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October 30, 2010
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YouthPride Summer Camping Trip

September 1st, 2010 First-time Backpacking, Overnight, Swimming

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YouthPride camping trips have always been some of my favorites because they have drawn interesting, upbeat participants, and my co-leader of these trips (Tana H.) is someone I enjoy spending time with. However, after Tana had a major surgery in the spring, I feared that I’d not be leading any more YouthPride trips. Without a partner within YouthPride, it’s hard to pull off something as “off-the-beaten-path” as a camping trip.

Miraculously (and really, not surprisingly, knowing Tana), there she was, just a couple months after surgery, ready to go to the woods! And though only one previous participant was able to come, the trip filled up several days ahead of time. We left the YouthPride building on Saturday morning with excitement and only a little anticipation of the gray skies above us.

As we drove north, the skies darkened and we saw the tell-tale sign of rain - oncoming cars with headlights on in the daytime. Finally, just north of Gainesville, the clouds opened up and the rain came down in torrents. Hoping the weather would move on in the next hour, we continued driving. But unfortunately, it was still pouring when we arrived in Clayton.

Our spirits were still high and the temperature still warm, so we hunkered down under a pavilion in the Warwoman Dell recreation area. I’ve always loved the name “Warwoman.” On one trip we led with Counterpane School, two students even made up a song about a warwoman. Anyway, I don’t know the true story about why the area is called Warwoman (there is a road, a creek, and a dell), but from what I’ve read, the original Warwoman was either Nancy Ward (a Cherokee Beloved Woman) or Nancy Hart (an Anglo leader of a Patriot band in Revolutionary War times). Both of these women’s stories are well worth reading!

Notice that this blog entry has been more about getting to the woods than being in them? Well, it continues…

We finally left Warwoman Dell around 3:00 pm after telling stories, laughing, and lying on picnic tables for a couple hours. It was still raining, but we were tired of waiting around, so we drove to Sandy Ford Road. The road is called that because there is a ford across Dicks Creek that we usually drive through before reaching the parking area. When we arrived at the ford, the creek was swollen from all the rain and there was a black Dodge Avenger stuck in the ford. We pulled in and parked and watched as a local gentleman with a truck helped pull the muscle car out of the water.

Still raining, our group decided to take a day hike to the waterfall and then decide (based on the rain) whether or not to go home or set up camp. Once we entered the woods and I relinquished my anxiety about the weather, the skies cleared. Happily, we pitched camp and even started a fire with the soggy wood.

Though we had a nice nice eating, talking, and roasting marshmallows around the fire that evening, everyone was tired and excited about swimming in the Chattooga River the next morning.

And that’s precisely what we did! Not everyone was a confident enough swimmer to make it to South Carolina, but we all spent time lounging along the riverbank, soaking in the suns’ rays that were so absent the day before, and marveling in the beauty that surrounded us.

This camping trip showed us how nature can seamlessly unveil a beautiful day after a dreary one. Though our trip was a success in terms of enjoyment and adventure, it also taught the lesson that after the strongest storm comes the most beautiful sunset.

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Arbor Montessori Backpacking Trip

May 11th, 2010 Arbor Montessori, First-time Backpacking, Overnight

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Nine middle-schoolers and the “storm of the century!” Sounds like a disaster movie tag-line, no? But instead of disaster, our recent backpacking trip with Arbor Montessori students was a rousing success.

These seven young men and two young women were at ease in the woods, despite this being almost everyone’s first true backpacking trip. Though they were laden down with gear, food, and water, they rocketed down the trail together (forcing their teacher and two guides to hustle to keep up), completing the first three miles of their adventure in only an hour. Tents were set up and firewood was collected almost as efficiently. Though we needed to teach them how to adjust their packs, purify water, hang ropes from trees (to hold our food bags at night), and cook backcountry meals, every moment of this trip was a joy - from sitting around a warm campfire to kneeling in mud during a torrential rainstorm.

Arbor Montessori has an excellent outdoors program run by Mark Warren at Medicine Bow that serves their elementary grades, so most of these middle school students have experience camping, building fires, identifying plants, and hiking. One young man remarked that backpacking is the natural extension of the adventures they had at Medicine Bow. I couldn’t agree more, and look forward to more trips with graduates of Medicine Bow.

