January 31, 2010

 We all arrived at the Denver airport around the same time from different flights, and merged into larger groups as we made our way to the main room (The main entrance at the airport looks like a gigantic white circus tent with multiple points, which is supposed to simulate the Rocky Mountains). Sam and Audrey (two faculty at HMI) greeted us with a welcome sign and snacks. We collected our baggage and made a gigantic pile at our "home-base". As we waited for the rest of the students to arrive, we awkwardly chatted amongst ourselves, asking the obvious "what's your favorite movie" and "where are you from" questions,   while desperately trying to remember names. In our small congregation at the airport, any stray semi-lost looking teenager with significant baggage was a suspect HMI student. When enough of us had gathered, we lugged our baggage outside and piled into vans for the two-hour ride from Denver to HMI. The vans were less awkward than meeting in the airport, and we were filled with a giddy excitement as we began to remember names and get to know each other better. Meeting in the smaller van groups was much easier than the big group, but we were very nervous to arrive and have to meet everybody all over again.

So far the experience at HMI consists of a few different things: meeting new people (as we mentioned above), completing some work, and expedition preparations. In addition to these three important occurrences, we have been engaging in other activities as well. The first night was a slow one, due to our having to acclimate to the altitude, a new campus, and new people. Once everything was going smoothly, we bonded in our cabin groups. For the first two morning exercise sessions (or, AMX, which is comparable to PE) we took a walk down the roads near school while passing the infamous "Ass Ranch," and taking in the beautiful sites of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. Our third AMX was far different...It was yoga. Many struggled with this, but we were all amused to watch our peer yoga master, Jennie, as she helped lead us through this activity. Thursday night, each Rocky Mountain Semester 24 student wrote down his/her expectations and fears (these were kept anonymous). Once we all completed this task, we made our way out to the bonfire, where these expectations and fears were metaphorically (and literally) burned. Finally, on Friday night, we all traveled to nearby Turquoise Lake, which was an extremely breathtaking site. There we played Birdie on a Perch, Captain's Calling, and Yeehaw (three very popular and amusing games here at HMI). So far, we are loving everything here.

We attended all of our classes throughout the next two days and found that all of the teachers here are genuinely good and fun people. We started off our classes with language. For the majority of us, this meant going to Spanish for a brief intro class, singing, and dancing.  Meanwhile, a few of us went to French class to get to know the plan for the semester. After that, we went to science and were introduced to our first field study.  Because it is very relevant to our expedition, we spent a good hour and a half learning about the project.  Our job is to choose a question, formulate a hypothesis and null hypothesis, and then collect data to prove or disprove our hypothesis.  After science, we split up and headed to our respective math classes.  Depending on the instructor, some of us had to take a short practice test just to show what we already know.  History was next, where we were assigned a reading and essay to complete during the expedition.  In English, we heard the life stories of our teachers and were assigned the short book, Walking, by Henry David Thoreau.  Finally, in Practices & Principles, we had a lengthy discussion regarding an essay about a weasel and Christopher Barnes gave us a talk about proper expedition behavior. 

The past two days have consisted of expedition prep. Preparation includes issuing and gathering gear, packing rations, looking at our route and pulling maps, and receiving other vital instructions on how to succeed in the field. Each group takes a turn in the Red Room where we figure out our food rations for the trip. We play music and weigh out the right amounts of things like pasta, granola, and TONS of cheese! We're all a little apprehensive about how much all of it is going to weigh in our packs! We've also been gathering gear that we need. We're thrilled about the warm weather in Arizona, so we don't need some of the cold weather gear we would be taking if we were going to the canyons. Once we have collected everything we are going to need, we'll learn how to pack our backpacks and leave Leadville for the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge!

We also had to learn various skills required for living in the backcountry.  We tied trucker's hitches so that we can properly set up our camp shelter. Later we set-up and lit a small stove that we are going to be using. In order to navigate, we were taught the basics of how to read topographic maps. After all this, we learned how to properly cram our pack full of the gear we need for the expedition.  

This morning, we are all leaving on our first expedition to the Kofa. After dedicating the past few days to getting to know the instructors and other students in our expedition groups, packing food and clothes, and learning how to use the equipment we will be using in the backcountry, we are anxious to go! We will drive twenty hours to the border of Mexico and Arizona stopping in St. George, Utah to rest overnight. English, US History, P&P, and Environmental Science assignments have been given for us to complete during the trip. These assignments range from analyzing the writings of Howard Zinn to data collection and compilation for studying the natural environment in which we are about to be living. Conversation about the upcoming expedition is filled with excitement and all are looking forward to it.

By: Molly Knox, Max Rosen, Willy Kerber, Carla Frankenbach, Tom Erdmann, & Andrew Spina