In two weekends Hamilton's outing club will send upwards of one hundred and fifty students into the Adirondacks in an attempt to summit the 46 tallest peaks in NY state. 46 peak weekend has been a Hamilton tradition since 1995 which means that this year will mark the 20th anniversary of the event if my math is correct. The sign ups for the event are tomorrow and from what I have heard the trips fill up extremely quickly. I hope to participate this year if fate allows and the weekend was definitely on my mind as I was reading Contested Terrain this morning. On page 42 I came across a passage that I believe connects deeply with the nature of the event. (No pun intended) Discussing the settlers' perception of wilderness, Terrie comments "...it (the wilderness) was a feature of a landscape they came to love. In this respect it was associated with home, family and shared experiences, including both the trials endured while establishing new communities and the individual pleasures of exploring and getting to know the forests and lakes" (42). Terrie encompasses not only why over one hundred college students feel the urge to conquer these mountains, but also one of the major reason why the Adirondack Adventure program and Outing Club in general have been so successful over the years. Though I do recognize the tremendous impact we have had on the Adirondack park over the years due to these events, for the sake of this post I am going overlook that aspect in order to focus on this relationship between college student and wilderness.
You would be completely justified in arguing that our relationship with the wilderness as Hamilton College students is inherently different from those original settlers. But I would like to assert that the concepts of home, community, family and shared experience are sought by most if not all human beings. Though during Adirondack Adventure and 46 peaks weekend students are only immersed in the "wilderness" for a matter of days, the driving force behind their decision still centers in a search for personal exploration as well as shared experience with fellow members of the Hamilton family. I believe that even on a small scale the wilderness allows us to have a genuine feeling of self sufficiency and creates situations where we often have to rely on those around us. I would really be interested to hear any other opinions on why events and programs that involve very brief exposure to wilderness are so successful in fostering a sense of community and home.
I agree with you that Adirondak Adventure is very successful in fostering a sense of community and home. One reason I think that, is because (most of) the students are in entirely new environment without their normal necessities like their phones or laptops and they have to actually form human connections with other people. The Adirondaks is a great place for people to form bonds because if you are new to the wilderness, you can not just go off by yourself and do things independently. You have to stay with your group and work together in everything you do. Although being stuck with the same group of people for 5 days might get annoying, chances are at least a few people will form long lasting bonds. The more time people have to spend with each other (with no interfering distractions like phones or the internet) the more they get to know one another and see their similarities which often lead to friendship. Also, on Adirondak Adventure all of the individuals, besides the leaders, are vulnerable freshmen who don't know anyone and who are desperately trying to be nice and make friends. If you group a bunch of nice, smart students together who are all looking to make good impressions and friendships, odds are relationships are going to form, no matter where they are located.
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