Hante Blog and Photos

One of the most important preparations for a Hante (or any long backcountry journey) is making sure you have good fitting WELL broken in boots.   A good pair of boots will last you for years if you take good care of them and their tread will see you through many adventures! When...click the title above to read the complete blog post.  

I am happy to say I just completed my biannual 10-day adventure on the Appalachian Trail with the students of The Outdoor Academy.  Our students walked 70 miles along the highest ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Roan Mountain, TN and Sam’s Gap, NC.  My favorite part about our course area is that we expose our students to the myriad uses and functions of our nation’s national forests.  While I prefer the virtues of a simple backpacking trip, we see people everyday hunting, fishing, and picnicking along the trail.  In the spirit of Earth Day, I will share a small lesson I delivered in the field about the history and functions of public land in the United States...click the title above to read the complete post.

I have the exquisite pleasure at Eagle’s Nest Foundation to have the responsibility to manage the summer Hantes and the outdoor program at the Outdoor Academy.  My primary goal for my students is to create rounded outdoor leaders with the ability to independently adventure in the backcountry.  At OA we do this within a well-rounded curriculum that spans the disciplines of whitewater canoeing, traditional rock climbing, and backpacking.  The capstone of our outdoor programming is a 9-day student led expedition on the Appalachian Trail where our instructors take a back seat and merely manage the group’s safety. While the Hante program is undoubtedly shorter in length than a full academic semester at the Outdoor Academy, we make...click the title above to read the complete post. 

It feels more like April than January in Pisgah Forest, and it is hard to believe that we have months to go before our Outdoor Academy (and eventually Hante) students depart on the Appalachian Trail.  Historically at OA we have divided up trek into two five-day chunks, one in the Pisgah Ranger District and the other in the Slick Rock Wilderness Area of the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest.  This model had its benefits, but we all felt that we would be doing a service to our students by getting them out for a longer, more continuous period of time.  In reality, five days in the wilderness is only three days when you think about travel.  For the last two semester’s our students have had the opportunity to engage with the community on the Appalachian Trail for a continuous 9 days.  With so much time, we are now able to build up more momentum on the trail, and it is not unusual for our groups to be logging 10-12 mile days by the last part of their expedition...click the title above to read the complete post. 

In the summer of 2005 I realized that it would be the last summer that my son Walter would be eligible to be a participant in any of the Eagle’s Nest programs.  He was a junior in high school, had gone on multiple Hantes including Australia, AT Trek, Mexico and Costa Rica, attended The Outdoor Academy and had spent several sessions as a JC.  He had learned a tremendous amount about what it means to be a leader in camp and in the wilderness but he still wasn’t quite ready to take on a full counselor position...click the title above to read the complete blog post.