MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • March 21, 2021
Nine teenage girls stepped off a Nordic trail into thick woods in the White Mountain National Forest. Clad in snowshoes with 30-pound packs on their backs, they came to look for a wilderness campsite for the first of seven nights they’d camp together in early March. The group pulled three sleds full of gear, some weighing 50 pounds. None of them had much camping experience. This was not your typical Maine high school field trip. But for Gould Academy – a private school in Bethel with a reputation for grooming Alpine skiers – the annual junior class winter camping trip is part of a graduation requirement, a 40-year tradition, and a powerful lesson in working with others, dealing with stress and meeting challenges head on.