Final Blog

The process of writing allows for introspection and reflection of experiences in your life. This, in some respects, is perhaps the most important aspect of your coursework for ADV110 in that it allows for you to think about how your experiences relate to you and your goals. This semester you have been assigned various blog/journal assignments covering different aspects of your expeditions. Now is the opportunity to reflect on your experiences as a whole, and consider the influence they have had on you.

Think back on all of the experiences you have had this semester (in this course and others). Compose a post that expresses how you feel those experiences have affected you. Address five of the personal growth issues listed below. This should be of significant length (3-5 pages in a word processor) and should show evidence of “deep” reflection, introspection, and transfer of experiences to your everyday life.

Select Five (5) of the Following:

• Doing something I didn’t think I could
• Feeling proud
• Challenging myself
• Asking for help
• Sharing information
• Talking to each other
• Choosing not to participate
• Dealing with frustration
• Putting each other down
• The same people always leading
• Relating to the natural world
• Having a vision
• Looking at a problem in a new way
• Not completing a task
• Complacent about safety
• Not following the rules
• Making a unique contribution
• Trusting
• Working as a team

This final blog entry is due by 5:00 pm, Wednesday, December 17.

Post - AT Processing

I hope you are all recovering from the aches and pains associated with diving in to backpacking on the AT. I also hope that you have had some time to think about your experience and share it with someone else, as this sometimes helps to process.

For this blog entry, please simply write about your experience on the AT. Although I have a few various thoughts and questions that I would like you to consider and write about, please try to write your responses in a narrative format rather than using numbered and fragmented partial sentences. As you write, consider the following:

• What were your expectations before the trip?
• How did your actual experience compare?
• What can you learn from this difference or similarity between expectation and experience?
• Re-read your entry on EB, as well as the thoughts on the web pages used as resources.
• What are the actions you took to model good EB? What did you do that did not contribute to good EB? Comment on how incorporating these behaviors into your every-day routine could impact your life.
• How do you feel you performed physically?
• What factors contributed to your performance?
• What could you do to allow you to perform better next time?
• Describe how well you thought did with food planning. What were challenges you faced? Did you bring enough food? Too much food? The right kinds of food? What would you do different next time? What did you learn?
• Comment on how you thought you did with packing and loading your packs. Did you discover an efficient system? Did your packing become more efficient each time you packed? What did you learn?
• Comment on how comfortable you were during this experience. What were some strategies you learned and used to keep warm - both during the day and at night?
• Was there a moment (or moments) when you felt like you weren't having "fun"? Describe them and how you got through them.
• Finally, comment on how incorporating what you learned from this experience into your every-day routine could impact your life - both professionally and personally.

Please post your entry by 9:00 am on Friday, Nov. 21.

No Study Session Wednesday

Hi All,

I guess Stephanie has emailed you info about the test on Thursday already, so there will not be a study session Wednesday. There is, however, GPS class Wednesday evening as scheduled. FYI, I will be posting another blog for you tomorrow to respond to for this Friday morning's class. Get some rest and enjoy being back in the luxury of civilization. See you tomorrow.

Meet Tomorrow Morning at 7:30 at Rm 12

Hi All,

Let's all plan to meet at the Outdoor Adventure Center (rm 12) at 7:30 tomorrow morning. We'll load up and head up to Millinocket. We'll pick up Ben and Dana along the way. I would like to have Dana drive his Bronco, as we can use it for a vehicle drop (thanks, Dana). I will talk with the pilot one more time in the morning to see if anything will open up during the day and will be able to make a final decision in the morning. If we are not able to fly, we will plan on hiking the route from Cooper Brook to Gulf Hagas. Either way, we will have appropriate terrain, and each scenario promises great experiences.

If you have any questions or issues, feel free to email me (sfraser@wccc.me.edu) tonight before 11 pm.

See you in the morning - get to bed early!
Scott

No Flight Today

Good Morning,

After talking with Tim again this morning, flying in this afternoon is not likely. Therefore, we will wait until tomorrow to begin our expedition. I will talk with Tim again this evening after the 7 pm aviation forecast is posted and we will decide if tomorrow morning looks good enough to fly. Although currently it does not look likely that we will get a good window to fly, there is a possibility something could open up tomorrow. Regardless of tomorrow's aviation forecast, plan on going tomorrow morning. After reviewing some of our options, I've come up with an alternative route should we not be able to fly in. This new route begins at Cooper Brook and ends at Gulf Hagas - this is a new section of trail for me, and one that I think will be appropriate for our group - challenging, but within our range. Feel free to check out more about Gulf Hagas.

