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A Handful of Heroes: The Mountaineer Hobos
The following excerpt is from the trip log of Brett Bailey, director of Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch, who led young men from Woodland Spring Lodge on an adventure excursion in the Sawatch Range of Colorado.  The young men learned about outdoors – and themselves.

Preparation

From day one of our journey to Colorado, you could tell that it was going to be a special trip.  The young men from Woodland Spring Lodge met at the Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch to prepare for the trip.  They had already been preparing by doing regular hikes on campus and in town, strengthening their feet and hearts. Over several days, the group learned skills that would be vital for their success: water purification, cooking, packing and wearing packs correctly. Most importantly, they began to learn about each other and figure out the roles that each would play on the journey.

The drive to Colorado is 15 hours.  It is a great testimony to the patience, maturity, and character of these young men that they jumped out of the van in Buena Vista, Colorado ready to go.  As we set up camp near the trailhead for the first night, a good solid thunderstorm blew in, reminding us of the unpredictability and unknown obstacles

that were before us.  By bedtime, shelters were up, food was divided and repacked among cook groups, and the "Mountaineer Hobos," the group’s official nickname, were a little wet but ready to go.

Early the next morning, they packed up and moved to the trailhead to begin their expedition through the Indian Peaks of the Sawatch Range. The Sawatch runs alongside the continental divide, and is both majestic and remote with four peaks topping out at higher than 14,000 feet.  Operating on up to one-third less oxygen at much higher altitudes than back in Missouri, and carrying backpacks of 40 to 50 pounds, these men pressed on.  They learned how to move together as a group and how to put the group before oneself in everything -- from climbing pace to eating times — even who gets seconds on dinner. 

Learning

As we progressed, the staff taught techniques and behaviors that make for successful times both in the wilderness and in life, modeled those techniques and expectations, and then begin to step back little by little until the young men began to take charge for themselves.  Four days into the trip, the Mountaineer Hobos were making most trip decisions for themselves. They were navigating completely by themselves and even more, understanding what they were seeing on the map and in the lay of the land before them.  They were facilitating their own groups and were working through conflicts as they came up with positive maturity and control that few adults possess.

Throughout the expedition, these men accomplished some pretty incredible stuff.  They carried their lives and everything needed to sustain them on their backs, they cooked all their meals over alcohol stoves, purifying their water as they went, and built shelters with an 8 x 10 tarp.  They forded mountain streams and climbed above tree line multiple times; they stayed in temperatures down to 9 degrees and blazed many of their own trails through true backcountry wilderness.  It was a daunting challenge.  Each man hit breaking-point moments.  At these times, the group would come to his support, make necessary adjustments, and help bring him through.  It was up to that individual to find that strength in himself to dig a little deeper, pull himself up by his bootstraps, and keep going—many times more so for the group than for his own self.

The courage these men showed on the trail, amazing as it was, paled in comparison to the courage of character and openness that they exhibited.  During group time or "pow wow" on the first night, one young man had the courage to truly open up about what was going on in his life--where he was, his failures, and his fears.  His courage opened the door for the others to feel comfortable becoming more vulnerable and beginning to share.  That, coupled with the trustworthiness and maturity with which the rest of the group demonstrated towards each other, allowed each young man to really bond with the group. 

A need for heroes
The pow wows usually focus on what it means and what it takes to become a successful person.  However, as the group started sharing that first night, we realized these guys needed something else.  We had caught a hint of this need during trip preparation when we discussed heroes.  Very few of them had a hero, and even fewer could tell you why they looked up to that person as a hero.  Heroes can be one of the greatest driving forces behind character development.  They give us someone to look up to, to model and to help formulate possible goals. And so, that first night we decided to switch our group plan to meet these guys more truly where they were in their development. 

