skills that you have developed over the previous week, as your instructors give you more responsibility in the daily activities.

This experience is a college-level, one-credit course (EDU 100). 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 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 tent group of four divvying up morning chore responsibilities including camp breakdown and cooking breakfast. After packing up your packs, you reconvene with the other tent 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 your first river crossing). 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 river that is in front of you. Your instructors spend some time talking about how to safely cross the river, and then you’re off. You take one step at a time and, with the support of your companions you are soon on the other side. It is just before lunch and, with the weather cooperating you break to give your boots a chance to dry out. One of your instructors uses the great view to teach an impromptu lesson on river ecology and the geological formation of the Adirondacks, showing how the glaciers formed vast ravines that now channel the water. After a lunch of bagels, cheese, peanut butter, and dried, fruit, you shoulder your pack for a few more miles of travel. You are really looking forward to getting to camp early for some rest and relaxation!

However, as you continue down what you thought was the "trail" your leader of the day notices that the surroundings don’t quite match the map! You and your brigade huddle up to discuss the situation. Several members think the best thing to do is to backtrack but others think that would be a waste of time. Working with your instructors, the group finally comes to consensus that backtracking is the best course of action. After several miles, you finally find the correct trail, arriving at your designated camping area an hour later than anticipated but confident about making it through both the river crossing and the navigation errors. You and your tentmates set out to look for a suitable place to set up your tent- 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 with your journal for a bit and watch another student try their hand at fly-fishing for trout. Soon, your other tentmates 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).  Before bed, there may be time for a little reading, or to help plan the activities of the next day. 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.  Summer Wilderness 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.

Summer Wilderness requires both strength (lifting packs) and stamina (long days on trail or ascending 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. 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 8 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

Contact Us:

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