April 10, 2009

 When we reached the airport this time, we were not greeted by any strangers and there were no "High Mountain Institute" signs beckoning us. Instead, Jack and Spencer (who arrived early) greeted us by trying to surprise us. They walked up behind us and started talking and it took us only a second to realize that these people were not random, creepy strangers but our good friends from Rocky Mountain Semester XXII. We all squealed with the excitement of seeing each other once again. We waited for the rest of the late arrivers, staring at the elevators in order to have a perfect opportunity for a sneak attack on one of our friends. Unfortunately it never worked as well as it did when Spencer and Jack did it.

The bus ride back to the High Mountain Institute was probably the longest two hours of our lives. We sat there with the constant urge to ask, "are we there yet?" When we pulled into the long driveway to campus and the short bus came to a stop, we all skyrocketed out of our seats and started the next hugging cycle with our friends that had run outside to greet us.

We were all so happy to see each other and so eager to ask about each other's break or comment on each other's new haircut. Even though all 42 of us were exhausted, no amount of fatigue could keep us from going through this process.

This past Monday we started taking our WFA course. WFA stands for Wilderness First Aid. We were in WFA class from one o'clock till six o'clock on Monday, and then Tuesday and Wednesday we were in class from nine o'clock till six o'clock with an hour break for lunch. Along with us students, there were also some of the teachers and some Leadville locals in the class with us. We were split into two groups of about thirty or so people.

In these classes there was a combination of lectures and scenarios. In the lectures we would learn about what was going to happen in a scenario or something new that had come up in the previous scenario. We learned everything from CPR to figuring out what was wrong with an unresponsive patient.

In the scenarios we would put to use what we had learned. Some people would act as the patients in these scenarios and the rest of us would go and save them. These scenarios were as realistic as the WFA instructors could make them. They would put makeup on the patients too make it look like they had actually gotten that bruise or scrape that they said they had gotten.

Another highlight of the course was learning splints and wraps. We all got to try taping a partner's ankle and then we had a chance to practice making a splint on about five people. We then had a splint fashion show to show off our amazing splint-making skills.

So, although we started off with some spring break stories and the excitement of seeing one another, we were quickly busy as usual. After our WFA course, we had our first after-break AMX run. No sense wasting time getting back to business after all! Additionally, with the conclusion of the WFA course, we started getting back into classes and homework.

Classes were in full swing on Thursday. We started our discussion of A River Runs Through It in English, and prepped for a lab on the Arkansas River in science by planting leaf packs in the water. We'll use the leaf-packs later to study the ecology of the river. We also travelled to Twin Lakes, just south of Leadville, for our first science class learning about glaciers and glacial deposits. Overall we had a smooth re-entry back to our home at the High Mountain Institute.

As if we weren't busy enough with the WFA and classes resuming, on Thursday night, we all gathered for dinner with our guests from Mission: Wolf, a project in Silver Cliff, Colorado that takes care of wolves that were previously kept as household pets and then abandoned. Kent, the founder of the project, and his wife Tracey, showed us a slideshow of some of the wolves that they take care of and explained how and why the gray wolf has become an endangered species.

After discussing the effects of wolves as a main predator in their environment, the moment we had been waiting for finally came. We sat in a circle around Who's Hall, shoulder to shoulder, and Kent gave us an explanation of wolf communication. He told us to reach our hands out, keep our eyes open and let the wolves sniff our noses. We sat in total silence as Kent and Tracey came back into the room with Maggie and Abraham, two wolves that have been a part of Mission: Wolf for a number of years. Maggie was pure wolf, with a large head, deep yellow eyes, and giant paws. Abraham, on the other hand, was half dog, and though his wolfish features were clearly visible, his head and paws were smaller than Maggie's. They each went around the circle a few times and greeted all of us, often with a lick or two on the face. Staring into the eyes of a wolf is an experience that is not easily matched.

So, our return to the Rocky Mountain Semester has been full of new activities and familiar faces. Next week we'll be ramping up for the third and final expedition. We can't wait!

By: Maddie Nirenberg, Izzy Zeitz-Moskin, Tara Moriarty, & Kate Fisch