I will submit another post this evening before 8 pm to let you know what time we will be meeting in the morning, and what our plan will be. Enjoy the rest of your day today, and get things ready to go for the morning if you haven't already.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to email me today.

Until tonight,
Scott

No Flight in the Morning

Hi All,

After talking with pilot Tim Hodgkins from KT Aviation and looking at the aviation forecast for the morning, we have decided not to fly in the morning due to high winds, low visibility, and low cloud ceiling. I will contact Tim again in the morning after the 7 am forecast is posted and we will make a decision if it is possible to fly in the afternoon tomorrow. Currently, the forecast is calling for better conditions after 2 pm tomorrow. I will post this decision by 9 am, so check back in the morning. Thanks for your patience.

Have a good evening,
Scott

Post Mtn Biking and Pre AT Backpacking Blog

I hope you have been enjoying your 4-day weekend and have had some time to reflect on your mountain biking trail building workshop and think about our upcoming backpacking trip. This week's blog will be in two parts:

Part I

Reflect on our mountain biking workshop and identify what you learned from the experiences over the three days. Include the following components of the workshop:

• Introduction the first morning
• Working with the NBCC students
• Sustainable trail building techniques
• Mountain biking trail design concepts
• Riding techniques - uphill, downhill, gear shifting, balance, weight distribution
• Teaching techniques
• Progression of the workshop - the order in which topics were covered

Part II

As we prepare for our AT backpacking trip, keep yourself updated on the weather forecast for Millinocket at the NOAA website. Also reference the equipment checklist you have received for the backpacking trip (you may also download a copy).

After viewing these two pieces of information, address the following items in your blog:

1. Comment on the weather forecast for this weekend.
2. I would like to you to look specifically at the clothing requirements of the Personal Gear List section and list out the pieces of clothing that you are bringing with you, and identify which pieces of clothing you will need to acquire between now and Thursday afternoon. Also identify how, when, and where you will acquire these items before Thursday afternoon.
3. Visit the following web sites and comment on your menu for the trip:

• http://www.adventurealan.com/food_general.htm
• http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/402778
• http://gorp.away.com/gorp/food/swfood.htm
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1av9VczJxk

4. Share your expectations for this trip. Comment on the following:

• What are your personal goals for the trip?
• How do you think you will perform?
• What are you most nervous about?
• Identify some strategies you will use to stay warm and dry
• Have you been training - did you follow the recommended training schedule?
• After our discussion on Friday, are you "prepared" ?

Finally, we will meet on Thursday at 11:00 in the classroom. You will need to bring with you your backpacks and all of the gear you will be taking with you on the trip. This is for two reasons: (1) I want to see your gear and be sure that you are prepared, and (2) we will conduct a packing lesson in which I want to make sure all of your gear and food will fit in your pack. Please be aware that if you do not have the gear listed on your equipment list by Thursday and do not bring it with you to class, you may not be allowed on the trip; as your participation in the expeditions is mandatory, you can see that this could have significant consequences. Please contact me before Thursday at 11:00 am if you have any questions or concerns about this.

As usual, I look forward to reading your posts.

Pyrofest Reflection

Congratulations to those of you who accomplished your goal of boiling one pint of water within one hour. Some of you did not achieve your goal, and I want us all to take a little time to consider this fact. The Pyrofest activity has (as all experiences do, I believe) given rise to an opportunity to reflect and learn. Whether you experienced success or "failure" I would like you to visit the following link, read the article posted there, and then consider and address the following questions regarding our experience:

http://lifecoachesblog.com/2006/06/07/nlp-101-there-is-no-failure-only-learning-experience/


1. What was the objective of the Pyrofest activity?
2. Was it accomplished?
3. What are three factors that prevented you from completing (or allowed you to complete) the task?
4. After reading the article, would you call not achieving your goal a "failure"? Why or Why not?
5. Explain your feelings about accomplishing or not accomplishing the goal of the assignment.
6. Were you ready for this task?
7. Was it too difficult? Explain.
8. While the objective of Pyrofest may have been to complete a specific objective, what is the primary goal of the entire program?
9. If you now consider the overriding goal of the program, was Pyrofest a "failure"? Why or why not?
10. Is it possible to actually complete an assigned task, but still fail? Explain.
11. Is it possible to not complete a task, but consider the effort worthwhile? Explain.
12. If you were to do this task over again, what would you do differently?
13. Identify another task in your life you have left unfinished.

