Weathering the elements
UD’s Outdoor Adventure Club led students through the Ozark Mountains over spring break where extreme weather forged unforgettable bonds.
Spring weather in the Midwest is nothing if not unpredictable, varying from freezing cold to beautiful sunshine often within the same day. For students in UD’s Outdoor Adventure Club, that irregularity was not a reason to stay home. With only 40 lbs. of gear on their backs and their adventurous grit, they traveled to the Missouri Ozark Mountains over spring break for a backpacking trip that would test them almost immediately.
From the trailhead, students were hit with the record-breaking storm that swept through the Midwest in mid-March, complete with torrential freezing rain and hail.
“I’ve backpacked before, but never in conditions this extreme,” said junior Kristen Kras.
“During backpacking, you have to be prepared for anything, but I definitely was not expecting gumball-sized hail in the middle of the day!” said junior trail leader Addy Turner.
With little choice but to ride it out, they pitched tents at their first campsite and settled in for the night. As ice clattered against nylon walls, this forced pause brought an opportunity for a group of near-strangers to get to know each other better.
“There’s nothing that will bring people together like squeezing eight people in a three-person tent to play cards during a storm,” said Turner.
“Every view, highlight or just good memory you get from a backpacking trip is one you have because you earned it. To me, no matter what adversity it took to get there, that feeling of ‘earning the view’ will always trump out.”
Towards the end of the trip, the storm passed. Soaked layers were traded for lighter gear, the trail opened up into spectacular sweeping views from cliff edges, warm air and the particular satisfaction of having earned every step of the climb.
“Every view, highlight or just good memory you get from a backpacking trip is one you have because you earned it,” said junior trail leader Charles Miller. “To me, no matter what adversity it took to get there, that feeling of ‘earning the view’ will always trump out.”
“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” said Kras, a sentiment that seemed to speak for every member of the group.
They came home with bags full of muddy laundry and the kinds of memories and friendship only a week exposed to the elements can forge.