| Alaska Lit log (2004-06-20 -> 2004-07-17)
Leaders: Matt Bowman, Megan Moran
Students: Beanie Arnold, Sarah Coulter, Joe Finger, John Henderson, David Lawton, Charlie Nordstrom, Mary Jane Partlow, Nick Shapiro, Kyle Slatery, Greg Underwood
All arrived into Anchorage and they have just begun their Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course. Word is that the weather was ideal, cool and clear. More updates to follow.
Alaska LIT – Trip Update 7-1-04
Our group finished our Wilderness First Responder class today with a bang. Our instructor Justin told us that he has never taught a class to such a young group before and also said that we performed better then any group in recent times. Every one passed their test today with flying colors and were extremely proud of themselves, and everyone in the group, for completing such an intense class. We were in class for 80 hours and learned a wealth of information that will not only enhance our backcountry skills, but make us all more confident to handle any situation that is thrown at us in our daily lives as well. Most of our days were spent in the classroom learning about all of the intricacies of the body and all of the crazy things that could go wrong. We learned what to do in these situations then took our knowledge to the field where we took turns playing patient and rescuer practicing what we learned. We had a practical scenario where Megan and Matt, our fearless leaders, had some major "trauma" go on about a 1/2 mile from the trail head. Just as the responders went out to save them the only rain of the trip hit us and hit us hard. We had to deal with some major issues as the students evacuated Megan on a stretcher made out of a tarp and Thermarest and Matt after they fixed his "broken" arm. Justin told us that he had never seen a group evacuate their patients so quickly and was once again impressed with the students high skill level and ability to work in such an intense situation. We are now looking forward to a cookout tonight and heading into the backcountry to get a real taste of Alaska.
Our group has already become so close and it seems that the laughter and good times never stop. Since we got to Alaska Dave has been off the wall and ready to have fun. He did awesome in our WFR class and even got a chance to play a pregnant woman and give an emergency birth in class yesterday which made us all crumble with laughter. Nick also rocked the WFR. During our mock rescue he really held it together and his natural leadership skills emerged as he kept everyone calm and added to the success of the whole group. Beanie’s laid back attitude has been a staple in the group’s dynamics. On the other hand her competitiveness and awesome team sport attitude has made her a top player in our ongoing ultimate Frisbee tournament. Always lending a helping hand Beanie helps the group get things done. Charlie is loving it! He writes in the group journal every day and his enthusiasm is contagious. He was the commander in chief during our mock rescue and really showed his ability to think of the whole picture and was a huge part of the group’s success. Greg has been an awesome student and his humor has kept the group laughing since the minute he got off the plane. His skills in ultimate have helped his team to many victories. Sarah's contagious energy and awesome smile have been infectious with the whole group. She is always willing to help out around camp. She excelled in class and we call her the "born doctor" of the group. John arrived in the airport sporting his newly acquired 2004 Bonnaroo t-shirt which has earned him the catchy nickname "roo". It could also be due to the fact that 9 days into the trip he is still wearing his Bonnaroo shirt. John is awesome and became quick friends with everyone. He really did well in the WFR class and is a confident first responder. Mary Jane is the oldest of the group and it shows. She is definitely ready to take on a trip and lead one as her own. Because of her experience and ability to get along with everyone, she has become a natural leader. Her skills will be an integral part of getting the all-star group through the good and challenging times. Kyle has impressed all of us with his ability to stay clam in all situations. So calm in fact that we often times catch him napping! He has also let the WFR get so ingrained in his psyche that he was caught trying to give his tent mate a physical exam while sleeping! Until next time, we will check in soon.
LIT Update 7/6/4
After completing the Wilderness First Responder course (with flying colors) everyone was itching to get into the backcountry. A short drive from Talkeetna led us to Little Coal Creek trail head in Denali State Park where we began a short 4 day backpacking section in the Talkeetna Mountain Range. After hiking uphill most of the day we found a cozy place to camp beside a lake. The next days hike led us to a beautiful spot where weather kept us for two nights. On the last day we hiked we enjoyed spectacular views of Mt. McKinley. Good food and interesting weather made this one of the best backpacking sections Moondance has seen. Our celebratory 4th of July dinner of pizza and ice cream capped off a great section. We are off to the backcountry for 10 days!!
