Learning to Be Uncomfortable: 25 Days with NOLS Alaska

This summer, I spent 25 days backpacking through the Alaska wilderness with NOLS, the National Outdoor Leadership School. We carried everything we needed, cooked every meal, crossed rivers and snowfields, navigated without maintained trails, and dealt with whatever weather Alaska sent our way.

I knew the trip would be hard. What I did not expect was how different it would feel to be completely removed from the comforts of normal life.

There was no going inside when it rained, ordering food when we were hungry, checking a phone when we were bored, or deciding to deal with something tomorrow. If we were cold, wet, tired, or staring at another climb with heavy packs, we still had to keep moving and figure it out together.

https://youtu.be/OXiT8xdd3LA

Relying on the environment

I have always enjoyed being outside, and I thought I appreciated nature before this trip. But I do not think I fully understood our relationship with the natural world until I spent almost a month relying on it so directly.

In the Alaska wilderness, the environment was not something we looked at. It shaped almost everything we did.

Weather determined when and how we traveled. Rivers determined where we could cross. Snow, terrain, and daylight influenced our route. We had to pay attention because the environment was suddenly part of nearly every decision we made.

At the same time, we were learning how to move through that environment without changing it. We carried in everything we needed and carried everything back out. We were careful about where we camped, how we handled food and waste, and how we traveled through areas shared with wildlife. When we saw bears or caribou, the goal was to observe them without disrupting their habitat or behavior.

That changed the way I thought about conservation. It is easy to talk about protecting the environment when you are surrounded by roads, buildings, electricity, running water, and grocery stores. It feels different when most of those things disappear and you become much more aware of what the natural world provides and how little it actually needs from us in return.

Learning to lead

The other big lesson was about people.

Outdoor leadership turned out to have less to do with giving instructions than I expected. It was mostly about paying attention to what the group needed. Sometimes that meant making a decision. Sometimes it meant carrying more weight, cooking dinner, helping someone through a difficult stretch, or keeping everyone moving when we were soaked and exhausted.

During our final independent expedition, our instructors stepped away and the decisions became ours. At one point, our planned pace was not working for everyone. Instead of treating that as one person's problem, we redistributed gear, adjusted our pace, and changed the plan.

It was a simple decision, but it stuck with me. Leadership is not always about pushing harder toward the original goal. Sometimes it is recognizing that something is not working and being willing to adapt.

By the end of 25 days in Alaska, I was much more comfortable being uncomfortable. I came home more confident that I can adapt when circumstances change and more aware of how much we usually separate ourselves from the natural world.

My NOLS experience made that separation disappear for a while. I think I understand nature, and our responsibility to protect it, differently because of it.