Written by: Eve, Hope, Nieve, Callie, & Rosie
Group A: We just got back from 12 days in the canyons! It was genuinely one of the best experiences of my life. On the 3rd expedition, we went back to Utah, deep into Slickhorn and Grand Gulch Canyons. We only saw a sliver of the sky everyday! Even though what we did everyday was similar, each turn of the canyon and the views of the sky were so different. One day that was definitely different was day six. It was by far the hardest. We woke up at 4:45 am and started hiking right away. We hiked along the San Juan River! It was so beautiful and we could see river rafters. They even waved to us! Towards hour three, the trail disappeared and we were rock scrambling. The river was 1,000 ft below us, and the flat land above the canyon was 1,000 ft above us. Even though the day was super hard, my group was very supportive. Everyone offered their hand if there was a challenging step up and had fun conversations to keep spirits high. Toward the end of the day, with only 1/4 mile left until camp, we needed to pass our packs up a broken trail. We tried a rope around a tree and the other end around our pack, and pulled the packs back up to where they should be. We got to our planned campsite, but it turned out it didn’t work, so we hiked two more miles until we finally got to a better campsite. It was a long, 14 hour day. My group made a quick, easy, quesadilla dinner, and then we all had circle. Circle is something we had every night and was an opportunity to get to know the people on our expedition. Asking deep questions like “what is your favorite thing about yourself?” or more fun questions like “thoughts on yogurt?” It is also a time to share about your day and be vulnerable. During the circle after our long, 14 hour day, we had to share three words to describe our day. Mine were: tiring, challenging, supportive. Yes, it was tiring and challenging, but I am super proud of myself for pushing myself and for persevering.
Group B: The best memories are made laughing, and I had some of the best laughs of my life on Third Expedition. My small group of 10 drove nine hours to Collins Spring Trailhead where we started our trek through Grand Gulch Canyon. The weather on this trip was incredible. It almost felt like vacation but with a scorching sun and lots of wind. Along our hikes, we saw many pictographs and petroglyphs. One of my favorite campsites was under Shaw Arch, underneath which we found many scattered artifacts. On day seven, we had our hardest but arguably most fun day. We started the day early at 5:30am and hiked until we got to our campsite at 4:30pm. Our long hike hugged the side of the San Juan river and consisted of lots and lots of rocks, layers of sunscreen, occasional pack-lifts, and many laughs. After that day the second half of the trip was a breeze. Our route followed the bottom of Slickhorn Canyon where we had our first IST (independent student travel) days. On the last day, we finished the trip by scrambling up the canyon wall all together. Once we were back on the bus, we were back where we had started, but this time, we were suffocated by our stench.
Group C: For our last expedition, we traveled to the southeastern part of Utah to the Cedar Mesa area. For this expedition, we had student expedition leaders (SELs). Teo was my group’s SEL. Throughout this exped, we had independent student travel (IST) during which the eight of us would hike, eat, and camp on our own for three nights and five days total (of the 12 day exped). One morning while we were on IST, we got up at 4:30am so we could hike to the top of the mesa and see the sunrise. Of course, when we got to the top, we had a photoshoot. IST was amazing. The independence and trust given to us was inspiring. As students, we bonded so much at circle each night (circle is a group meeting where we learn more about an individual on the trip and then answer a question about ourselves). We were really able to get to know each other, which was so wonderful. More than on any other expedition, I feel like I grew close with this group of students. We learned so much about living in the wilderness and got some Wilderness First Aid Awareness training and really learned to be self-sufficient and independent in an unfamiliar location.
Group D: This past week, semester 48 returned from the Bear’s Ears National Monument region of the desert of Southeastern Utah. As a member of Exped Group D, I spent the 13 day long expedition in the Jacob’s Chair area of this region. Having been in this same area during first expedition, I was able to draw many connections between the two experiences, and also acknowledge some profound differences. Due to the seasonal change between expeditions, the landscape now looked surprisingly different; overall, there was far more vegetation, and snow was completely absent from the tops of the mesas. Despite this change, all of the quintessential desert ecology that we got to know on first expedition remained, such as Juniper Trees, Mormon Tea, Pinyon Pines, and even cows. One of the defining characteristics of the third expedition was the amount of independence that we, as students, experienced. Each expedition group had an elected Student Expedition Leader (SEL) that helped guide the group. Additionally, for the latter half of the exped, we were able to hike and camp independently as students during Independent Student Travel (IST). This level of freedom in an environment that can be so taxing allowed for unexpectedly profound growth and backcountry-skill development among all of my expedition group, myself included. We were well prepared for this independence, as we had worked hard honing our map-reading skills and learning Wilderness First Aid Awareness (a highlight for many on my exped!). My expedition group spent a lot of time hiking in canyons, which was an incredible experience. To contrast our time in the canyons, on our second hiking day, we spent over 11 hours hiking up, around, and then back down the mesa upon which Jacob’s Chair sits. On that day, we experienced rain, hail, intense wind, and then even more rain. After this, we had two well-deserved layover days where we relaxed, did expedition homework, and went on day hikes. Throughout the trip we had many long days filled with boulder scrambling and navigation through canyons. On our last hiking day, our navigation skills were truly put to the test, as we took a wrong turn early on in the hike and ended up getting a bit lost. Fortunately, with the help of our I-Team, we were eventually able to locate ourselves, and our brief time of uncertainty meant that we got to spend an extra night camping in a canyon! I can say for certain that those 13 days are a time that I’ll never forget.
Group E: On May 2nd, our expedition group returned, smelly and exhausted, from our third and final expedition. The eight hour van ride back to Leadville consisted of many naps and goodbyes to the breathtaking landscape of Bears Ears National Monument. The countless moments and accomplishments from the trip will remain core memories. Just like anything, a trip is more fulfilling when you know you did hard things. And boy, did our expedition group push through some challenges. Without the challenging terrain, we probably could have gotten to our campsites in no time, relaxing and enjoying the view. But mesas jutted out and canyons sliced the ground, forcing us to reroute and scout the best way across the land. Our group backpacked 60 miles in total, including two 12 mile days back to back. Hiking in Jacob’s Chair and climbing in and out of canyons truly burned the quads and painted our hips with bruises. But it was all worth it after delicious dinners of cheesy pasta or rice and beans, followed by brownie scramble with candy bars. Every night, we cowboy-camped directly under the stars, naming constellations and wishing on shooting stars that appeared every five minutes. So many wishes to be made. It did, in fact rain (only once) despite our preconceptions that it never rains in the desert. Because it does in fact rain in the desert, water wasn’t too hard to find on this expedition. The water was so clean and so clear. To our surprise, we were able to find some puddles that were large enough to sport wade (not swimming, but close). The water was probably 50 degrees, but our pure joy clouded any doubts of getting into the water in the slot canyons. Yes, the expedition was challenging, and we definitely pushed the limits of our bodies, but no, we wouldn’t want it any other way. We are forever grateful to have “found our souls in the desert.”
