Meeting at 8am on a Saturday morning at the Z Center is always a sleepy, inauspicious beginning to what always ends up being a group of friends. After the 3 hour drive, we arrive at the AMC Highland Center (Bretton Woods, NH) and meet our guides. The guides provide expertise on all things outdoors (gear, hypothermia prevention, flora and fauna, and much more. They are also team building pros. Our guides, Mike and Kat, lead us through a series of activities to learn and remember each others’ names. Then we moved on to serious team building – which involved throwing stuffed animals at each other while blind-folded. This was mentioned as a highlight in almost every student’s feedback on the trip. Mike and Kat had also hiked the Appalachian Trail and, while we were hiking, several students quizzed them on the logistics of such a long hike. Perhaps, someday, one of our backpacking alumni will hike the Georgia to Maine Trail as well. We also had the opportunity to hear an expert on Moose who had earrings and tie tacks made from dried out moose poop. Apparently, one moose typically has 35,000 ticks on it at a given time. Very interesting stuff.
The Physical Education Backpacking and Hiking course is three days and two nights, we typically hike 12 miles and 2400 ft. elevation). On the October 2010 trip (the trip is offered Columbus Day weekend and Patriot’s Day weekend), we had a group that included four freshmen and two “non-traditional” students. The latter two students had started at MIT in ‘90s and then spent the intervening time in the workplace. Both had decided to come back to finish their undergraduate degrees (independent of each other – they were strangers before the trip). The returning students were often amazed at how much MIT culture and mythology the first year students had picked up in a matter of weeks. The idea that sleep and eating healthfully is a luxury that few have time for was a theme that came up repeatedly. On this trip, however, students usually get more sleep then they have since school started in August. When we are at the remote (and off the grid) Zealand Hut, lights go out early to conserve energy. On this trip, the lights went out at 8:30pm to set the atmosphere for telling White Mountains ghost stories – a big, creepy hit with the 35 hut residents that night. After going outside to see the breath-taking view of the stars and playing a few hands of cards, almost everyone was asleep by 10pm.
As part of our MIT package, AMC provides us with all the gear needed to go on a two- day hiking trip – backpacks, sleeping bags, fleeces, rain gear, and boots. We have to remember to bring socks, but the AMC gear room allows our students to try out backpacking without purchasing expensive gear. Without exception, every student seems to discover that they love hiking and being outdoors. A student wrote in the journal assignment “I enjoyed the hiking and relaxing environment of the Highland Center and Zealand Hut, even though I had a lab report due that Tuesday.” Their curiosity about their surroundings, nature and science find outlets on this trip. “I learned how to navigate using the sun and (I learned) advanced map and compass skills,” wrote another student. We were lucky that we had absolutely amazing weather on the October trip allowing the group to summit Mount Tom (elevation 4,051 feet). The amazing view of the Presidential Range and Pemigewasset Wilderness (see photo) is something all participants mentioned as a highlight.
You can take an MIT student out of MIT but you cannot take MIT out of the students – they never lose that burning curiosity and drive to find out more. Part of the curriculum of the course includes a seminar on wind power in New England. This session is delivered by a scientist who works with the research division of (our hosts) the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). At the formal end of the talk, several students asked if they could stay after to talk to the researcher and be late for dinner. I agreed, thinking I would see them in 3-5 minutes. Twenty-five minutes into dinner, there was no sign of the stragglers and I had to go and tear them away from discussing wind power to remind them that dinner awaited (and their colleagues were starting dessert). This course gives students exposure to a challenging physical activity while fostering their understanding of the real-life applications of science. Taking the students away from campus highlights the curiosity and appreciation of complexity that makes MIT such an amazing place.
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By Meredith Volker
