Wednesday, July 27
For the second expedition of the Summer Term, the students split into two expedition groups. Micah, Will B, Lars, Jack, Gracen, Jessica, Olivia, Sheridan, Caroline, and Scout were in one group with instructors Karen and Ryan. Maureen and Ivan led the other group which included Emmett, Will K, Josh, Martin, Ceci, Jen, Sophie, and Emily. Both groups hiked in the Sawatch Range right above Leadville and returned to campus this Wednesday with big smiles on their face (and carrying a couple of extra rocks! – just ask Will K and Emmett). Below are some notes that the students put together about their respective adventures:
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Parting from our new yet closely-knit friends was tough for some, but everyone was excited for the journeys in store. With a final shower and large packs on our backs, the ten of us headed out, eager to embark on our second and final expedition, twenty miles long and twenty miles shorter than the last expedition. All were excited for the upcoming days, completely off-trail and most importantly, shorter hiking days! The first night brought endless rounds of games including “Yee-haw” and “Animal Kingdom.” Our whole group was laughing so hard that our abs were sore the next day. That night set the tone for the rest of the days and left everyone thrilled for the expedition.
Much hype for the expedition was fed by the excitement of attempting to summit the fourteen thousand foot peak, Mount Massive. Some had never been to a summit, some had been once before, and some were pros, yet everyone seemed to have the same amount of enthusiasm. We took off at six in the morning and successfully arrived to the summit after three and a half hours of strenuous uphill and boulder scrambling! In retrospect though, everyone would agree that the challenge of an early morning climb
was completely worth it, just by revisiting the pictures of the view. All that hard work was greatly rewarded by a group glissade down Africa Bowl in full rain gear, which obviously included tons of laughter and a bit of numbness in our fingers. After splashing our way down the last part of the pitch, a few of the boys became distracted by underground rivers that popped up along the trail back to camp. That random distraction carried over throughout the whole trip and brought about chuckles from the whole group. Every time we saw a stream, we waited for them to have their fun and then continued on our way, laughing all the while.
Those few adventures shed only a little light on the rest of the days, filled with fun, friends, and backcountry food. Although we are all sad that our excursion has come to an end, we look forward making the most of our last eight days together!
By Caroline Landy
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Guided by our hilarious leaders, Maureen and Ivan, we actually returned from our 7 day, 20+ mile, off-trail expedition. We returned with awesome new stories and adventures we were eager to share with the other group. Our crew began west of Turquoise Lake and walked right back into campus after our 7 days out in the field. This trip involved a lot of off trail navigation, which was fairly new to both groups. From crossing snow fields, to scaling rock slides, we all 
had a blast! Not being able to summit Mt. Elbert on the last expedition, made summiting Mt. Massive a huge goal for everyone. On our second to last day (and only layover day) we woke up around 3 am, and began our 3,000 ft plus climb to the top of the third highest peak in the continental United States, a whopping 14, 421 ft above sea level. Pretty darn far up there for us people from sea level. We left so early so that we could catch the sunrise above tree line. It was extraordinary. After we 
took some beautiful pictures and shared a much needed snack, we started the steep part of the day. Feeding off everyone’s energy, we arrived at the peak just after 9 am. We had heard of the incredible views atop Massive, but they were quite elusive as there was absolutely no visibility. We still had a blast and met some fellow mountaineering guys from Wisconsin. Everyone had an incredible feeling of achievement and we were psyched to share it with all our buddies back on campus. Ending the trip on a high note, we returned back to campus to spend our remaining days together.
By Emily Ripple and Emmett Barr