Survival of the Most Adaptable

Great article, and one I fully understand. Back in the mid 1980’s to the mid-1990’s, I worked as an outdoor therapist in an OTP (Outdoor Therapeutic Program). In this job, I took a 10 day backpacking wilderness trip every month.

My “campers” were mostly institutionalized teens who were either in a Youth Detention Center (Youth Prison with Walls and Razor Wire), or were from a state adolescent psychiatric facility, which was also a lock down program, and Alcohol and Drug Residential programs, and High School Psycho-Ed programs where the students were identified as having severe emotional and/or behavioral problems.

On every trip, I had to plan every meal before hand, and pack out accordingly for a 10 day trek with myself, the 10 “campers” and two agency staff from the institutions these “campers” came from, and many times, the staff were in many ways worse off than their students, detainees, or patients when it came to dealing with “Reality” which is what these trips were all about. OTP programs which are run professionally with competent and well trained staff who have already dealt with most of their own self doubts, fears, etc. and have become Emotionally and Psychiatrically stable adults.

For these, as I said, every day and every meal had to be accounted for, packed out in advance and then distributed amongst the “campers” including myself, and the agency staff. I had to get all the backpacks ready and in good repair before I issued them to the “campers” on day one. Also the canteens, Rain and Wind ponchoes, sleeping bags, tents, tarps, pots and pans and kitchen utensils, first aid pack, emergency radio (to be used Only In a emergency), the bow saw with extra blades, and all the other gear that we packed in order to deal with whatever the weather threw at us. As I said, this was a 10 day trip every month yearround, and you can imagine the varying weather you get in the Appalachian Mountains. Everything from beautiful blue skies and 90 degrees or dark, gray rainy days with temperatures in the 30’s or 40’s with nightime temps in these conditions dropping to single digits, ice storms, snow storms, whatever Mother Nature Threw at us. And, remember, none of my campers or fellow staff, for the most part when they arrived for this trip, had never in their lives been backpacking in the mountains with a backpack weighing at least one third of their body weight. We were not Granola Bar and Tofu campers. We prepared Real Food, and food that would supply us with the carbohydrates, protein, and calories to give us the energy we needed every day as we packed up every day, and hiked for miles (depending on the age and fitness for the hike–I planned the interary in advance based on my first meeting with the groups weeks before the trip, I would develop an intenerary of daily hiking that would tough on the group so as to be effective in creating catharsis and change and growth in emotional development) set up camp. Putting up tents, building a fire pit, gathering firewood, fetching water from fresh water springs where available, and when not available, water had to either be boiled to purify or use water treatment tablets, depending on the condition of the water to be consumed, digging a latrine, putting up the fire tarp, setting up the kitchen area with pots, pans, etc. and then each meal, we had the menu for that meal for that day. That is how I packed it out a menu which was given to the “campers” that told them exactly what this meal consisted of, and packout was labeled, packout 1, 2, etc. and each package was wrapped with tape or in a bag that said, for example “13 slim jims for day 3 lunch”. And, this is how each meal went. The idea being, I had prepared plenty for everybody, but not gluttony or to use things out of turn, because we could not run down to the corner store and get more if we ran out. (Note: What the campers did not know was that in addition to other gear, my own, as well as the radio, first aid pack (13 pounds) my tent, sleeping bag, poncho, canteen, clothing, etc. I also had about 8 pounds of Emergency Food in the event something totally out of our control happened, we would have some food to survive. But, in all the trips I did, we never had to get into the emergency food, because part of what I had instilled in the campers from the very first meeting was that Accidents Do Not Just Happen, they are generally the result of not paying attention to what you are doing and what your surroundings are. Never had to use emmergency food and never ended a trip early, never cancelled a trip and never had to evacuate an injured camper, or to dial 911. I was the only 911, and I was responsbile for every camper, including the grown up staff from the agencies. Also, I packed a 9 MM Baretta with extra ammo, and nobody knew that either, including the folks I worked for as it was Against Policy. Well, policy aside, I am going to be in the wilderness with 12 people that I am responsible for their health and safety, and I take it seriously. Not on my watch!! This was one of my mottoes. But, back to the 9 mm. I kept that just in case some lunatic decides to visit my camp, as has been done on the A.T. before and this was especially true in the 1980’s–1990’s, and in the event of a rabid animal or other attack from an animal, such as a bear, cougars, etc. Never had to use it or even to show it, but my other motto was “Better to Have It and Not Need It than to Need It and NOT HAVE IT. And this was also my thinking when packing out for the trip. I made sure we carried every thing we might forsee, and hopefully not see, but again, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. The “campers” might ask, “Hey why we carrying these Rain Ponchoes, it ain’t going to rain.” They would try anything to lighten their load, but they were not going to lighten them by tossing any gear. I instilled this in them too. Here is a scenario, on one trip, I had an especially whiny bunch of campers, including the agency staff, who were getting sloppy when it came time to pack out for the day’s hike to our next campsite. They had griped and whined half the morning as we packed up and re-naturalized our campsite (MY Motto–Leave a Campsite Better than you Found it, and maybe those behind us will follow