It certainly wasn’t a typical summer activity for three Mount Pleasant kids who hiked the Appalachian Trail.
East Cooper Montessori Charter School students Cayli Crawford, Zachary Dezzi and former student David Hendrix, along with former teacher Zak Oberrath and chaperone Seth Levy, hiked over 80 miles in eight days.
The students, ages 13-15,  carried backpacks weighing between 25-35 pounds with their tents, change of clothes, first aid kits and water.
For the third year, Oberrath took students on a backpacking trip.
He and Levy carried most of the food. They used a stove with fuel to cook when they got to the camp site.
Oberrath also kept other useful things handy like mole skin to treat blisters, and duct tape.
“With the kids we ‘do the train,’ ” Oberrath explained.
One adult was the caboose and one adult was the engine with the kids hiking in between.
This “train method” ensures that if someone needs to slow down and grab a snack, or catch his/her breath, for example, the caboose will wait.
“It lets everyone find their pace,” said Oberrath, noting that they were sometimes spread out 6-7 minutes apart.
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Some of the kids gave themselves little goals which Oberrath encouraged them to find which ways worked best for them.
The group hiked more miles in the beginning half of the trip, including their longest day of 15 miles.
“This trip included climbing over six mile high peaks,” Oberrath said. “Everyone gets a trail name. The rule is someone has to choose it for you.”
No one had a trail name when the hike began.
However, as the trip progressed and everyone got to know one another better, the naming took place.
Oberrath became Wolverine, Dezzi became Jerkey, Crawford became Joan Jet, Hendrix became Half Full and Levy became Breaker.
Oberrath describes his hikers as “urban kids” because of the geography of where they live.
Hendrix, who will be   attending a Montessori farm school in Ohio,  wanted to push himself and see what he was able to accomplish.
“Being a life-long resident of Charleston, I am not used to forests climbing 1500 feet in less than a mile. So, it was a challenge, but it was also letting me see what I was capable of,” he said.
The group only encountered one brief storm in eight days.
Fortunately, when the torrential downpour started, they were at the camp site putting up their tents. However, their clothes got wet and although they had dry clothes to change into, they had to carry the wet clothes along with them.
As a group, everyone had to pitch in.
Someone would cook and another would get firewood. Meals consisted of Mac n Cheese, rice and beans, noodles, easy things.
That left someone to clean the dishes.
Every night, the group had to take all of their cook ware and put into a “bear bag.”
This was a sealed bag so that bears would not be attracted to the scent and come to the camp site.
They put the bag up in a tree nearly 20 feet high.
The group was very strict about leaving no trash. Even a granola bar wrapper could attract unwanted guests. The group took their planned break half way through the trip.
They stayed in a hostel  in Roan, Tenn. where everyone got a hot shower and a bed. They went out to get a hot, greasy meal.
Oberrath said that one main reason he wanted to take the kids on this trip because he trusted that they could do it.
“There was amazing strength in them that they never thought they had,” he said. “I mean, they hiked 80 miles in the mountains, something that most adults would never do.”
Levy agreed, “I am not sure if I was their age, I could have done a hike like that.”
“It was physically difficult and mentally challenging,” said Levy.
Through the sweat, the tears and most importantly, determination, these three Mount Pleasant kids experienced an adventurous summer.
(Helen Ravenel can be reached at helen@moultrienews.com. Comment on this story online at www.moultrienews.com <http://www.moultrienews.com> .)



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