Driving through Grundy County, Tennessee on the way to Savage Gulf, we smiled at the colorful names of their candidates for elected office: Hubert Dewayne “Turkey” Hargis, Ladue “Boo” Bouldin, and Phillip “Rabbit” Stevens. Upon arriving at the Stone Door Ranger Station, the ranger on duty told us to be careful of flash floods. Though we took his advice to heart, as we asked him more questions, we found out that flash floods are really only dangerous for rangers who drive trucks around the park and do little hiking. So, with this ominous but confusing advice, we embarked on our 3-day backpacking trip into the Savage Gulf Natural Area.

With mild temperatures and beautiful terrain, everyone’s spirits were up as we ate red beans & rice burritos for dinner and roasted marshmallows for s’mores in the evening. The evening was so relaxed, I was surprised to see it was midnight when I finally glanced at my watch before bed. At least this was a group of teens who would sleep in the next morning…I thought.

At 5:30 am the boys awoke and began wrestling in their tent. By 6:30 we were all out of our tents and packing up, still in high spirits. Rising early meant we had more time to complete our 7-mile hike to Saw Mill campsite, and we were able to pack up dry tents, despite the thunder beginning to sound in the distance.

To my surprise, the students chose to hike the Rim Trail for views rather than the Gulf Trail for waterfalls. We got to pause at several panoramic overlooks before arriving at the most impressive cliffs above Stone Door (a fissure in the rock cliffs containing 140 steps from top to bottom). Though drizzle had begun, we were able to take a snack break and stare at the view in front of us before hiking down stone door and into the canyon.

I had promised the students “swimming” at Laurel Creek. Every year I’ve done this hike, Laurel Creek has been a cascade of waterfalls, whirlpools, and deep pools. But today, it was empty. Bone dry. In fact, we ate on the creek bed and the boys began their series of faked “dangerous” photos (see photo to the left).

After lunch, the next creek was dry. And the next. And even Big Creek was dry at the base of the canyon. I began to worry that Schwoon Spring, our water source at Saw Mill campsite, would be dry. Luckily, it was flowing heartily. All of the water from the surrounding plateau flows into the canyon, but in dry weather it stays below ground, save for a couple springs and sinks (such as Schwoon) that flow year round.

Our group spent a couple hours at the spring (which is truly a small river flowing out of a cave and dropping into a deep sink (another cave). We collected water, dunked our heads in the water, and crawled on our bellies through sticky mud in a cave to have a underside view of the waterfall where Schwoon Spring falls into the sinkhole.

Returning to camp, we began cooking dinner under the tarp while a few students went with the other guide, Catie, to hang rope in trees for our food bags. And that’s when the sky opened up. Though we only caught the far corner of the “storm of the century” that flooded Nashville, I can truthfully say that I’ve never seen so much water come from the sky in such a short period of time. Though our heads were dry, water began flowing on the ground underneath our tarp, until we had a river of mud and rainwater at our feet.

After 45 minutes of kneeling in the mud, our chefs for the night had dinner ready. Then the rope-hangers returned - with big grins! They had the best adventure, trying to throw rope up in trees in pouring rain. Soaked to the bone, they changed clothes and then joined the rest of the group for a warming meal of Backcountry Shepherd’s Pie.

Laurel Creek Before & After the Rainstorm:

I was very impressed at how relaxed all the students were in the storm. One young woman just put on her rain pants and plopped down in the water and mud and continued to chop carrots. Another put on dry clothes in his tent, but then put the wet ones back on and came back out in the rain!

Everyone stayed dry in their tents overnight and on our last day in the woods, Savage Gulf had been transformed. Big Creek was flowing with 2 feet of water. Laurel Creek now contained waterfalls, cascades, and eddies. It was quite amazing to see how much water filled the canyon after a rainstorm. Though our big joy was getting to hike with this group of students, we were very lucky to see Savage Gulf in both its dry and wet iterations.

As we walked up the steps of Stone Door, many of the students wished they could stay longer. Though I was tired and ready for a shower, I shared the sentiment of wanting to visit Savage Gulf again and again with this group of teens.

I truly look forward to the next Arbor Middle School Backpacking Trip and am disappointed the graduating 8th graders will not be able to join us next year. Congratulations on graduation!

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Kingfisher Cumberland Camping

March 3rd, 2010 Cumberland Island, First-time Backpacking, Kingfisher Academy, Overnight, Swimming, Tree Climbing

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I couldn’t resist the alliteration in the title of this post!

