Summer 2005 Trail Mix

Youth Outdoors

XCEL Academy heads out on their first backpacking trip!

By Jennifer Lucky,
Student Services Coordinator, XCEL Academy

On March 1st, 2005 the Cross Cultural Environmental Leadership (XCEL) Academy students and staff embarked on the school’s first-ever backpacking trip. Two staff leaders and fourteen students in the 9th and 10th grades prepared to spend four days in Henry Coe State Park. While a couple of the students had been camping previously, most had never spent the night outdoors, and some had never left the Bay Area. There were mixed emotions from the students around the trip. Some students were excited to sleep in a tent and cook on stoves in the outdoors, but others’ apprehensions almost kept them from participating in the trip. 

First came many meetings spent looking at maps and discussing trip plans and the packing list. Having been on the WLT, I organized a preparation day where students got their BAWT gear, packed their backpacks, learned about using stoves, the water filter and, of course, how to go to the bathroom in the woods! The students were excited, curious, and also skeptical about why we needed all of this gear. Despite complaints about the color of a jacket or how some would never be seen in their poly pro, we were finally all packed and ready to go.

As the bus wound up the road towards the Henry Coe entrance, I could hear whispers of excitement about the green wooded hills, and the familiar city seeming further and further away. Arriving at the park, we could see the effects that the rains had on the trails, and that the rain was not going to give us a break. Though at first I worried that the students might get cold and wet, and never wanting to go camping again, I was amazed at how prepared we really were. We stayed warm and dry in our tents, raincoats, fleece, and poly pro.  We cooked some outstanding meals with the stoves. The flowing creeks (through which the students trudged in their BAWT boots) made for some adventurous hiking that fostered a sense of support and community among our group, as well as stories that I still hear them tell at school months later.

This trip will be remembered by all of our students and staff as a historic event in the life of XCEL Academy. Thanks to BAWT for making it possible for us to have this experience!