I lay in my sleeping bag with my eyes wide open. It was after midnight and I should have been asleep hours ago, but I knew it wouldn't matter. A storm several hundred miles offshore in the Gulf of Alaska had caused increased swell, winds, and an elevated water line which was now threatening our tent. High tide was at 1:21 in the morning; I listened to the roar of the wave become louder, wondering if our tent would be secure as the tide came in. Rest wasn't important, though: the storm would prevent us from moving the next day.
The next day I was supposed to lead a group of seven, including myself, four 4 days kayaking in the Alaskan wilderness. In all, we had been in the back-country for 23 days on a sea-kayaking course run by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Each NOLS course has an element of independent student travel incorporated into the curriculum where, at the end of the course, the students go off into the wilderness in small groups without instructors. Each small group has a leader, and I was unanimously voted the leader of my group before I could interject.
Our tents were not secure, as it turned out, and neither were our boats. Just minutes later we were all outside in the cold Alaskan night, shivering and working frantically to move our camp to higher ground. My prediction was also correct. The next day we sat and watched the water move about violently and listened to the wind warning us not to get on the water. It was in this act of waiting that I got my first lesson about leadership. "One of the great things about challenging yourself is that you don't get to pick your challenger," Eric--the youngest of the three course instructors--said. Many of us had come on the course to prove to ourselves that we could paddle over 20 miles in a single day, and yet, many of us found a greater challenge in keeping our spirits up while simply staring out at the sea.
I gathered several members of my group to go hunting for huckleberries. Two hours and exactly four huckleberries later, morale had risen substantially. We had gone from helplessly hunkering from the wind and rain on the beach to men with a purpose: marching through the rain forest with a goal in site. The sun had also come out and the dying wind had caused the sea to quell. We had met the first challenge, and the next day we paddled over 20 miles.
The next day I was supposed to lead a group of seven, including myself, four 4 days kayaking in the Alaskan wilderness. In all, we had been in the back-country for 23 days on a sea-kayaking course run by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Each NOLS course has an element of independent student travel incorporated into the curriculum where, at the end of the course, the students go off into the wilderness in small groups without instructors. Each small group has a leader, and I was unanimously voted the leader of my group before I could interject.
Our tents were not secure, as it turned out, and neither were our boats. Just minutes later we were all outside in the cold Alaskan night, shivering and working frantically to move our camp to higher ground. My prediction was also correct. The next day we sat and watched the water move about violently and listened to the wind warning us not to get on the water. It was in this act of waiting that I got my first lesson about leadership. "One of the great things about challenging yourself is that you don't get to pick your challenger," Eric--the youngest of the three course instructors--said. Many of us had come on the course to prove to ourselves that we could paddle over 20 miles in a single day, and yet, many of us found a greater challenge in keeping our spirits up while simply staring out at the sea.
I gathered several members of my group to go hunting for huckleberries. Two hours and exactly four huckleberries later, morale had risen substantially. We had gone from helplessly hunkering from the wind and rain on the beach to men with a purpose: marching through the rain forest with a goal in site. The sun had also come out and the dying wind had caused the sea to quell. We had met the first challenge, and the next day we paddled over 20 miles.
VIEW 11 of 11 COMMENTS
widow:
ooo, send a pic! 
missmarina:
I do.