Trip Update 7/13/04
As we are heading in to the tail end of our adventure here in Alaska everyone is feeling extremely tough and a serious sense of accomplishment. Our last backpacking section provided us with lots of challenges and made everyone really step up their game and work really hard both individually and as a team. We set out 7 days ago on the mighty Matanuska glacier which is a 32 mile long river of ice which became our home. We traveled for four days on the glacier among huge crevasses and surrounded by breathtaking scenery. None of us could have expected what glacier travel was going to be like and it is another world living on the ice. It is amazing and unlike any terrain any of us have encountered. Along the way we worked on our mountaineering skills, practiced ice climbing, crevasse rescue, self arresting, and the many intricacies of what glacier living entails. After 4 days we set up base camp at the base of the Scandinavian Peaks which towered above us like huge rock spears. We woke early on the 6th morning of the trip and set out and summitted a peak that we named Mt. Partlow. Currently we are walking out on the glacier feeling proud of all that we have accomplished knowing that we will never experience anything like this again. Our entire group has been having so much fun together and really coming together as a family. This is a long trip and the attitude of the entire group has never been anything but positive and encouraging of each other. It has been really fun to work on new skills and become more confident in the backcountry. Dave could hardly wait until we did crevasse rescue where we lowered him into a crevasse and the whole group got to pull him out. Nicks skills in ice climbing have really impressed everyone and he has had the opportunity to try some new types of climbing and swing his axe around. John has really emerged as a natural leader and has kept the entire group laughing with his seemingly endless bank of g-rated jokes. Beanie is always there to lend a helping hand and take weight for anyone who may be having a hard day on the glacier. Kyle has really been getting the most out of everything and asking great questions of our experienced mountain guides and learning a ton of new information. Mary Jane has been such an amazing big sister to the group being already in college and her advice and stories are invaluable to the rest of the group. Sarah has been tough as nails and when the traveling gets hard she only gets tougher and has been doing an awesome job. Greg continues to be hilarious and provides us with the comic relief much needed at the end of the day. He has also really stepped it up in this section and has been a real help around camp and at getting things done. Charlie as amazed us all with his ability to read so fast. He has read everyone’s books that they brought on the trip and has to ration his books so he doesn't run out. We can't even figure out when he reads because he is always around and providing the group with stimulating conversation as well. Joe has loved the ice climbing. He has been doing a great job and we have some awesome video footage of him doing some tough climbs I have a feeling he may become a star next year once the new video comes out. Mom and Dad are of course keeping all their kids in line and are having a great time and learning as much from the kids as the knowledge we are providing them. We are all happy and healthy and looking forward to a great banquet dinner in Anchorage.
June 25
On the road to Mt. Mitchell
We packed up and headed out from the fish hatchery to face the infamous Mt. Mitchell. Our kids were excited because we were backpacking once again. They all seemed to get super excited to get out in the wilderness again. The weather seemed to hang over our heads and tease us by leaving us wondering when we were going to get swamped with some very heavy rain. It was sooner than we thought. Each member of our 15 person team seemed to be extremely happy with himself because it seemed that backpacking was not as difficult as it was on our first trip. Dylan, Travis, Henry, and Jessie all had huge grins on their faces because even though the weight they were carrying was similar as it was in the Pisgah, it now seemed lighter and walking with it did not slow them down one bit. We made it to camp in great time and we were all able to set up our tents in this beautiful meadow that had an amazing view. Our tents were bomber and we all laid our rain covers out to dry while we kept a close eye on the weather. While Katie set up dinner, I took a few people to go hang the bear bag. Anderson and Travis came with me to set up the bear bag and we all had many laughs because it took us a while to cast that perfect throw into the trees. Eventually we made it and were able to enjoy a fabulous dinner. After cleaning up, we got ready for Moon-up. As the first words were said, down came the rain. This wasn’t just a soft drizzle, it was thunderous with huge droplets which sent everyone scurrying to get in their tents.
June 26
Our leaders of the day did not have to wake us up because the rain managed to do that on its own. Katie and I decided to try and wait a while to see if the rain would clear up so we could attempt our summit. We waited a little bit longer. It became evident that the rain was not clearing up, it was only getting worse. We knew the best decision was to abandon our summit bid and head back to our van. Rose, Daniel and Elaina kept a strong pace that everyone was able to keep. Jack was one of the leaders of the day and he placed himself at the back of the group and helped Katie keep an eye on everyone to make sure that they were okay. Reid was able to use his positive energy and hilarious sense of humor to keep the group’s spirit upbeat. We kept our strong pace and we made it down our 4 mile trail in no time. Clothes and bodies were soaked, but our spirits were high when we gazed our eyes onto the glorious U-haul that meant we were getting out of the rain.
Another pleasant surprise was that Brad Kossover from the Moondance office was there in his pickup truck to make sure we were okay. Brad said that he had never seen such a wet group of kids with huge smiling faces. Morgan came up to Katie and I and told us that hiking out of the rain was AWESOME!! As the kids unloaded their packs and got into the van, Brad surprised the group by taking us all out to eat pizza to get our minds off of the rain. The kids enjoyed the pizza, and we realized how happy we were to be dry and back from this adventure. At moon-up tonight, several kids had said that the Mt. Mitchell experience was the turning point in the trip because of how we all came together and worked as a team when we all needed each other the most. It was a great experience for us all.
June 27
We stayed at our campsite at High Country and it had plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained. We cooked out on the grill and Nathan, Daniel and Dylan all led the group in several games of Mafia and we all got the most out of our two whole days of rest. The last night we all got psyched up for the Ocoee river and could not wait to enjoy our long day of rafting.
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