This is due at the beginning of class (9:00) on Friday morning, Nov. 7. Please also remember that your take-home quiz on Chapters 2&3 is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Pyrofest and EB

I have enjoyed reading your posts about the sailing expedition. The quality of the responses is much better, although some still leave room for more detail in addressing the questions. Please continue to strive for excellence in your blog entries as you adress the following topics:

Part I:
I hope you have been making the time to practice and prepare for Pyrofest. As I mentioned, practice will most likely separate those who succeed and those who do not. As you do your research as part of the project, provide a link to three (3) web sites that you used to find information about starting a cooking fire with either one match or no match.


Part II:
As we prepare to head out on the Appalachian Trail, I would like you to consider the term "expedition behavior" or "EB" for short. Visit the following web site and read how John Gookin defines EB:

http://www.nols.edu/alumni/leader/06summer/expedition_behavior.shtml

A. Please list five (5) things that you could do (or not do) while on our backpacking trip that could contribute to (or detract from) good EB.

B. Explain how you think you've been able to contribute to good EB while on our expeditions (and in class) so far.

This post is due before class starts (that's 9:00 am) on Friday morning, Oct. 31 (yep, Halloween!). You may find that trying to complete this on Friday morning is cutting it much too close. As I mentioned before, I recommend completing this by Thursday evening at the latest. Remember to check your schedule to see when your current events assignment is due. This Friday, we'll have Robin and Ben present theirs, as we've missed them the past couple of weeks. See you for Pyrofest!

Sailing Expedition Reflection

I hope you enjoyed your sailing experience as much as I did, and that your experience aboard has provided you with some insight into what the schooner and windjammer industry is like in Maine.For this expedition, your formal focus for ADV110 was your menu and food preparation for a group. This was one of three group cooking experiences you will have this year. For this blog, please review the goals we listed (see below) and spend some time thinking about the following questions before writing. As I mentioned to you earlier, I am expecting to see evidence of quality time reflecting and writing about your experience.

Goals:

• nutritious
• withstand limited refrigeration
• tastes good
• easy to prepare
• sanitary preparation
• offers variety
• $8 pppd
• theme
• presentation

In this blog, please address the following questions:

Planning

• How well did your recipes address your goals? Identify those goals accomplished, and those that could be better addressed next time.
• How well did your shopping list reflect what you actually purchased?

Preparation

• Comment on the quality of your meals.
• How could you prepare the meals differently in the future that might better achieve your goals? Consider everything from purchasing ingredients and repackaging to packing and cooking.
• Did both members of your group have equal responsibility in the preparation? Why or why not?

Presentation

• Were your meals well presented?
• What extra steps did you take to provide an appealing presentation?
• How did you incorporate your theme into your presentation?

And finally, reflect upon your sailing experience on the Haley and Matthew. Address the following:

• How did this experience live up to the expectations you identified last week?
• What were the high points of the trip? What were the low points?
• How do you feel about your nautical navigation skills after this experience?
• Compare sailing the Haley and Matthew to sailing the Flying Junior dinghies.
• What is your impression of the schooner and windjammer tourism industry here in Maine?
• How do you think you performed individually on the expedition? How do you think you performed as a group?

We will discuss some of these in class on Friday.

Sailing Trip Leaving Monday

Hi All,

We are still scheduled to leave tomorrow (Monday) on our sailing trip. I apologize for the late post - I just returned from Eastport meeting with the captains. We will meet at Room 12 in the Residence Halls (Adventure Center) at 10:00 am to load up gear and head to Eastport. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns by emailing me at sfraser@wccc.me.edu.

See you at 10.

