Teaching in the White Mountains

In New Hampshire with My 8th Grade Students
October 5, 2005

This morning was clear and chilly. We ate a hearty breakfast in the lodge and then sat outside and watched the hills turn orange in the rising sunshine.

As a red squirrel screeched nearby, the kids formed a circle under yellow leaves and played a few games. These games, I guess, are meant to help the kids cooperate as a working unit, and I can see the value. When we’re hiking the steep trail today, we’ll be a playing a real game of cooperation.

On the trail. Sitting on gray rocks and logs beside a mountain stream, eating snacks, solving riddles, smiling in the sunlight.

Amber refuses to complain, refuses to surrender. Showing the valor and dignity of her Native American ancestors, she silently ascends the steep trail with her 37 pound pack.

Jay and I talked about two paradises as we hiked beside the rushing silver stream. We agreed that this was a paradise, and Jay spoke of a similar wonderland in the Caribbean.

Lunch on the trail. Bagels, cheese, gorp, apples, cookies. We sat on old fallen leaves and listened to the humming of the water in the stream as we ate. Then we did ten minutes of silent writing while solitary leaves drifted down around us.

Around 4:00, we arrived at the Carter Notch Hut. The climb down into the beautiful valley was a relaxing reprieve after six hours of steady climbing under cumbersome packs. I could almost feel the tension escaping from the kids’ bodies and relaxation moving in to take its place.

Around midnight, I got up to walk the 50 yards to the bathroom over a rocky path in total darkness – and was that an adventure! I stumbled along in the mild mountain air, trying my best to avoid jagged rocks and angled roots. My small flashlight led the way through the black mountain night.