The Cupertino Courier
News
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Challenged: Jessica Hoyer, a graduate of Monta Vista High School and De Anza College, recently went on a 94-day wilderness trip, from Sept. 6 through Dec. 6, in the Rocky Mountains with the National Outdoor Leadership School.
Hoyer climbs to Wyoming's highest peak
By Beth Hobbs
Surrounded by nature and everything it offers, Jessica Hoyer is realizing her dream--National Outdoor Leadership School in the Rockies--that took three years to achieve.
In December 2005, Hoyer, 20, registered for a fall semester in the Rockies course, which cost $10,000.
"I had no idea how I was going to pay for it," she says.
It took the Cambrian resident a year of working three jobs, while completing her degree in environmental studies at DeAnza College. She did get some help with a $2,000 scholarship from the program to reach her goal.
As a child growing up in Colorado, Hoyer's passion for the outdoors was sparked by a seventh-grade teacher who introduced her to a summer program, Youth Naturally.
During her freshman year in high school, Hoyer's family moved to Novato and then to Cupertino.
"I didn't like it here," she says, "but decided I'm stuck and have to find something I love about it."
So, she returned to nature as it offered her a sense that "everything is fine." Subsequent summers found her working for the Student Conservation Association and the National Park Service on trail maintenance in North Carolina's Cataloochee Valley, part of the Smoky Mountains National Park.
Through the outdoor community, Hoyer heard about the National Outdoor Leadership School's challenging college credit course and knew she wanted to participate.
Hoyer's experience with the program began Sept. 6, 2006 in Lander, Wyo., with preparation and outfitting for the first segment, mountaineering.
Backpacking in Wyoming's remote Wind River Mountains, Hoyer carried a 65-pound pack, half her body weight, for 24 days, as 11 students and three instructors learned navigation, survival, environmental ethics, land management, and the pure joy of a brilliant sunrise. There was fly fishing and time to reflect.
Hoyer says she never missed the comforts of civilization.
"I knew I was at the right place at the right time. I felt completely at home," she says.
Recounting the use of a cave for a classroom and snow for a whiteboard, Jessica says, "We learned to use whatever resources were available."
Sometimes those resources were the determination and knowledge the team members brought with them. A blizzard challenged the group to weigh the risks against the necessity of crossing a rugged mountain pass mid-September, to catch up with food rations being delivered on horseback. Yet unexpected challenges became opportunities for the instructors to teach decision-making, risk assessment and judgment skills.
After a blizzard thwarted an effort to reach the 13,804-foot summit of Gannett Peak, the following day offered blue skies and one last chance. The hikers were exhausted, but Hoyer took the challenge and with one instructor she reached the summit and reveled in a view of the Tetons.
Chris Braundeis, a program supervisor for National Outdoor Leadership School Rocky Mountain Branch, describes Hoyer as "an exceptional student, a rock star."
The group encountered "incredibly challenging, extreme winter weather" early, Braundeis said. "Her climb was indicative of her eagerness to take on any opportunity presented."
Reaching the summit became her trip highlight and demonstrated her ability to overcome her fear of heights.
"The instructors teach you risk management, but it is scary at times. You have to look at it rationally and have to manage risk." Hoyer says.
When the group returned to Lander, it spent several days learning first aid before heading to Utah for nine days of whitewater kayaking in Desolation Canyon on the Green River, and seven days canoeing on the San Juan River.
Hoyer's leadership skills were honed during 28 days in the canyon lands of Utah along the Escalante River, where the students learned orienteering, using a topographical map, compass and keen observation to determine their location.
As part of the orienteering process, Hoyer and her team were on their own for six days, hiking across expanses of sandstone and carefully judging their entrance and exit strategies in water-carved slot canyons. They purified water scooped from potholes in rocks and listened to coyotes howling at night as they abandoned their tents and slept under rocky overhangs.
"Group dynamics become a big thing," she says. "People let you know what you do well, and what you need to work on. It's somewhat draining. Leadership is a skill you can constantly work on, and you can use these skills through life."
The final section took her back to a Wyoming winter in the Absaroka Mountains. While practicing telemark skiing, the group learned how to live in snow.
"You have to have water to melt snow," Hoyer says. "If you don't add water, the dust particles in the snow just burn when you heat it." During the downtime, the students built quigloos--quick igloos made of scooped snow, dug out from the top and side, and glazed inside by warm breath. With a minus-24 degree wind chill, this quigloo provided a sleeping environment 10 to 20 degrees warmer than the tents.
After the 94-day experience Hoyer returned home to a much tamer environment, where she hikes through Mount Tamalpais' Matt Davis Steep Ravine/Dipsea Loop and Henry Coe State Park, which she describes as one of the great "secret places."
Hoyer has also accepted a job with Utah-based Zion Adventure Company. Eventually, she hopes to work as an instructor for National Outdoor Leadership School and finish her college education.
"I never had the 'I can't do this day,' " says Hoyer about the three-month ordeal. "It proved to me that I could do this as a job. I love teaching, and to have a job outdoors, backpacking, truly alive every day, your hobby as a career."
The National Outdoor Leadership School is a nonprofit of outdoor skills and leadership, based in Lander, Wyo. Founded by Paul Petzoldt in 1965, the school offers educational expeditions focusing on outdoor skills, environmental studies and leadership. For more information visit www.nols.edu or call 800.710.6657.
