Lindsey’s Compass

The Wilderness Within

by Lindsey Schultz Outdoor Programs Director T o help improve the experience of our TRTA guided hike program participants, on January 2nd I flew to Arizona to embark on a month-long journey through the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and the Cochise Stronghold with the National Outdoor Leadership School’s (NOLS) Southwest Outdoor Educator course. I’d like to share some of the discoveries I made on my journey and hope to employ to enhance the TRTA’s guided adventures.

Once in the backcountry, our connection to the outside world was cut off: no phone, no electricity, no internet. Just twelve strangers with all of our anticipated needs for the next month packed tightly into our 50-pound backpacks. Our daily camping destinations and water sources were determined by topographic maps, compasses, and teamwork. These tools guided us through the desert ocotillo shrub and saguaro cacti clusters with only the occasional desert bighorn sheep or Sonoran pronghorn marking our progress. Our daily goals were simple and concrete, with nearly every waking activity tied directly to meeting the physical and psychological needs of our group: food, shelter, sleep, safety, and a collective sense of belonging and respect for one another. The sun was a welcomed beacon of warmth in the morning and an unrelenting adversary in the afternoon, allowing little in the way of shade. At night, the stars emblazoned the blue-black sky with a cacophony of light hugging the tips of the towering granite silhouettes lining the horizon.

In the weeks following my return to Tahoe, I missed the simplicity, clarity of purpose, and camaraderie of those 31 days in the backcountry. Now, in this new reality of social distancing and sheltering in place, I miss that simplicity even more acutely. Some of the lessons that stuck with me are lessons that apply to this moment.

The leadership model that NOLS uses helped me understand how every member of a group contributes to the group’s success by fulfilling various roles. In this particular moment, the roles of self-leader and peer leader have become vital. In the age of COVID-19, the essential quality of discipline and selfleadership shines through in our collective adherence to public safety guidelines and social distancing measures. Our peer leadership is seen in the acts of neighbors sewing masks for friends, family, and workers or picking up groceries for neighbors. We are in a moment of self-care, self-accountability, and peer leadership in which individuals are seeing the needs of the group and acting to fill those needs. These qualities will enhance our future programs as our participants’ interdependence and support of each other is explored. How we naturally respond to a situation can be tempered meet the demands of a group. Self-leadership requires risk assessment. Our actions can have grave effects on ourselves and our communities. Although the context is very different, the same logic applies to the backcountry. Basic needs must be met to stay safe. The safety of the group is critical for the group’s success. The closeness that is felt with this collective sense that we’re all in this together is rare and precious.

While I have always valued and been amazed by the lasting connections that are made by participants of TRTA programs, I don’t think I fully understood until now how deeply those connections are felt. Now I see that we are not just checking boxes off a bucket list. Outdoor programs, group hikes, and wilderness experiences fulfill something primitive and important. We need to take care of ourselves to take care of the group. There is a deep and lasting joy in group journeys and group achievements. More than anything, my time in the backcountry taught me the intimacy and beauty of shared experience in the wilderness. There is a profound gratitude and closeness that can be felt when a group comes together and shares space, stories, and vulnerabilities while working to accomplish goals. The wilderness asks so little of us but gives so much, and within our wide-open spaces we are all in a space in which we can be our best selves, our best leaders.

Lindsey rock climbing in the Cochise Stronghold

Lindsey (center) with course participants

Tahoe Rim Trail Photo Contest

The Tahoe Rim Trail Photo Contest is back! We need your help to collect high-quality photographs to grace the pages of our 2021 calendar. Twelve top photos will be selected and winners will receive a prize. Landscapes, portraits, action shots - anything goes!

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Entrants, please submit your high resolution (2.0 MB or higher) photos between May 1 and September 1. Only photos taken on the Tahoe Rim Trail system are eligible. Photos from any season are welcome. Only online submissions will be considered. Visit the link above for contest guidelines and instructions.