For this blog entry, please simply write about your experience on the AT. Although I have a few various thoughts and questions that I would like you to consider and write about, please try to write your responses in a narrative format rather than using numbered and fragmented partial sentences. As you write, consider the following:
- Consider the expectations you had of the backpacking expedition before the trip.
- How did your actual experience compare to your expectations?
- What can you learn from this difference or similarity between expectation and experience?
- What are the actions you took to model good EB? What did you do that did not contribute to good EB? Comment on how incorporating these behaviors into your every-day routine could impact your life.
- How do you feel you performed physically?
- What factors contributed to your performance?
- What could you do to allow you to perform better next time?
- Describe how well you thought did with food planning. What were challenges you faced? Did you bring enough food? Too much food? The right kinds of food? What would you do different next time? What did you learn?
- Comment on how you thought you did with packing and loading your packs. Did you discover an efficient system? Did your packing become more efficient each time you packed? What did you learn?
- Comment on how comfortable you were during this experience. What were some strategies you learned and used to keep warm - both during the day and at night?
- Was there a moment (or moments) when you felt like you weren't having "fun"? Describe them and how you got through them.
- What things will you do differently when you prepare for and participate in the winter expedition next semester? What will you do the same?
- Describe how you felt upon returning from the trip back to your everyday routines and relate this to Benton MacKaye's original vision for the AT.
- Finally, comment on how incorporating what you learned from this experience into your every-day routine could impact your life - both professionally and personally.
Your responses to these questions are due by Friday, December 6 at 9:00 am.
Minsoss
ReplyDeleteBefore the trip I knew that I would be cold and miserable since I was already cold and miserable just walking around outside. I was pretty correct on that except when we walked I got much hotter than I expected I was also a bit concerned that I wasn’t fit enough to do the amount of walking we were about to do but I surprised myself and didn’t die. And for some reason I wasn’t as excided for this trip as I was for the others. I figured that was because it was cold and all we were really doing was walking instead of doing something cool like sailing or kayaking. I knew it would be a challenge and I expected to take it like I did on the other trips- a lot of fun but also a lot of PHUN. this trip wasn’t like that. I was so miserable and nothing seemed fun, not even phun. Though as the trip went on there were a few phun moments and I know I learned a lot on this trip and when I look back on the experience it wasn’t as horrible as it seemed in the moment. The first night wasn’t the hardest physically but it was mentally. I expected to have more willpower but I didn’t. My expedition behavior was pretty bad then. I got up late in the morning and I complained a lot. Although after that I learned to suck it up a bit. I stopped complaining and just accepted that this was just something I had to do. And I decided to do the best I can considering the mental and physical factors. Even though my EB wasn’t all that great, I was trying. I think having energy helped a lot too. I was never hungry and for the most part durring the day, not cold. I didn’t really get sleepy tired either. I was shocked at how I did physically too, I’m sure the food helped with that. Maybe next time I could get more in shape before the trip, I was ok this time doing bare minimum but things would be much easier if I did more. For food I think I did well with the meals except I got too much quantity of each meal. I planned it that way so I could reach 3000 calories a day but I just couldn’t eat that much. On a daily basis I think I barely ate over 2000 calories. Next time I would definately pack less food and save a lot of room in my back. I think I was good at packing at least, everything I needed was accesable and I managed to fit everything in my pack. Next trip I’m going to do a lot of things differently. I’m going to be extra cautious on keeping dry and eating more at night to stay warm and work on my mindset to be less miserable and focus more on what needs to be done. I was not comfortable the entire trip but I need to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, if that makes sense? This whole trip was an extreme challenge but I learned a lot of things. I even learned that I’m more capable than I thought I was, metally and physically. I learned how to be more accepting of a challenge and to just deal with things even though they’re hard, which is a really important thing to do in everday life. I also notice how much I appreciated everything when I came back from trip. All those little things I took for granted felt like such a privilege to have. So over all the trip was pretty worth it.
