Thursday September 15th was the start of my non-showering, wear-the-same-clothes week. The Winterline group got divided into two groups. We packed our packs with 8-days-worth of supplies and said our goodbyes. My team of 10 Winterliners and two NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) instructors got on a bus and drove 15 minutes to our starting point. We then divided our team into two groups in order to hike the Wind River Range without leaving a trace. As I picked up my 50lb backpack and strapped it on, I felt anxious and nervous but excited at the same time about the adventure I was going to experience. I had no idea what to expect. I just thought I would be cold and tired the entire trip. Little did I know, I was going to enjoy it. We hiked a little more than 2 miles uphill the first day and met the other half of the group at our campsite. We learned how to set up the tent, unpack, dig a hole, and sleep warm in our sleeping bags. Our dinner that night consisted of a spoonful (or finger-full, rookie me forgot to bring her spoon to the kitchen) of peanut butter. The next morning my tent mates and me woke up 15 minutes late because we didn’t have an alarm (whoops). We made it to breakfast and Austin, one of the instructors, taught my cooking group and me how to cook in the wilderness. Easier than I thought: light up the stove, boil water, make food (am I right?). And that’s how our 8 days living off the grid started. The rest of the days consisted of waking up, making breakfast, packing everything into our packs, hiking and looking for the next campsite and kitchen. Day three and four we camped at the same campsite. Day three was a layover day and day four we went on a day hike up to Chimney Peak. Our goal was to climb Wind River Peak but with 65mph wind, cold weather, and an uphill boulder terrain, it was a risk hazard to keep going. Chandler and me, being leaders of the day, decided to hike the smaller peak, reaching an altitude of about 12,500 ft. It was so windy up there that everyone was getting knocked over. It was crazy. On the fifth day I got a blister. Lucky me I got a Wilderness First Aid certification were they taught us how to take care of blisters. Put a band aid over it. Oh wait, it won’t work? You’re supposed to put mole skin over it? Shoot, I already forgot my WFA training. Oh well, at least I know how to stabilize a spine and check the ABCDE’s (airway, breaths, circulation, decision, exposure right?). By the end of the course we were all pretty good at setting up camp, but on the last day we became great campers. On the last day of hiking it started raining, so we learned how to set up tent without it getting wet (umm… more or less). Thursday the 23rd was our pickup at 8am at our campsite. At 8:30 the bus hadn’t arrived yet so we started walking about two miles. That’s where the positive pessimism started. At least we didn’t have to walk 2.5 miles with uneven backpacks. At least we didn’t eat breakfast. At least we knew the bus was going to arrive shortly. Anyway, two trucks came to our rescue. The first truck came with food, so we ate breakfast and waited for the second truck. Three of us got in the first and three of us in the second. Three people were left behind waiting for one of the trucks to go get them. We finally got to the bus and drove about 1.5 hours to the NOLS ranch. There we unpacked and cleaned everything, took a shower, used a toilet, saw our phones, and ate with plates, napkins, chairs, and tables. It was great to see civilization again.
