After the expedition,
I remained clean and sober for 15 years. Then I relapsed for several
years but I'm proud to say that I've been clean and sober for the past
three years, and I plan to stay that way, "a day at a time."
In June of 1972, wilderness survival school. We took 21 students,
from a School District in Utah, on a 30-day wilderness survival trip.
Most of the students were dropouts and would get credit to help graduate. The focus of this type of survival training is rehabilitation and counseling. We began our journey in the middle of the night, miles from nowhere, with only the clothes we had on. We told the students that all of their personal belongings would be waiting for them at the base camp as soon as we took a short hike to get there. Of course, they didn't know that it would be at least three days of hiking before we got to the base camp. After all no one gets stranded in the wilderness all prepared, so the shock of the experience is very real.
We explained to the students how important it was to be a team on this trip. So as an exercise to develop teamwork, we told them to "double up".
One of them was to put on a blindfold while the other one led them into the forest, in the dark of night. Then after a while they traded places and later traded partners. The blind leading the blind - over rocks and branches and up a very steep grade. It was very hard but it caused the social walls to come down quickly. The bonding and teamwork began to develop in a few hours instead of weeks. Funny how most people pull together in a crisis.
It took most of the night to climb that hill and, once on top, we huddled together in freezing temperatures and waited until daylight, to read the map and try to figure out how to get to that little red X that marked the spot for the base camp. We hiked for two more days and only had a short distance to get to the base camp. But first we had to cross the river.
That summer the Salmon river was at record highs and the place we had planned to cross was too treacherous. We sent a guide back, the same way we had come, and we set up a very crude camp, and began to really "survive" and wait for help to arrive. The students were great; most of them pulled together picking berries or stinging nettle and digging roots. Some of them tried various crude traps...but mostly we just rested and talked about Kentucky Fried Chicken. Then one of the guys came running...he had found these pods on some bushes. They were great. They were about the size of a grape and green in color, but they tasted more like a cucumber. At the time we really thought we were in "hog heaven". Those little pods saved our lives...er.. at least "took the edge off". No one knew what they were...but we ate them anyway.
The next day a plane flew over and out of the sky dropped 3 parachutes with our base camp supplies and food. We remained in the area for the rest of the 30 days and learned more skills. We talked for hours around the campfire about all the things we were so grateful for. Some hearts were touched and changed during that time, others took a while longer. But, I never forgot about those pods. For years, I looked for books about them and asked anyone who might know what they were. Then a friend at the Salmon National Forest told me that in the 80's they "discovered" a plant in that wilderness area that was a new species. I asked a botanist about it and she agreed and said it was the only known place in Idaho where it was found. It is now on the endangered species list. Gee....we had no idea that we were eating an endangered plant. We thought it was manna from God. And I still do!
Rebecca Anderson
Salmon, Idaho
Most of the students were dropouts and would get credit to help graduate. The focus of this type of survival training is rehabilitation and counseling. We began our journey in the middle of the night, miles from nowhere, with only the clothes we had on. We told the students that all of their personal belongings would be waiting for them at the base camp as soon as we took a short hike to get there. Of course, they didn't know that it would be at least three days of hiking before we got to the base camp. After all no one gets stranded in the wilderness all prepared, so the shock of the experience is very real.
We explained to the students how important it was to be a team on this trip. So as an exercise to develop teamwork, we told them to "double up".
One of them was to put on a blindfold while the other one led them into the forest, in the dark of night. Then after a while they traded places and later traded partners. The blind leading the blind - over rocks and branches and up a very steep grade. It was very hard but it caused the social walls to come down quickly. The bonding and teamwork began to develop in a few hours instead of weeks. Funny how most people pull together in a crisis.
It took most of the night to climb that hill and, once on top, we huddled together in freezing temperatures and waited until daylight, to read the map and try to figure out how to get to that little red X that marked the spot for the base camp. We hiked for two more days and only had a short distance to get to the base camp. But first we had to cross the river.
That summer the Salmon river was at record highs and the place we had planned to cross was too treacherous. We sent a guide back, the same way we had come, and we set up a very crude camp, and began to really "survive" and wait for help to arrive. The students were great; most of them pulled together picking berries or stinging nettle and digging roots. Some of them tried various crude traps...but mostly we just rested and talked about Kentucky Fried Chicken. Then one of the guys came running...he had found these pods on some bushes. They were great. They were about the size of a grape and green in color, but they tasted more like a cucumber. At the time we really thought we were in "hog heaven". Those little pods saved our lives...er.. at least "took the edge off". No one knew what they were...but we ate them anyway.
The next day a plane flew over and out of the sky dropped 3 parachutes with our base camp supplies and food. We remained in the area for the rest of the 30 days and learned more skills. We talked for hours around the campfire about all the things we were so grateful for. Some hearts were touched and changed during that time, others took a while longer. But, I never forgot about those pods. For years, I looked for books about them and asked anyone who might know what they were. Then a friend at the Salmon National Forest told me that in the 80's they "discovered" a plant in that wilderness area that was a new species. I asked a botanist about it and she agreed and said it was the only known place in Idaho where it was found. It is now on the endangered species list. Gee....we had no idea that we were eating an endangered plant. We thought it was manna from God. And I still do!
Rebecca Anderson
Salmon, Idaho