10th Grade Backpacking Trip: The Sierra Canyon Experiences
EDITORS' PICK
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EDITORS' PICK -
In late August, the 10th graders went on their High Sierras backpacking trip, their first trip of the school year. Each grade at Sequoyah goes on two camping trips a year. On the High Sierras trip, every group participating had to backpack, which entails hiking while carrying a backpack with all of your gear. Some 10th graders had gone backpacking on their own time and some had been on previous Sequoyah backpacking trips. However, given last year’s 9th grade Utah backpacking trip experience, where bad weather kept all of the groups but one from backpacking, some 10th graders had never backpacked in their life. On this most recent High Sierra trip, some of the 10th graders found it enjoyable, some were skeptical, and others were not very enthused.
Henry Holcomb ’28 claimed that his recent trip to the Twin Lake trail, the second hardest trip option available, was “really a step up from last year” and that “there was a lot more mileage.” He said that he enjoyed the Boulder Mail Trail, the only Utah 9th grade backpacking trip option last year that was not obstructed by bad weather, more than he enjoyed the recent one, but once his group arrived at the end of their trail it was very nice and relaxing. Holcomb cautioned freshmen to “be careful” on this particular trip next year.
Oli Dauberman ’28, who was on the Jennie Lake trail, the medium difficulty trail, said that he did not enjoy the trip. He explained that he did not think that the trail he was on was very pretty, and it was difficult since it was his first time backpacking; he had to carry lots of extra weight, namely the pots and pans. His piece of advice for the 9th graders was “Don’t get the pots and pans.” While Dauberman wasn’t a fan of the trip overall, he did enjoy getting to sleep under the stars.
History teacher Ian Gutgold thought that the trip was amazing overall and that there were hardly any flaws. When they arrived at Jennie Lake, it was beautiful and very relaxing after a day and a half of hiking at elevation. Gutgold was previously on the Escalante River trip, and he said that this year’s trip had a lot more elevation and mileage. His group had to be much more deliberate with water than last year, where they were pretty much walking in a river the entire time. Gutgold advised students, “Trust your field instructors, and approach everything with an open mind. If you embrace it, regardless of your skills with outdoor stuff, you can really surprise yourself.”
Finally, Sam Fish ’28 was on the Seville Lake trail, the second easiest trip. He said that it was very enjoyable overall, and the food that they had was surprisingly good. His group got to swim in a lake once they reached the peak, and he found it refreshing. The Seville Lake group also had a very different experience from any of the other groups; the day after arriving at the lake, his group did a night hike from around 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Fish said that that was his least favorite part of the trip and that it was very difficult. Fish’s piece of advice for freshmen was, “Figure out what you are going to do during the solo [a period on Sequoyah trips where students are alone for one to multiple hours with instructors close by] before you do the solo. It felt very long for me since I did not know what I was going to be doing.”
Those on the 10th grade High Sierras trip this year had a range of feelings and perspectives on their experiences; overall, however, their reflections were largely positive.