our example and not be pigs and litter bugs.) Any way, each day, we had a new group leader who was selected by consensus the night before in our nightly process group where we would discuss our day, what we had learned, etc. So, on each day, we had a new group leader who was like a foreman of sorts, and it was his or her responsibility to make sure the packs were packed, the area was clear of any trash, the latrine properly buried, and that we had all our pots, pans and other equipment. After the group leader came to me and said, “we are all packed up and ready to go.” And, as was my responsiblity, I would do a walk around and either tell the guys, great job, let’s hit the trail in our usual fashion with the group leader in front and other campers singlefile behind with me at the rear, or I would look around and see if anything was amiss, and if so, I would ask the group leader if he would like to do another look around for stray gear, etc. Well, this particular trip, I had spotted our 36 inch bow saw, which we quite often needed in gathering firewood, which was partially, but not totally covered with the extra firewood we had gathered for the next campers should they be in distress. About half the Shiny Bow Saw Handle and blade sheat was clearly visible. The “leader” half heartedly and half-assed looked around, and said, “Nope, we are all ready to go.” So, I said, saddle up, line up, and let’s hit the trail. Well, I was going to use this as an object lesson. We hiked for about an hour, usually about 2-1/2 miles to 4 miles depending of the group and trail terrain and conditions. We stopped for a breather and water break, and when ready to go, I, as I did after every stop, asked the group to look around to see if we dropped anything and at the same time as we lined up, to have them check the camper’s backpack in front of him/her to see if they had some loose gear that might need to be readjusted, and make corrections as necessary. And, this time, this one camper said, “Hey Joe, everyother day I have been behind you, you had the bow saw bungy chorded to the outside of your pack, (because that was one of your responsibilities) and it is not there.” I then asked each camper to check the other campers packs to see if somebody else packed it out. Of course they did not find it, and like I had reminded them from day one is that we pack out everything and double check every campsite to make sure we do not leave, especially any critical gear, that if we did, we would have to turn around, as a group, and hike back to our last stop, looking as we went to see if it had fallen off, until we get back to the campsite and I asked the group leader one more time to take a walk around to see if he could find the bow saw. After about 30 seconds, he says, “Here it is, it was buried under the firewood.” Note: half of it was not covered and was sparkling in the sun. So, I say, great, we found it. Then, as always after an event, we circled up with packs on and processed what just happened. And, as each camper individually denied any responsibility, as did the group leader, I reminded the group leader that it was part of his responsibility to do the walk around, and that he had reported to me and the group 2 times before setting out that we had everything. Then, I would address the individual camper who had the bow saw carry as one of his responsibilities, and that he too, had been sloppy when packing, and did not inventory his gear. Then, I addressed the group and reminded them that we were a group and that we had to depend on each other, to support and help one another, and if needed to politely and without anger or malice to correct one another and to cover one another as needed. This group, overall had been a whiny and lazy group, including the agency staff, and that is why I allowed them To Have This Experience and to process it, and growth takes place. That settled, we set out again from our starting point after having lost about 3 hours of hiking time, and as I always reminded the, “the sooner we make to our next campsite, set up camp, and get squared away, It’s play, relaxation and recreation time, and the longer you guys take to get there, the less free time you have, because we are still going to do what we have to do first, before any free time. This group began rapid growth from that moment on, and got better and better, and you can bet they never left anything behind again on this trip. But, these trips were not just about having a good trip. The life lessons they were learning and the emotional and spiritual and physical growth they made was transferrable to their Real Life back at home. And, this experience, which was the most difficult thing they had ever done in their lives, and wound up doing it well, gave them the strength and awareness to better appreciate what they have at home, and the tools to make it through life in a more meaningful way.

Side note: Had this been a critical time as to weather conditions, etc. I would have had them get the bowsaw the first time as in that case, it was safety and health of my group. Or, if this had been a really hardworking and conscientious group, in general, I would have let them look around before leaving the first time to make sure they found it. But, for this group, this was just what they needed for growth to take place.

In the capacity as a wilderness therapist, you first and foremost have to have your own crap together mentally and emotionally, but had to be good camper and a therapist and guide at the same time and be able to handle any thing that might occur, and of course well trained in CPR, First Aid, and Mountaineering rescue, if ever needed.

These were the most rewarding and happy days of my life, but it prepared me for Survival and Adaptation, and how to deal with Reality as It Is, and accept it, do what is necessary to carry on. And,also during this time on the trail, I made more growth than ever I thought possible, and that has sustained me throughout my life in the classroom, as an addiction therapist and now, a vocational rehabilitation specialist. And, in all these fields, I used the same techniques as goes to building a cohesive and healty individual and group by consensus.

Happy Trails, Jerome Ennis, MAed/Emotional/Behavior Disorder Teache/Counselor.