For a month, students in the Atwater High Sierra Nevada Geography and History class and the Sierra Nevada Club have been prepping for a backpacking trip in the mountains. Each week the students would learn a new skill like stove usage, assembling a tent,  and packing their clothes and supplies. 

 

Nineteen of those students recently put those skills to the test as they joined Atwater High teachers and club advisor Charlotte Olson and fellow AHS social science teacher Thomas Feucht for a three-day backpacking trip near Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park. The group explored the area known as the 20 Lakes Basin, located at 10,500 feet above sea level.

 

This is the ninth year that Olson has taken a group of her students. Each year she asks them to ditch their cell service and enjoy nature for a couple days. This year’s group was a mix of kids who have made similar trips before and some students who were exploring the mountains for the first time.

 

“I was lucky enough to grow up spending summers in the mountains at our family’s historic cabin at Central Camp, so it is important to me to share my love of nature and being outdoors with kids,” Olson said. “Anyone can go backpacking—even kids from Winton!”

 

Olson had a record 45 kids sign up for this year’s excursion. She was able to take 19 students Sept. 24 through Sept. 26. This year’s troop encountered gusty winds up to 40 mph. Olson reports everyone had fun and a lot of laughs as tents and sleeping bags got airborne. They were able to endure some tough conditions and learn some class content through some hands-on experience.

 

“There were zero complaints,” Olson said. “In some ways, it was an improvement over last year, when we got hailed on for four hours, followed by rain that flooded us! It’s all about perspective, and the kids had a positive attitude throughout.”

 

“We had some great weather heading into our camp spot, but come evening the wind began to pick up,” Feucht added.  “The tricky part was that it kept changing direction so everyone had to put rocks in the corners of their tents to keep them from becoming kites! The scenery was beautiful and even with most of the students getting less than their preferred amount of sleep, everyone was positive and excited about something.”

 

Feucht says one of the highlights of the trip was their hike on Saturday just east of Tioga Peak. Students were able to gather around carvings that date back approximately 100 years. They were able to enjoy the aspen trees with the leaves changing colors for fall.

 

“I think it was a great experience for the kids to be exposed to all of the challenges, to do hard things and adapt and band together to help each other,” Feucht said. “These trips embody practical life skills and get students out of their every day comfort zone.  I think every student that came along took some inner confidence home with them and some great moments to remember.”

 

Olson says it’s fun to watch the students take what they learn in her class and the club and apply it out in the wilderness. 

 

“It is highly rewarding and makes it all worth it, truly the best thing about my job,” she said. “The Fall trips are a huge undertaking. Outfitting 19 kids and getting them to work together in groups so the trip runs smoothly is no easy task, but nothing worth doing in life is ever easy, and anyone that knows me, knows I do nothing the easy way. The goal is to expand the class into a CTE pathway for Tourism and Recreation; that way the kids will be the guides and planners one day.”

 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.