Sterling Terrain V02 - Flipbook - Page 38
36 | Sterling College
Field Journal
Excerpts from
Expedition I
destination of the Hazen Camp Shelter
spur trail, it was time to build some bridges. However, before bridges we needed to
create a solid base of stone and gravel. We
learned that our hardhats made for sufficient buckets.
Voices and bright clothing were coming
down the trail – it was the two sons with a
rescuer. The radio on the rescuer squealed
– the litter-carrying team was still 1.5 miles
from the road. They needed our help.
I roused seven sleeping students from
their tents at 6:50 am. The same route as
the year before was ahead of us. Rain was
forecast for late in the day and through the
next night.
We met the litter carrying team about a
mile up. They gave us instructions. There
was some initial skepticism from a few of
the firefighters, but that was quickly put
to rest when they saw the competence,
strength, and energy of the students.
Written By
Adrian Owens,
Faculty in Outdoor Education
In 2018, Sterling led the inaugural Expedition I on the Long Trail as part of new student orientation, a Sense of Place. Expedition II, or Winter Expedition, still occurs
in December and this year will be a part
of a larger Bounder Week where all students participate in intensive courses that
stretch them outside their comfort zones.
Today we crossed paths with the southbound group led by Allison Van Akkeren.
With their trail work done, they handed off
their tools to us: loppers, hand clippers, and
a couple folding saws. We are destined for
brush cutting and puncheon bridge building with our friends from the Green Mountain Club. Everyone is in good spirits today.
We traversed 5 miles of steep climbs and
descents today, cutting brush along the
way. The need for clearing was high with
this section of trail being hard for routine
maintenance. We arrived at our destination about 2 pm and waiting for us was
a large pile of 8 foot long, 3x8 timbers.
They were green and heavy, probably 80
pounds each. We were tired and a bit beat
up from the descent down the steep and
ledgy north side of Haystack Mountain.
We left our packs near the road and made
many trips carrying materials the 1.8 miles
and 800 vertical feet to its destination. We
didn’t get everything moved so more of the
same in the morning. It is raining.
Thanks to last night’s thunderstorms, we
had plenty of stream flow for cooking and
drinking. This was fortunate considering
the work we had to accomplish today. After moving the rest of the material to its
While filling up water bottles, a southbound day hiker told us that we would soon
find a woman who had sprained her ankle.
She had already called for help. My quandary: how to balance my responsibility as
a trained Wilderness First Responder and
my responsibility for the group of students
with me.
We find the patient sitting in the middle of
the trail with her foot elevated on a foam
pad. Her two sons were with her, about
9 and 11. They were several days into a
south-bound thru-hike of the Long Trail. I
estimated that we were a half mile south of
the summit of Haystack Mountain, which
made it a total of 2.4 miles to the closest
road, with a steep descent.
With her permission, I assessed the injury
and started to plan treatment. Her phone
rang. The rescue team had started up the
mountain 20 minutes ago. She agreed to
a splint and a supported walk toward the
road with the help of students who also
provided comfort to the boys.
The first rescuers from local rescue squads
and fire departments arrived, having started out more than an hour ago. They took
over patient care and evacuation and said
they had 18 more people coming, including a technical rescue team. Back to leading the student group - we hiked towards
the summit and stopped for lunch. At 4pm
we set up camp and the first rain showers
started.
We peeled off from the group when we
reached our campsite. There was only
about a quarter mile of fairly flat trail left
to reach the road. The team leader said our
arrival to help gave the group a big boost
of energy when they really needed it to get
down the trail before dark.
Today was a leg-burner after meeting up
with the Green Mountain Club at the Jay
Peak ski area and hiking to the summit –
and the Long Trail – while loaded down
with tools. I welcomed the stops to identify
wildflowers.
The project for today was drainage and
brushing along the Long Trail heading
north. This included the construction of
several new ditches and rock supported water bars. I was really impressed by
how the students supported each other,
despite their varying levels of ability and
comfort with being on the trail for an extended period of time.
Everyone is exhausted. The long day it requires to get over Belvidere is a big ask but
everyone stayed in pretty good spirits despite the stress of an early start and evening arrival to camp. Lights out – my eyes
cannot stay open for another moment and
the owls calling in the distance are calling
me to rest.