The Iodine Brew - So Tasty!

This shot shows Jacki preparing to drink her first-ever gulp of iodine water.  The iodine was added to a water bottle based on the temperature of the water, and because it is a group 7 halogen, it would kill any potentially dangerous pathogens in the water.  Then the water would taste a little funny, but would be safe to drink in less than a half-hour.

Inside JOKE!

This is a "No Passing Zone" that we passed on the way back to UNH.  It made me question whether this was a "No - Tow Zone" well, or whether towing was allowed in this area.

The Shirp

This is Shirpa John who was my group's speaker and who came with us on part of this hiking trip.  He is a very unique individual in that he has trained himself to be able to run straight for over 100 miles and he has reached more mountain peaks than I care to count.  He is also a great character and good company on our adventure.

In Case of a Bear...

This is how we were supposed to act in the event that a bear came to our shelter.  Most of us stand and act big and scary.  Lauren waves mildly at the oncoming creature.  Steve grabs what's left of the food. Jared puts his headlight on and prepares to make a dash for it.  And I just whip out the ole camera and snap a shot.  I mean, what's a better time for one?

And Bill is ... Gonzos!

This is a shot of Billy after he had fallen asleep just sitting and waiting for dinner.  I have never actually seen this done before, so props to him for pulling it off.

Memories from the Adventure: the Bear Box

This is one of our trip leaders, Ray-Ray (Rachael), sitting in the latrine surrounded by all the food that we intended to place in the bear box.  It turned out that there was no bear box at this shelter, event thought someone had thoughtfully written that it was behind the bathroom. However, all that was behind that was large boxes full of human waste. Ha ha.  So anyway, you can see what we ended up doing with our food.

Return from the Trip and Overview

Our hike into the White Mountains went great, despite the fact that it turned out to be a very rainy weekend.  I feel that everyone truly took pleasure in the adventure in one way or another, even though we all experienced it differently.  I personally found the hike to be very meditative and rather a relief from the business and stress of everyday college life.  There was no other activities I could have or should have been doing during the trip and there was no real connection back to the 'real' world during that brief period.  There was only the gentle plod up the hills and the soft noises of us moving and the woods around us.  The hike was hardly strenuous in a physical sense, but it certainly liberated my mind from a constant barrage of thoughts, allowing me to just be in the moment.  For example, my muscles were not sore after reaching the campsite, but I was in 'bed' resting by 7:30.  This is earlier than I have gone to bed in years!

I savored the feeling of peace throughout the hike, but I also felt that it should have been more challenging.  We only hiked a total of 5.8 miles over the course of two days, a distance that I would jog on a run.  After writing a research paper on flow, I feel that it is important to examine any adventure for areas of flow, and even unique sensations.  I did not find myself in any sort of flow state during the adventure as the slight level of difficulty did not match my more developed hiking 'skills.'  This eliminated the need for me to focus intently on the adventure and essentially gave me a feeling of pleasure as opposed to a feeling of enjoyment.  In terms of sensation seeking, this adventure inspired almost the opposite feelings than one would get when skydiving.  This adventure was tranquil and alleviating, instead of exciting and adrenaline stimulating.

I am very glad that my group selected this 'moose quest' in the White Mountains as our adventure, (even though we never saw a moose), but because we had a great time and bonded as a team.

The Pack

(This picture shows Tom dressed and ready to go with his pack fully loaded.)

Just prior to departure, we packed our hiking back-packs full with supplies that we would need for our two day adventure.  In mine, I had: several pairs of socks (only one that was non-cotton), a pair of sweatpants for sleeping, a pair of shorts, a few dry-wick shirts, an extra rain jacket, a camera, a flashlight, a lot of honey covered peanuts, a sleeping bag, a floor mat, of course a frisbee (just in case), a bunch a stakes, a first aid kit, personal supplies, a V8 splash, water bottles, power bars, and a towel.  Altogether my pack weighed around 40 pounds and rose above my head.  I had to feel a little sorry for Steve, though, as he packed an extra tent and grill, bringing his pack up to around 55 pounds.  We also went over our shortened trip plan with Jared, Rachael and Jen before packing up the van.  I took a while to do all the final prep work as Tom was rather sick and everyone was a little over tired.

Simplifying the Schedule

As we neared the trip, we organized all of our goals into one trip plan.  This plan became extremely busy, including far too much for us to possibly to accomplish.  In this pre-trip plan, about a week before leaving, our schedule had us hiking a 15 mile loop over a minimum of 12,000 vertical feet on day 1 and another 9 miles to a waterfall on day 2.  This was way too much hiking for us for many reasons including that we were not all in good enough shape, there was not enough time, we would have to hike well past dark and the weather for the weekend was going to be cold and wet.  However, we all understood that this was not going to be achieved, so we simplified the schedule to simply a 3 mile hike in, an optional trip up Mt. Wiley, and a hike out.  This way, we would have plenty of time to set up camp, eat, and get warm before dark.