Step by step
It’s a little early to be talking about New Year’s resolutions, but here goes anyways. Do you make resolutions? And harder than that, do you keep them? How do you go from an idea to accomplishing that goal?
We talk a lot about goals here at Crane Lake Discovery Camp. Making goals and plans and then evaluating how we did is a key part of our program. The boys each have personal goals they are working on, and as a group they make plans for each day to accomplish their goals.
The campers recently planned a hiking trip in Algonquin. They had done several canoe trips, but this would be the first overnight hiking trip.
Their preparation included writing menus for all four days, dehydrating apples, learning various methods of packing backpacks and balancing the weight, discussing how to dress in layers to account for fluctuating temperatures throughout the day, and a short practice hike (5 hours).
The whole trip would be 35 km in the Algonquin Highlands. It’s rough, hilly terrain with slabs of Canadian shield set at angles in the forest. They would be carrying everything they needed to camp along the way - tents, sleeping bags, food, clothes, and cooking supplies.
The two supervisors, Tim and Luke, joined the group on the trip. Along with the goal of completing the hike in one piece, Luke also had a personal goal: getting his step count to top 35,000 steps in one day. Could he do it? Here’s what he wrote.
A cold breeze blew across my face.
Sheltering behind my North Face sleeping bag, I retreated back to check my watch—6:00 a.m. It was time to get up and start the day. I unzipped my cozy synthetic cocoon to see ice on the fly of my tent. I could hear the crackle of fire in the distance and saw Chief Tim boiling his morning coffee.
It was day three of our Algonquin Highlands backpacking trip. I packed up my things and began to wake up the rest of the group. One of the campers was already up and full of energy as usual, while the rest of the guys slowly began moving.
In about 40 minutes, all tents and packs were ready to go. We fueled up on oatmeal and fruit leather, washed our dishes, and were on the trail by 8:30 a.m. Our next campsite would be approximately 12 km away. We had already hiked a combined 18 km over the previous two days and had about another 16 to go. Safe to say, we were a little bit tired and sore already, with an even harder day ahead of us.
The key to good hiking is putting one foot in front of the other over and over again until you reach your destination. I had a goal of surpassing 35,000 steps on at least one day this trip. By lunch, my watch read 19,000—still a long way to go. Tired and needing more energy, I traded pepperettes for a promise of future chocolate chip cookies.
Soon after, we were again on the trail. Everyone was feeling sore and uncomfortable. Even Chief Ben finally admitted it, now that he was carrying two tents and extra food supplies.
It got harder and harder to push as we went. Finally we stopped to catch a breath. It was 4:30 pm, and we wanted to make camp before dark. We circled up and came up with a plan for the final stretch.
We pressed on. Half an hour later, we reached our campsite, just before dark. Our final burst of effort helped us to reach our campsite. That night, as I crawed into my sleeping bag, I checked my watch again: 39,337 steps!
Some goals can seem intimidating and impossible. Some goals are easy for some people and really hard for others. How do you reach your goal? Break it down, tackle it step by step, and find encouragement from the people around you. Big or small, all goals are met the same way: step by step.
