march 9

Sunday, March 9
 
Sometimes you have to give up the summit to protect the journey.

This is the reality that our entire staff had to realize over the past ten days in the field.  Even though we could not reach our geographical summit, we have all reached higher peaks within ourselves and with each other.

Giving up our summit was a difficult but appropriate decision.  This is just as much a part of our training: learning to deviate from our original goal.

I am extremely proud of the entire GRAB Staff and what we have accomplished over the past ten days in the field.

Our journey to the summit of Mt. Shavano has proved to be much more gratifying than the actual summit itself.  This is what we cannot lose sight of as we re-entire our typical routines; it’s not about reaching the top, but it’s how you get there that really counts.

Erika Clark ’09
 

Sunday

Last night, just before we all climbed into our tents for our final sleep, we were greeted with a light snow. This was a great conclusion to a day of practicing snow anchors, self-arrests, and rope travel on a nearby slope.

Though we did not actually spend as much time on the technical competencies associated with mountaineering during this WI, the students sure are dialed in on their winter backcountry skills. They performed beautifully breaking trail, cooking up great meals, creating winter kitchens, developing navigation skills, and managing on another at the critical moments. In addition, the students spent ample time in conversations involving topics such as leadership, professional credibility/integrity, expedition behavior, and understanding individual differences, all provoked by moments while on the trial.
 
As we dozed off to sleep, many of were woken by the final howls of coyotes—a lot of them. We think they were just saying goodbye to the group, though they could have been a little quieter. This morning we woke to eight inches of light fluffy snow, which offered a pleasant way to leave our location, just a walk and talk with a partner for 45 minutes to our final destination. We were picked up on time by our Fort Carson contacts and are enjoying the ride back along the Arkansas River.
 
Thanks for following our first attempt at a blog. Our thanks go to Paul Redfern and Jim Hale for managing the site at Gettysburg College. There are many additional thoughts we will post on our site in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, we invite everyone to Glatefelter Lodge on Wednesday, March 19th to hear the written reflections of the student’s Wilderness Institute experience. It is always a highlight to hear the students articulate their perspective. We will recap the experience with photos and video of the week.

John Regentin
Assistant Dean of College Life
Director of Experiential Education