A big part of the trip is journaling. Journals provide a record of an experience and an outlet for pent up emotion and thought. So we challenged them to write and share about who they are—not what they do, where they are from, or what their hobbies are—but who they are as a person.  The next several days were filled with the young men working to figure this out, including events that shaped them, their heritage and heroes, dreams and fears, and what they thought of the character they are developing and the man they are becoming.  Many of the answers were revised and changed as the trip moved on, but slowly they began to see themselves more clearly.  It was remarkable to see each young man, in his own time, open up—both on the trail and around the fire—and allow the group to share their victories, burdens, joys and fears.  As they began to discover who they are, they began to discuss who they wanted to be, where they are going in life, and how to get there.

These are not light or easy concepts and require an incredible amount of insight, self-awareness, courage, and trust to work through.  I was proud and honored to share this time with these growing young men. Try yourself to answer the same question, “Who Are You?”  Do you have an answer? 

The challenge of the unexpected

A few days out on the trail, we were reminded about how life always throws us the unexpected.  The group had made a long-fought climb of 1,800 vertical feet that day, much of which was off trail.  As we approached our next big milestone, a 12,800 foot ridge, the wind strength had increased dramatically.  After talking to several hikers heading down from attempting the summit, we discovered that the winds on the ridge were a steady 50 mph steady and gusting to higher than 70 mph.  The group was completely exhausted but ready to summit. As staff we would not risk the safety of the group, and decided we could not go over the ridge that day.  It was an extremely discouraging and disheartening moment as we turned around and started moving back down.  They were beaten and defeated.  As with all areas of life, the hardest times—if capitalized on—do two things. First, they bring out the true you—who you are when you can’t fake it any more. Second, they provide an opportunity to do great and amazing things. 

The ridge quickly became a symbol of one of the greatest fears for these young men—the fear of trying again and again and coming up short, be it in their treatment, with their families, or in their goals.  The type of fear that can often lead to the question — is it worth even trying?  Sitting around the campfire fire that evening, it was an honor to be given the opportunity to discuss with some incredibly mature and insightful young men what true success and failure is, and what to do with both the failures we bring on ourselves and the hurdles life throws at us.  Experiences from the trip and their lives seemed to mesh into one during our discussion.  While utterly disappointed in the physical result of the day, these men went to sleep that night having grown infinitely more as men.

Not giving in

Finally, it was time for the final push of the trip: a climb up 3,300 vertical feet to the 14,000 foot summit.  The men set out at 4 a.m. knowing the daunting task ahead, and despite twinges of anxiety, they drove on, heading constantly upward.  Many were apprehensive there would be a repeat of the disappointment at the ridge, or worse, that overarching fear that they would somehow fall short.  Despite each young man’s anxiety, they kept going, the lessons of all the days prior kicking in as they slowly moved up the mountain. Hands were extended to those struggling. Headcounts after each stop made sure someone wasn’t left in the dark. Checks were made to ensure buddies were drinking water.  We reached the tree line at daybreak, just in time to watch the sunrise break over the peaks. 

At 13,100 feet, the wind pounded with fury.  Blue windbreakers went on, but this time the wind was not going to win. The summit, though a full 1/2 mile away and 1,100 vertical feet up, looked so close it seemed touchable.  There were no trails from this point on.  As the vertical climb grew steeper and wind gusted at 40 mph, the men hit their breaking point.  It was their time as both individuals and a group to make the choice: dig deeper and drive on, or retreat.  I don’t even have to tell you their choice. 

The summit

Pulling, pushing, lifting, spotting, and sometimes dragging each other, the line of young men in blue windbreakers crept ever closer to the top of that huge pile of rocks until there were no more rocks to climb.  Those nine men stood at one of the highest places in the lower 48 states, and were able to take in the view from “the top of the world.”  Looking west, they were able to see the seemingly endless stretch of the Rockies—mountaintop after mountaintop of grandeur and wilderness.  They had been tested and overcame, and just like we know they can, carried through by the strengths of their own characters.  They each signed their name on a rock, leaving their mark forever on the top of a mountain of rock and ice, a reminder that they had not only been here, but had done something great. Our deepest hope is that they use the challenges, the heartbreaks, the hurts and the victories of the whole experience to leave their unique and thoroughly positive mark on the world around them.