Friday was a very busy day. It started with breakfast bright and early at 7:00 am in the cafeteria of the NOLS Noble Hotel. We were all in that awkward/nervous stage of trying to seem unfazed by the upcoming expedition while also trying to make pleasant and polite conversation with our future teammates. After breakfast we headed over to the "Branch” where we were going to be issued rations and gear.
The first area we visited was called the “Gulch” which was where NOLS handles all of the food. We were split up into tent groups/cook groups and taught how to measure and bag our rations for the entire three weeks. We would always be carrying quite a bit of food and fuel on our backs but not everything due to the two re-rations that were planned: the first one would be by packhorses and the second by truck. My cook mates and I spent the next hour finding all of the ingredients on our list and weighing/bagging the proper amount. The Gulch was impressive and had any type of back country cooking ingredient that you could think of: powdered sauces, dehydrated vegetables, a myriad of snack/trail foods, spices, teas and hearty meats and cheeses.
After the rations it was time for some classes on gear and packing. Adam, one of our instructors, gave us a class on what type of gear was required for the course and what was optional and recommended. Our equipment list seemed like a mile long but what was especially helpful about the class was when Adam took us through each and every thing that he was bringing in his pack. Then, after a brief class on how to pack a large backpack to maximize space and weight, he packed his bag back up to show us how to do it. When class was finished, all of us exploded all of our gear on the floor and the instructors met with us individually and went through each item on the required list to see if we could use something that we brought or if we needed to rent some equipment from NOLS. I had most things already but ended up renting a ground tarp, a puffy down jacket, a backpack, wind pants, rain pants, a wind shirt, mitten shells, a climbing harness, helmet and climbing shoes.
After packing our individual supplies we got back into our cook groups and divided up the group gear and food. Group gear consisted of: tent, cook set and stove, fuel, bear spray, trowel, bear rope to hang food, binoculars, first aid kit, foot kit, fly fishing equipment and maps and compasses. When everything was packed, the instructors weighed each of us and our packs to make sure nobody was carrying more than a certain percentage of their body weight. My pack weighed in at 46 lbs and Sean’s was 47 lbs. Fortunately/unfortunately they are all about equality at NOLS – everybody carried pretty much the same weight no matter what your size or sex. There were some girls much smaller than I was carrying the same weight I was.
During lunch we made sack dinners and after stuffing ourselves with our final tastes of civilization, we loaded the bus and took about a two hour ride to the trail head of our hike into the Southern Wind River Range. Although our hike wasn’t that long the first day – only about two miles – I remember it because I was heaving and panting because of going uphill with a heavy pack in an altitude that I wasn’t used to and also because I was in a hiking group of all men who were trying to be macho and had set a grueling pace. I distinctly remember thinking, ‘What have I gotten myself into?” and “Am I going to make it through this?”
We hiked to the edge of a meadow, met up with the other groups and then chose our campsite and kitchen/cooking area which was supposed to be a least 200 yards from the sleeping area (a precaution for bears). We learned how to set up our particular type of tent called a Pangora which is basically just a tarp that doesn’t even go all the way to the ground or have a bottom. We also learned how to dig “cat holes” in order to go #2 and how to purify water (we used a chemical treatment called Aquamira). We also learned how to set up the “bear fence” which was an electronic fence that kept our food safe from bears (I still find it difficult that a one ton grizzly is going to give up on 12 bags of food simply because of a few electric shocks, but whatever). It was a big day, to say the least, and my head was spinning from the altitude and all of the new information as I mummified myself in my sleeping bag for the night.
