What my month-long backpacking adventure in the wilderness taught me

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” (Christopher McCandless)

A new and different sun is exactly what I experienced each day during my time in the Wind River Wilderness of Wyoming.

When I was 17 years old, I lived and backpacked through the mountains with nine other kids my age, as well as three instructors. The trip was run through a program called NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), which is dedicated to teaching students how to live comfortably in the back-country.

“For 30 days,” they said, “you’ll explore the Wind River Mountains, a wilderness range renowned for its pristine lakes and rugged mountain beauty. After carrying a pack efficiently loaded with everything you need to the top of your first high mountain pass, you’ll descend into a glacial valley and help lead your hiking group to camp. You and your peers will take turns baking pizzas over a camp stove and catching cutthroat trout for dinner. At night, a star-filled sky will shroud your tent as you rest for the next stimulating day of exploration and learning. In addition to hiking as many as 120 miles on and off trail, you’ll fly-fish, learn how to use a GPS, summit towering granite mountains, and may have an opportunity to rock climb.”

A normal day in the back-country

We’d wake up at 6:30 am, get dressed, brush our teeth, and disassemble the tents. Half of us would start up the stoves to make breakfast and hot drinks, while the rest carried all the water bottles and water drams to the nearest body of water to collect as much water as possible for the big trek that day.

After breakfast, we divided out all the cooking and tent gear between the hiking groups, packed our backpacks, briefed for the hike that day. All of the hiking groups had a leader of the day that was responsible for safely guiding their group to the next campsite. We hiked an average of four to nine miles a day, gaining and losing thousands of feet of elevation along the way. We crossed swift and treacherous rivers and climbed steep rocky cliffs.

The groups usually arrived to the next campsite around five or six in the evening, and upon arrival we would all de-brief on the day’s travels.

The next couple of hours before going to bed consisted of setting up tents, cooking dinner, and collecting water for the next morning.

Every other day the instructors would give us lessons on several outdoor skills including survival, navigation, judgment and decision-making, and risk management. Although the basics of our trip were somewhat repetitive, each day we encountered new experiences and struggles that made for a very exciting adventure.

For thirty days straight, my course mates and I lived without warm showers, beds, toilets, toilet paper, cell phones, computers, televisions, video games, etc.

And in was through this simple-living that I discovered a true appreciation for the “little” things in life.

Happiness can come from the simplest things 

About two weeks into the trip, I came to realize I didn’t need hot showers and a bed to sleep on to make me happy. It wasn’t about that. It was about finding comfort and happiness from simpler things. For me, happiness while living in the back-country consisted of warm socks, a dry sleeping bag, a full bottle of water, and opening my tent in the morning to a breathtaking sunrise over the rocky mountains. The crisp, fresh air. The quietness, where you could only hear the sound of the river running and the occasional bird chirping. Wispy white clouds and clear blue skies.

Cellphones are actually not that great 

They’re too distracting. I don’t know about all of you, but when I have my phone on me I’m constantly looking down at it, not even realizing what’s happening around me. Living without my phone for a month was actually AMAZING. I was able to really be in the moment and notice things around me that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Plus, it was nice not having to worry about answering texts or calls.

I got to develop closer relationships with my course mates as well. It’s so easy to ignore the people around us when we have our phones to scroll through. But since we didn’t have our phones to entertain us, we kind of had to talk to each other. And it ended being great. We told each other stories of our pasts and aspirations for our futures.

We trusted each other. We had each others’ backs the entire way. Whether it was deciding which boulder to hike up, or which technique to use to cross a river, we all had to make risky decisions that had a huge impact on our safety.

I will always consider my course mates as some of the greatest influences and friends of my life.

You’re tougher than you think

Growing up, I was what they call a “tomboy”. I strove to be tough and “like one of the guys”. Although I am not much a tomboy today, I still pride myself in being physically and mentally strong. And I have this experience to thank for most of that.

I remember arriving at a new campsite each day, exhausted and achy, with scratches on my legs and bruises on my hips from carrying my 45-pound backpack. But it was this exhaustion, and the bruises, that told me I had accomplished new heights, literally. To know that I had pushed myself mentally and physically past limits I had never gone was the most fulfilling feeling. Not to mention the perk of my legs being incredibly toned by the end of the trip.

“… how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing the blind, deaf stone alone with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head” (Christopher McCandless).

One of the most valuable lessons I learned on this trip was to always tell yourself “you can do it.” Even if you’re certain you can’t, telling yourself differently will push you and give you the strength to accomplish the feat.

I specifically remember one day when we were making a steep and slow ascent for about two miles. My backpack and my legs felt ten times heavier, and I was certain my entire body was about to give out, but I just kept repeating to myself “you can do this; you’ve got this; you’re strong.” Because although my body was tired, I knew it could handle more. It was only my mentality that was preventing me from going forward.

Once I changed my thinking, I felt strong, and therefore I became strong.