Date: 2003-12-18
To: Story of Rachel
Miles today: 0.0

   Most of my skills as a hiker have been aquired from experiences with my students. Many of those experiences involved mistakes that I have made or that my students have made. Eventually we learn the skills that make us better hikers. The best example of that is one of my favorite students, Rachel. Rachel joined the outing club when she was a freshman at South Windsor High School. She was a walking, talking, giggling bunch of energy. I usually discouraged students from doing a backpack as their first hike with the Outing Club but Rachel insisted. Her huge smile and beautiful face was impossible to resist. We did a practice session before our hike in October to set up tents, light and cook on our Wisperlight Stoves, and pick up backpacks and supplies for the hike. The six students hiking with the group brought their loaded backpacks to school on Friday and deposited them in my large Dodge Van. We spent the first night at my summer cottage in New Hampshire. Early the next morning we headed to Kinsman Notch to hike north on the AT toward Franconia Notch. When we left the parking lot with our packs Rachel had on several layers of clothing topped with her raingear. It was not raining and it was not very cold. She also carried a stuffed spider monkey. I questioned her about the spider monkey but she claimed she needed it as a pillow. It was a steep climb up onto the trail. Rachel would fall frequently as we hiked along. I would help her to her feet where she would giggle and laugh. John Salcius came along to help chaperone the group. So eventually I left John in the rear to help Rachel and any other slower hikers. Rachel finally made it into Eliza Brook Shelter where we were to spend the night about 2 hours after the first of the group arrived. She put her pack down in the middle of the shelter and said, "Mr. Cloutman, where should I set up the Television Set?" Rachel had carried a portable TV, walkman cassett player, a disc player, auxilary speakers with 8 D batteries so everyone could enjoy the music, a case of cassetts and a case of CDs all the way from the trailhead - aout 8 miles. With her share of the food there was no room left in her pack for clothing so she wore everything she thought she needed for the hike. Her pack weighed more than mine and I always over pack when bringing kids into the woods. She made it over Kinsman South and North. She hiked down to Loansome Lake and then to Franconia Notch. She smiled the entire hike claiming to love every minute of our hike. The following spring we decided to backpack all of the AT in Massachussetts. We were leaving the high school parking lot at 7 AM Saturday morning. Rachel's mom dropped her off and told me that she had learned her lesson. No TV, no cassett player, no CD player. The only extra item she had according to mom was sweat pants and sweat shirt to wear in camp. That seemed rasonable to me. So we set off for the trail. Everything seemed to be going well. We spent a night in the Tom Leonard shelter where we had to clean out mounds of scat left by some porcupines that had spent the winter in the shelter. Eventually we made it to Upper Goose Pond where we camped for a night. The following morning Rachel complained that her feet were all bloodied. I knew her boots had been broken in. I asked to check her pack. She had 8 pairs of pajamas for the eight nights we would be on the trail. Eight changes of underwear, 8 changes of socks, ... Fortunately Larry Brown, a fellow teacher, was going to check on us that morning. I sent Rachel home after we had a good talk about what was essential for a backpack. Rachel was learning her lesson. The following Spring the outing club kids asked me if we could do a hike outside of New England. They asked to hike in Shenandoah National Park. About two weeks before we were to leave, Rachel approached me beaming. She said she had her pack weight down to 13 lbs without food or water. When we started our hike she had the lightest pack in the group of 8 hikers. She was able to move faster than the rest. She was less tired than other members of the group and seemed to have a better time. She finally told us how she lightened her pack. She had no changes of clothing. She chose not to wear underwear, she did wear a sports bra. In the coldest wettest weather she would wear all of her clothing. She slept in the same clothing in which she hiked. She had convertable shorts and she used layers. I think Rachel learned more about hiking and life than any student I had ever taken hiking. I miss her enthusiasm. I hear from her on the internet every once in awhile. And most of all I learned a great deal about hiking and a lot about working with students or other hikers.