Memoirs Of A Mountain High

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Recommended: Introduction of Yellowstone Park

It was the summer of 94

when I took a Wilderness Leadership Semester from the

Colorado Outward Bound School . Needless to say that it

was the most emotional, challenging, and rewarding

experience that I have had in all of my 19 ears of existence.

One week spent running the Upper Green River in

westernColorado and northern Utah. Through The Gates

of the Ladour Canyon and Dinosaur National Monument,

we floated to end where the Green meets the Colorado

River just beyond Echo Canyon. The high desert canyons

echoed with rapids ovarious classes; Hells Half Mile and

Disaster Falls were the most memorable. Upon completion

we headed to climbing camp in Wyoming at a place called

Vedauwoo (va-da-vu).Two weeks of vigorous climbing

these granite towers left many scars both physically and

emotionally for this rock was indeed as sharp as knives.

Somehow no matter hard climbed; even if successful, this

rock always seemed to have the last say. By this time a

month had passed and I was very grateful to have that one

shower on the way to the Gore Range in Colorado. This

section of the course was by far the most demanding, the

mountaineering section. Stepping off the bus in Frisco,

Colorado we looked back knowing that we were not to

see civilization for at least a month. There were 8 men and

women in my group from all over the country. Each one

had a unique personality not knowing that we would all

become closer to each other than family, possibly being

dependent during life threatening situations which we

experienced on many occasions. This in itself could be

another long story. By the end of this section we were

required to do what they call a solo. In addition to rest up

for the 15 mile marathon and finals, (a week of travel) this

was also used for reflecting on our experiences. The solo

was for three days. During these three days we were all to

be separated about a quarter to half mile apart, alone. All

of our flashlights, candles, and watches were taken away

along with any books which were left at base camp. All we

were allowed to take was our clothes, a tarp(not a tent)

which wasn't but 5ft by 2ft, a water bottle, a pencil, paper,

and our iodine to purify the water.I also want to note that

we had the choice to fast or take a survival pack which

consisted of a few crackers and raisins. I wanted the full

experience so I chose to fast. This was a trip in itself, no

food for three days. My spot on this solo was at around

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