Last week, Ms. McGinnis (a middle-school teacher at Kingfisher Academy) and I took a group of twelve 9-13 year olds on a 4-day, 3-night camping trip on Cumberland Island National Seashore on the coast of Georgia. For those of you not familiar with Cumberland, it is my favorite place in the United States. From the jungle of live oak trees, saw palmettos, and Spanish moss to the wild horses to the pristine beaches, Cumberland is an exquisite place to be outdoors.

I’m always excited to introduce new people to the island, and this group of students from Kingfisher Academy were in for a treat! February is one of the best times to visit Cumberland because the gnats and mosquitos are not out yet and it is still sometimes warm enough to soak in the sun at the beach. On this trip, we experienced the best day possible: 75 degree temperatures, full sun, no bugs, and an island virtually to ourselves because the ferry doesn’t run on Tuesdays.

Though rain was predicted on Monday and Wednesday, nature smiled on us and only produced a slight drizzle both days. Enough to get us damp, but not soaked to the bone.

Despite this good fortune, this was still a most difficult trip. Not only were these students relatively young (four days out is a long time for 9-10 year olds), but this was the longest camping trip most of them had been on, the first camping trip for some, and the first time away from parents overnight for one or two. As a result, our group had to learn a camp routine and develop comfort sleeping and living in the woods. We were not without a good deal of complaining, but I saw a lot of growth in the kids.

Some kids refused to wear “dirty” clothes, insisting on changing into “clean” ones (sometimes twice a day), but on our last evening when the temperature was dropped into the mid-30s, all the kids quickly put on multiple layers when I asked them to - no matter if they had any “clean” clothes left.

One girl slept really poorly the first night, laying awake listening to the sounds of the forest. The next night, feeling more comfortable, she slept like a rock.

We developed lots of routines: dish washing and tooth brushing after meals, where to put trash, where to keep our food safe from raccoons, always zipping up the tent when you leave it, etc.

At the end of the trip when Ms. McGinnis asked the students what they were most proud of, and it was a joy to hear their answers: completing a 7.5 mile hike, having a quiet moment watching the bright moon at night, and my favorite, just coming on this trip!

Though we stayed in Sea Camp all three nights, we were not at all sedentary. I’m not sure if you can be with kids this age. The first day, we set up camp and then spent the rest of the day combing the beach for sea life and running. This group ran around more than any other group I’ve been with. No wonder we were all in bed by 9pm each night!

On Tuesday, in the glorious 75-degree weather that I previously described, we took a 5-mile day hike to Dungeness, a ruined Carnegie mansion from the early 1900s. We visited Raccoon Keys and searched (mostly fruitlessly) for sharks teeth. We saw 9 wild horses. We visited the salt marshes on the southern end of the island, and took a long walk back to camp along the beach.

We even got to go swimming…well, sort of. My rule was that no one goes in the water unless I do, and it was so beautiful on Tuesday that I decided it would be okay. We splashed in the waves, got thoroughly wet, and then had to rinse the salt water off our bodies in ice cold showers! But it was worth it!

That night, the kids collected wood, built a pyre, and lit the fire. We roasted marshmallows, made s’mores, and told stories.

The next day we cleaned up camp and tightened the guy-lines on our tents in case of rain and then took a 7.5 mile day hike to Stafford Beach and back. This was not easy for the kids. 7.5 miles is the longest hike I’ve taken them on this year and it started drizzling when were a mile from camp. Prepared, we put on our rain gear and continued. Though blisters, sore ankles, knees and legs hobbled us, we did it! And at least one student learned it’s better to not wear short socks with high-top basketball shoes.

Though the rain soaked some of our firewood, the kids (and me and Ms. McGinnis) were diligent and stashed enough wood under the tarp for a fire on our last morning. The students built a pyre the previous night and covered it with my pack cover. So on Thursday morning, I awoke before everyone and used their pyre to light the fire. We toasted our bagels, drank tea and cocoa, then packed up camp to leave.

We were all very ready to go home, but leaving Cumberland is still bittersweet for me - especially since the clouds cleared and blue skies and sun streamed down through the Spanish moss as we backpacked to the ferry on Thursday morning. Despite the chilly wind, I couldn’t help but sit on the upper deck of the ferry to wish the island adieu. Most of the kids fell asleep on benches in the heated cabin of the ferry.

I can’t wait for my next journey to Cumberland Island in the fall. Be on the lookout for our announcement (in May) of our next Cumberland Island trip open to the general public.

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