October 1

The week started with a normal schedule on Monday: yoga in the morning and classes and study hall the rest of the day. In English, we continued discussing the myths and stereotypes of the Old West, particularly the cowboy hero (like John Wayne). Only having a few more class meeting left before the expedition, we starting wrapping up the first big academic block of the RMS with a flurry of quizzes, papers, and tests in all of our classes. On Tuesday during AMX, we played a combination of soccer and ultimate Frisbee. The game goes like this: you play a normal game of ultimate except that, after you touch the Frisbee, you can only move if your team scores, there is a turnover, or you get the soccer ball. What made it difficult was you had to know who was on your team and be able to avoid the people that were passing the soccer ball.

Wednesday was a very cool day. For science lab we went to Lodgepole Flats and studied the differences between a recently burned area, an area that was burned between 5 and 10 years ago, and an area that had been burned before we were born. That night we had a good old-fashioned Hoe Down. We had a professional caller come, and we did a number of different dances. The dances ranged from simple dances in a circle, line dances, square dances, and even dances that were mostly just silly games. What a fun way to relax, have fun, and laugh after some busy days of school!

Thursday morning started bright and early, and we launched into Project Day. The projects around campus ranged from building the deck on the girls cabin, painting the shed, and staining deck furniture to restocking the library for future students and doing inventory in the gear room. Potholes were filled in, stumps moved, and the campus was cleaned and made to look better for future adventuring students. The atmosphere was buzzing all day from the excitement and all around helpful feeling radiating from each student and faculty member. After each project was completed, those group members jumped up to help out another group. As people worked, our love and enthusiasm for the RMS that we have developed in such a short time was evident. The day passed quickly and was finished off with an appreciated study hall and evening dance party in the kitchen.

Friday, we ran four and a half miles to Turquoise Lake and back for AMX. Before the RMS, many of us never thought of ourselves as people who enjoy running, but the feeling of accomplishment from running 4.5 miles at 10,000 feet is incredibly rewarding. As some of us rounded the corner to the yellow gate, we saw four elk run out of the woods and across the road. The rest of the day was filled with laundry, and we began Wilderness First Aid with a CPR class. We began learning the basics of how to respond to emergencies that we as hikers might come across. The skills that we learn at HMI are not just academic, they are everyday skills that we will take with us and utilize for the rest of our lives.

We continued first aid over the weekend. After introductions, we practiced a series of interesting and real life scenarios that we might encounter when backpacking. Treating injuries gave us both experience and empathy for our patients, especially when the hypothermia victims got real water dumped on them. Fortunately, we got to wind down after the long first day with a fantastic activity we went to the local bowling alley! Everybody dressed up in their wackiest clothes, and the night was filled more with posing for pictures than actual bowling. The next morning we woke up to the first real covering of snow on the ground. None of us could believe how beautiful campus and the nearby mountains looked in a coat of snow. We continued WFA training on Sunday by learning about splinting fractures and how to deal with unresponsive patients. It was especially fun coming up with creative ways to immobilize different injuries with the materials at hand. Excitement for the next expedition is building, and everybody is sure that it will be a blast.

By: Trevor Anson, Emily Faxon, and Tucker Pforzheimer