Scott

Sailing Update and Backcountry Food Prep and Disease

Hi Gang,

I have received word from the boat captains that the earliest we will be leaving would be this Saturday. The lead captain is flying in on Thursday evening and would like a day to review the boat. If everything on the boat meets his approval, we could be leaving as early as Saturday morning. If, however, there are things on the boat that need to be improved, we would need to wait until after those improvements are made. So… Let’s plan on leaving Saturday morning, and then we will be all set if it ends up being a couple of days after that.

This means that the rest of your week will be as scheduled: we will be having sailing class on Wednesday starting at 10:00 in Eastport, and then will have Nautical Navigation class Wednesday evening in Calais at 5:30. However, we will need most of the day on Friday to prepare for our trip, so plan on meeting at 9:00 in the classroom and be prepared to spend all of the morning and most of the afternoon shopping, prepping, and packing for the sailing trip. Please bring your menus and all materials associated with the menu assignment with you and completed on Friday morning – you will not have time during class to work on it. You can also download a list of equipment you will need for this trip by clicking here.


Backcountry Food Prep and Disease

As you have learned of various potential health hazards related to food preparation in the backcountry, hopefully you have become aware of the importance of hygene while working and preparing food in the field. As we finish our backcountry disease presentations and begin focusing on food preparation, I would like you to comment on the following:

1. Identify three strategies you will include in your planning for our sailing expedition to reduce the potential for transferrence of disease while on our trip.

2. What was (or what do you think will be, if you haven't yet presented) the most difficult part of presenting your lesson? How will you overcome this challenge the next time you present? (Oooh, yes, that's right - there will be a next time!)

3. As we begin preparing for our sailing expedition, think about a meal that you would describe as an excellent experience.
a. Describe this meal.
b. Identify what made this meal exceptional (i.e. the atmosphere, the company, the food, the presentation, the situation, etc.)
c. Explain how you could incorporate aspects of your exceptional dining experience into your meal preparation while on our sailing expedition.

4. What expectations do you have of this sailing expedition? Describe what you think it will be like during a typical day on board, and identify what aspects of the experience you are looking foward to, and what aspects you are concerned about.


Again, be sure to use spell and grammar check, and use complete sentences and paragraph structure. Also remember to STUDY for your backcountry disease quiz(zes) on Friday morning.

Sea Kayaking Expedition Reflection

I very much enjoyed working with you all this past weekend on our first expedition. Judging from your comments and reactions, It appeared as you all enjoyed it as well. As I mentioned at the end of the experience, I am pleased with how you are all progressing as a group.

I would like you to reflect upon your expedition this past weekend and write a blog entry that summarizes your experiences. As you reflect, comment on specifics such as:

• food
• teamwork/comradery
• LNT
• night paddling
• student leadership
• safety
• Reversing Falls
• planned activities/initiatives
• your own goals
• your favorite and least favorite parts of the expedition
• things you would like to have been done differently

Finally, in his book "Outdoor Leadership," John Graham writes:

“Leadership is not a science to be picked up in one book or course, but an art to be learned over time.”

Consider and answer the following questions:

1. What do you think John Graham means by this quote, and
2. How do you think this applies to your experiences of this past weekend?

Please remember that your blog entries should be of considerable length and depth. It is highly recommended that you type your responses in a word processor, use spell check, and then copy and paste into this blog. Refer to the blog evaluation rubric for further information on how you will be evaluated. Your responses are due to be posted by the beginning of class on Friday, September 26, 2008

Personal Equipment Need List

This past week, you have been given an equipment list identifying several pieces of clothing and equipment you will need for your coursework. Using this equipment list, your book, and the discussions we have had in class, please respond to this post (by clicking on the "comments" link below and to the right) and list out the pieces of clothing and gear you already own, and then identify each piece you will need in the next few weeks as we prepare for your expeditions. Also identify where you will research and look for each piece of gear you need. This is due before class on Friday, September 12, 2008.

Welcome to the ADV110 Blog

Welcome to your weblog page. You will be responsible for checking in here once each week to read and comment on the current blog topic. Your response to each topic must be posted by the beginning of class each Friday morning at 9:00. My advice is to not leave this until the last minute, but work on it earlier on in the week to give yourself ample time to process and write. Your blog posts will be evaluated using the blog evaluation rubric and will be 20% of your course grade.