Off the Beaten Path

Ben Brock, Outdoor Director, wrote the following email to Grade 10 students who were in his group for last week’s outdoor trip and copied their parents. Students spent five days backpacking along Sheep Creek in southeastern Idaho.

“I’m sure you’ve all had a chance to share stories with parents/teachers etc by now and I just wanted to weigh in and say that last week was one of the most relaxed, entertaining, and rewarding Riverstone trips that I’ve been on. From being able to let you all do the bulk of the cooking and navigation, to learning new camp games, to post-dinner hiking, to the coolest wilderness discovery I’ve ever made, I’ll remember this trip for a long time. It is definitely a challenging environment, but I think you took it all in stride, especially considering that only four of you were born in North America.

I hope that, if nothing else, you have all gained a new understanding (or maybe even appreciation) of what it means to live in southern Idaho. It is a pretty wild place when you get just a few miles off the beaten path.

One last piece of Outdoor Program Director advice: don’t forget to dry out your sleeping bags and tents before you put them away until the next trip…

With that, here are some of my favorite shots from the trip….thanks to you all for making it so great!”