Backpacking for college credit

Backpacks strapped over their shoulders, the Southeast Missouri State University students came around the bend in the trail, hiking along the leaf-filled, muddy trail toward the campground clearing at Trail of Tears State Park.

The hikers smiled, enjoying a breezy but unseasonably mild February day after a nearly four-hour trek Thursday, interrupted only by a break for lunch.

"It is great to get out of the concrete jungle," said Dax Tobin, a 25-year-old Southeast junior from Cape Girardeau.

The journey of two nights and parts of three days was a tune-up for a 21-day backpacking trek in the Utah desert, where the students will climb mesas and explore rugged canyons while earning college credit.

This is the first semester that Southeast students majoring in recreation or minoring in outdoor leadership have had the opportunity to backpack in Utah as part of their education.

The new outdoor semester program, called "Epiphany: Outdoor Experiences, Inward Journeys," consists of a 15-hour block of courses. The first part of the semester included classroom training and preparation, in addition to a brief trip to Bloomington, Ind., for wilderness first aid training.

In the wilderness at Trail of Tears, Courtney Leong, 20, a sophomore from Kirkwood, Mo., removed her heavy backpack, took off her socks, sat on the ground and stretched her sore legs.

"It's pretty muddy," she said of the trail.

Still, Leong and the other hikers had no complaints.

No mosquitoes. No ticks. No poison ivy. There wasn't even a winter snowstorm to interrupt their outdoor adventure in the state park north of Cape Girardeau.

"You get lucky every once in a while," said Tammie Stenger, assistant professor of health, human performance and recreation at Southeast, on Wednesday as she and 10 of her students prepared for the Trail of Tears trip.

"I really enjoy backpacking," said Jon Lowrance, 20, a recreation major from Cape Girardeau. Lowrance said the outdoor adventure is about more than just spending time outdoors. "You can teach people about themselves," he said.

Lowrance said he and other students had expected it would be colder. "You definitely have to be prepared for the worst," he said prior to filling his water bottle with freezing water from Lake Boutin and sanitizing it with iodine Wednesday afternoon.

The group plans to leave for Utah on Friday, traveling by car. The hiking trip officially begins March 1 and runs through March 21. Stenger plans to return home immediately after that, but she said the students plans to sightsee for a few days and won't be back on campus until March 25.

In addition to Stenger, part-time instructor Dave Schmid, who lives in Colorado, will accompany the hikers on the 100-mile trek.

$700 in supplies

In addition to their regular course fees, the students are each paying about $700 to pay for backpacking supplies -- including first-aid supplies, food and gas camping stoves.

"We are taking a lot dehydrated foods, freeze-dried foods," she said. "Normal everyday food weighs so much because there is moisture in it."

Said Stenger, "We are taking rations like flour, sugar, oil and honey. They are learning how to bake bread."

The group plans to carry about week's supply of food, restocking their backpacks each week.

When full, the large backpacks each weigh about 40 pounds, Stenger said.

While in Utah, the hikers plan to sleep under tarps that are lighter to carry than full tents. Unlike tents, tarps don't have sides.

Stenger said the students are learning to be recreation professionals. "One of the best things we can do is give them experience doing recreation," she said.

Upon completion of the outdoor semester, students will have earned several outdoor certifications, Stenger said.

Mitchell Sharp, a 24-year-old senior from Sikeston, Mo., took off his hiking boots and rested on a wooden picnic table bench Thursday afternoon at the campground before putting up his tent for the night.

He smiled broadly as he reflected on the group's two days of hiking. "You can't beat it," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123