Senior Fall Outdoor Leadership Training in the Delaware Water Gap
“For years, copying other people, I tried to know myself. From within, I couldn’t decide what to do. Unable to see, I heard my name being called. Then I walked outside” Rumi
We were near the end of our two day hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT) following a ridge line on the Kittatinny Mountains in the Delaware Water Gap. It was our Fall Outdoor Leadership Training (OLT) for our UP Academy seniors – the early fall weather had been exceptional with just a tad of crispness in the autumn mountain air. The hiking had been extremely challenging; the unusually heavy summer rains had eroded a significant amount of trail surface leaving exposed and loose rock. Turned ankles and twisted knees were unavoidable and all of us had experienced a fall or two. At this time in the day the stress and tensions from the trekking were as exposed as the rocks.
One of the students was really struggling, more than the rest. The weight of her pack seemed to take on more pounds with each passing step. She needed to rest; her ankles were sore and hurting from multiple twists. Unfortunately some of her classmates who were also tired and hurting did not want to stop, they wanted to go faster and get to the end of the trail; they were ready to be done. I reacted with a quick rebuke for the students who showed an indifference to their classmate’s struggle. The correction was not well received and a student snapped back at me saying, “I didn’t ask to come on this trip, I’m not an outdoor person, this is your thing, not mine.” The moment passed…but the tension was not far from the surface.
In camp later that evening, after a beef stew dinner with the warmth of a crackling fire beside us, it was now time to unpack what had happened during the day. “You don’t get it,” I started. “This is not about the outdoors, it’s about character”. Whether on a four day portage and paddle trip across the Saranac’s, white water rafting on the Nolichucky, or on a grueling ten mile hike on the AT , it is all about finding our true selves…because I know in these moments of our greatest stress we reveal our true selves - for good, for bad. They listened silently; the tension dissipated; the student who snapped earlier during the day now offered an apology. And, I admitted that if they enjoyed the outdoors (or better yet became an outdoor naturalist or a park ranger), I would be overjoyed.
We drove back to Camden Sunday morning leaving the Kittatinny Mountains and the Appalachian Trail behind us; back to the city… and maybe, just maybe, we know ourselves a little bit better. As we rounded the corner to the UrbanPromise Campus, we saw the blazing orange foliage on a Maple tree in front of the elementary school. One of the students exclaimed, “Wow, look at that tree, I’ve become more aware of nature after being in it.”
Keep on Trekking… even when the trail gets tough.
Jim
