Daily Report from the Journalism Committee:
A Higher Perspective
Markus Sievertsen
15 June 2007
Today was probably one of the better experiences of this trip. Today we climbed a glacier and did one of the strangest things I’ve ever done. Today we went sledding in June.
The day started mildly enough, with the normal daily preparations. Because one half of the participants would climb in the afternoon, the other half were allowed some leisure time in the town of Seward, which we spent at coffee and gift shops. However, the best event of the day was the climb.
We began on the trails, which were mostly flat. But as we climbed, the trail became higher and higher, seeming to go almost straight up. The type of terrain changed as well, from forests to brush to cliffs and rocks.
The climb definitely took its toll on everyone physically. My legs were tiring at a quick rate, and I had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. Eventually, though, with each other, we made it to the snow-covered peak.
The view was astounding! One could literally see for miles! The ice-cold snow of the glacier bathed everything in white. It almost seemed heavenly. Then we ate our lunch and some of us decided to go sliding in our rain suits.
We started up even higher on the slopes, to one of the few areas of vegetation. We slid down, one at a time, to see who could go the farthest. I never did go far, but it was fun anyway. Who gets to sled in June?
After an hour or so, we decided it was time to climb down. The climb down, while shorter than the climb up, had its own difficulties, especially the near-vertical parts. More than once I found myself on the edge of a cliff, with a fall meaning certain doom.
We finally got to the bottom, and waited for the other groups. While we waited, I had a thought: if you put work into something, the rewards will be equally great. Sounds recurrent, right? But it’s true. And I think if everyone thought that, the world just might be a better place. I suppose after a day like that, I’d be too tired to think, and I almost was. But that thought is part of the reason I’m writing this, as encouragement to others.
So, if you want it, go for it!
Sliding Down Exit Glacier
Rachel Lord
15 June 2007
As we all hiked to the top of the mountain, I knew all of our group was thinking about how we really wanted to get to the top and slide down the snow. All we talked about from the halfway point on was sliding down the snow. I also know that the day before, everyone was talking about wanting to slide down the mountain too. They didn’t care if hiking up a huge mountain to get to the top and feeling like you didn’t want to move ever again was what they had to go through. All they cared about was getting there and sliding down. That thought was a lot of peoples’ motivation to get to the top; I know that it was mine.
When we finally reached the top, everyone was exhausted. We all sat and ate lunch and then we went SLIDING. We all put on our rain suits and climbed as high as we could without passing out. Climbing up hills of snow is not easy at all, especially when you are on a huge steep mountain. When we got to where we wanted to be, we either sat down or went on or stomachs and we went flying down the mountain. Some screamed and some just slid and immediately got up and ran right back up. Everyone absolutely knew that it was worth it to take the effort and time to climb the mountain to see the beautiful sight and go sliding down the mountain.
I really wanted to know how some people felt about the whole thing other than the people that were in my group so I asked Greg Norton, Sarah Clark, Kari Grigowski, and Emily Peters. Greg said that it was very exhausting but very B – E- A – utiful. Kari noted that it was amazing and that her favorite part was sliding and occasionally rolling down the snow. Sarah told me that finally finishing and knowing that they had made it to the top was the greatest reward and that it was absolutely amazing. Emily Peters said that it was okay but it was very hard for her and her group and it took a lot of effort and teamwork, which was great.
On the teamwork note, our whole group learned that we all are a team and working together makes everything go much easier. We found that lending a hand isn’t always bad, and also that if you really want something you should always say I WILL do this instead of I WANT to do this. I will be successful in life so I will always say I WILL and be successful in anything I do. |