Re: Best "Death March" stories.
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:41 am
My #1 death march actually lasted 35 days. It was not in the Sierra, so I wondered if it "qualified". But here it is.
In 1969 I contracted to work at NOLS, but had to be a student on my first course. I got a free scholarship in exchange for working the remainder of the summer for free. That June NOLS course was actually documented in a TV special and aired in 1970 on the Alcoa Hour, as "30 Days to Survival". Actually my group stayed separate from the group that was featured in the film and only interacted with the film crew for one day when they filmed a climb we did. The film is interesting only in that it really shows what the weather was like. When I watch it now, I am amazed that we actually did not realize how bad it was! Cold and snow became so normal we almost forgot to think about it! My biggest disappointment was the fact that we had little climbing opportunities and the few climbs we attempted failed because of the weather. I was looking forward to a hot climbing expedition and we ended up in continual survival mode.
We started by spending two days in a warehouse in Lander Wyo while rain poured down. Then we piled into the back of a cattle truck and headed up a dirt road. The normal 2-hour drive took all day and we had to get out and shovel dirt to repair the road several times- all in the rain. Snow started at the trailhead where we walked across a meadow and set up camp. Since this course was my "trial by fire" to see if they wanted me as an instructor, they assigned me the weakest student as tent partner (actaually tarps- no tent). She was "sick" every day so I had to do all the camp chores and carry half her load. Back in those days we did not have stoves. Here it was snowing every day, hardly getting above freezing, and we had to build a fire every day just to cook. I became an expert at starting a fire with wet wood. We slowly made our way farther into the moutains. Every morning we awoke to frozen boots, broke ice of the streams to get water, slogged and post-holed through snow, taking turns breaking trail. Back in those days, it was also legal to cache rations in the wilderness. Our first ration was 15 days worth at 2 pounds per day. In additon to our old style heavy gear, this made our packs weigh in at about 65-70 pounds. When we reached our ration, that had been stashed and burried in #10 tin cans the previous fall, we discovered that many of the cans had leaked and the food spoiled. We ran out of food, so for the last week before survival we basically ate only oatmeal mixed with Crisco. Finally on Day 28 the weather broke. We were amazingly happy. I recall we spent nearly a day just hanging out in the sunshine. The course ended deep in the wilderness on the North Fork of Bull Lake Creek. We were still required to do a 5-day "survival" after basically starving for the previous week. Back in those days, we were given NO emergency food - had to fish and forage and walk out about 40 miles, mostly off-trail. However, the 4-person group that was filmed were given an emergency pack of food and part of the "story line" was that one of the kids sneaked the food into his pack and the resulting group dynamics and temptations of that emergency food was a main feature. But, the rest of us did the normal survival technique of that time- only salt and spices were allowed - fish or forage if you wanted to eat. My group decided to do the "death march" method of survival- we walked all the way out in 2 days and then lazed in the bushes for three days until we were picked up.
Every trip I have done since then has seemed easier. No matter what I have encountered. Guess such an experience at least makes you tough. Cannot say I really enjoyed it much. Thankfully the next course was in good weather and I got to do lots of climbing.
In 1969 I contracted to work at NOLS, but had to be a student on my first course. I got a free scholarship in exchange for working the remainder of the summer for free. That June NOLS course was actually documented in a TV special and aired in 1970 on the Alcoa Hour, as "30 Days to Survival". Actually my group stayed separate from the group that was featured in the film and only interacted with the film crew for one day when they filmed a climb we did. The film is interesting only in that it really shows what the weather was like. When I watch it now, I am amazed that we actually did not realize how bad it was! Cold and snow became so normal we almost forgot to think about it! My biggest disappointment was the fact that we had little climbing opportunities and the few climbs we attempted failed because of the weather. I was looking forward to a hot climbing expedition and we ended up in continual survival mode.
We started by spending two days in a warehouse in Lander Wyo while rain poured down. Then we piled into the back of a cattle truck and headed up a dirt road. The normal 2-hour drive took all day and we had to get out and shovel dirt to repair the road several times- all in the rain. Snow started at the trailhead where we walked across a meadow and set up camp. Since this course was my "trial by fire" to see if they wanted me as an instructor, they assigned me the weakest student as tent partner (actaually tarps- no tent). She was "sick" every day so I had to do all the camp chores and carry half her load. Back in those days we did not have stoves. Here it was snowing every day, hardly getting above freezing, and we had to build a fire every day just to cook. I became an expert at starting a fire with wet wood. We slowly made our way farther into the moutains. Every morning we awoke to frozen boots, broke ice of the streams to get water, slogged and post-holed through snow, taking turns breaking trail. Back in those days, it was also legal to cache rations in the wilderness. Our first ration was 15 days worth at 2 pounds per day. In additon to our old style heavy gear, this made our packs weigh in at about 65-70 pounds. When we reached our ration, that had been stashed and burried in #10 tin cans the previous fall, we discovered that many of the cans had leaked and the food spoiled. We ran out of food, so for the last week before survival we basically ate only oatmeal mixed with Crisco. Finally on Day 28 the weather broke. We were amazingly happy. I recall we spent nearly a day just hanging out in the sunshine. The course ended deep in the wilderness on the North Fork of Bull Lake Creek. We were still required to do a 5-day "survival" after basically starving for the previous week. Back in those days, we were given NO emergency food - had to fish and forage and walk out about 40 miles, mostly off-trail. However, the 4-person group that was filmed were given an emergency pack of food and part of the "story line" was that one of the kids sneaked the food into his pack and the resulting group dynamics and temptations of that emergency food was a main feature. But, the rest of us did the normal survival technique of that time- only salt and spices were allowed - fish or forage if you wanted to eat. My group decided to do the "death march" method of survival- we walked all the way out in 2 days and then lazed in the bushes for three days until we were picked up.
Every trip I have done since then has seemed easier. No matter what I have encountered. Guess such an experience at least makes you tough. Cannot say I really enjoyed it much. Thankfully the next course was in good weather and I got to do lots of climbing.