The backpacking trip was very interesting for me, To be honest I was expecting to not have much fun on the trip like all the others, but surprisingly I had the most collective fun on this trip. Only one day of the trip was I not happy or content. The one major thing I learned is that snakes are important and shouldnt take a back seat to planning your meal. I would have packed way more snakes if I had known that simple fact. As for having good EB, I don’t remember most of the trip so I can’t say as far as that but I do know the second day when I wasn't prepared and didn't take care of myself was a bad show of EB. Taking care of yourself is the most important EB that one should demonstrate in there life. Physically I think I did fine, the only day I was challenged was the second day because I didn't eat or drink enough. Next time I would definitely bring more snakes. I think I planned my actual meals fine, but I didn't plan my snakes very well. In the end I ate all my food and each meal met the criteria but I definitely needed more food for the road. Packing the bag was fairly easy, I managed to fit everything and even used the rain cover as an easy access storage space to keep my layers in. I definitely got more efficient at packing each time I packed because I realized what I would need more often than not and adjusted my pack to that.
ReplyDeleteI was definitely on the wall in terms of comfort level, overall I was fine but it was a new experience.
Some things I did to keep warm during the day was to keep moving, I don't like stopping a lot because it sorta makes you lose your stride and makes you cold, I'd rather keep going.
Entire day 2 I was not having fun, you and I both know why.
Some things I will do to prepare for winter trip is probably improve my shelter building and my amount of snakes. I will probably reuse some of my meal ideas however.
After returning, I felt about the same.
I feel that if I incorporate what i've learned for the trip, it would help improve my overall health, taking better care of myself nutritionally and keeping moving are good ways to do this.
Before the trip I thought I would be exhausted my actual experiences as I was tired but that’s about it. I thought I wouldn’t be able to hike as fate as we did but I was able to just fine and didn’t die so that’s nice. I didn’t really contribute good EB all I did was walk and tell people they could walk further and laugh at their complaints. I guess I could take laughing at pain into my everyday life. I feel I performed just fine physically. The fact I used to walk a few miles a day. I could get used to walking up inclines that might help next time. I think I did fine on food planning I brought the right kinds of food and everything but brought a little to much food. I think I loaded my pack fine but forgot about a compression strap. And no my packing got more scrambled each time as I was more tired. I was comfortable I slept just fine I just put on a couple layers the only part of me cold was my feet or when I got up to go to the bathroom. I was having fun most of the trip until I was leading the group at night and stopped to look for a mark for the trail and a few people started complaining and getting mad at me for stopping to look for one. I got through it by speeding up a bit and getting help from Will to find the markers. I will do a lot the same but pack better and bring less food. I will be incorporating just roll with the punches into my everyday life and take things as they come it could help me just to keep moving forward.
ReplyDeleteShawn Hardy
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot in this trip, about how the little things can either make or break your experience. in the beginning I was just throwing my stuff in the back not really worrying about the comfort of the pack. but by the last day I relized that the little extra time it takes to pack properly makes a huge difference. I also learned that even though I could physically do the trip, I it would be a lot more comfortable for me in i could be in better shape. that is something that i plan to work on before the next trip. The one part of the trip I believe i did well on was the meal planning. I had plenty of snacks for the entirety of the trip and had small amount of leftover food when the trip was over. The biggest struggle I had during the trip was keeping warm at night, in the day I had no issues with staying warm. on the first night of the trip I didn't sleep at all because i was unable to stay warm. but the next two nights I put my hot nelgene in my sleeping bag and put hand warmers in my pockets and I was able to sleep pretty well. I think I demonstrated EB well as when ever someone needed help with something I would drop what I was doing and Help them. Ovrerall i think i grew a lot on the trip and I will use a lot of the lessons I learned in this trip in my daily life but the biggest thing I will learned is their is no short cuts you have to do stuff right because if you don't its gunna comeback to hurt you. even though the trip was difficult I really did enjoy it and had a lot of fun at times.