Group A: Lea Zwecker
Third expedition, our last expedition with my HMI family, in the canyons of Utah. With 8 other girls, we spent 11 days laughing and screaming in the bottom of the canyons. One day we begrudgingly woke up at 4 am to hike along the San Juan river – using our headlights to navigate our way onto footpaths and catching the sunrise on trail. It was on this day that I experienced the lowest-low of the trip. The 90 degree heat beat down on all of us on a day of independent student travel without the I-team, crying as our legs nearly collapsed under the weight of our packs. In the final mile, part of me wanted to stop and search for shade to sleep under but instead I walked in the footprints of Nikki and Nelson. Motivated by my friends ahead and the promise of a beach day at the river, I chugged along. We cheered for each other as someone walked down to get in the river. A group of rafters watched our excitement, endless laughter, and praise for each other. They also gave us blue gatorade powder that we happily accepted. I learned that the tough moments never really last as long as you think (even if it is a 15 hour hiking day) and that low-lows and high-highs can happen within an hour of each other.
The rest of the expedition was spent having our legs thrashed by bushwacking nearly each day, singing riff-offs before nightly circle, and cowboy camping under the stars. When the I-team told us we were going to sleep at an arch in the canyon, we expected an easy campsite find. However, we ended up walking a mile past a large arch. Once we made it to the arch and knew we weren’t lost in Grand Gulch Canyon, we all cheered in relief. In celebration, we split into teams and created our own version of the pitch perfect riff-off. As we drove back from the canyons singing ourselves into exhaustion, we saw the scenery change from mesas to mountains. Back in Leadville, listening to Where’d All The Time Go, I think of my unforgettable memories made in the canyons for 11 days this April. I miss that life.
Kestrel Linehan:
If you told me a year ago I’d be in a canyon with eight other girls screaming to breakup songs I would have never believed you. But suddenly here I am. Our thirteen days together started with a eight hour car ride of Taylor Swift, corn dogs, and chicken. As we got closer to the canyons the landscape began to change and we found ourselves on tiny dirt roads weaving between juniper trees. The first couple of days went by quickly. We created our own code of asking “what’s up with you” (wuwu) which quickly escalated into about twenty different, crazy coded answers. Sydney and I found ourselves in the back of the line everyday which became so consistent that I swear I got weird looks when I was leading the group. Our first IST (independent student travel) day consisted of: climbing over 20ft boulders and absolutely losing our minds making up parodies to songs. At one point I hit my shin on a rock and Lea, being the best SEL (student expedition leader) she is, stuck a pad to my cut (this was after three days of wilderness first aid courses). We thought that day was the hardest and going to bed that night we were proud of ourselves for making it.
Then came the San(d) Juan river day. Picture yourself stuck on a cliff, no shade. It’s about 90 degrees. You just lost eyesight and around you you hear numerous girls crying. That fifteen hour day was pretty awful i’m gonna be honest but it really showed us how strong we are. We ended up swimming in the San(d) Juan river and the laughter was constant. The rafteres we met gave us so much blue gatorade powder that the sugar boost made me shuttle five packs across a canyon during our pulley system. After that day we just kept hiking. We missed our campsite under an arch by a mile and sang in the rain. We had so many riff offs that our vocal chords hurt, and just acted like little kids again. As our bus pulled out of the canyons and “Where’d All the Time Go” started playing I got sad. I had become so close to these eight girls and I wanted to keep all these memories I had created so close to me. But maybe that’s the point, we get close to these people in the canyons of Utah, we learn from each other. But it has to end someday. We can keep the memories though, and we can still laugh the way we laughed in the hot sun. And at the end of the day Lucy voted me the craziest on exped, so i’ll always have that.
Nikki Berger:
Our third expedition was special in many ways. A group of 9 girls who spent 13 days hiking into, through, and back out of Utah’s canyons. We had extreme heat some days, lots of rain on others, boulders to climb across most days, and then jungle sand trails the other days. We made heart-shaped pizzas and cinnamon buns in our fry bakes. We wore heart sunglasses with pink sparkles and never stopped wearing shorts, even when the brush cut our legs up.
On day seven, we woke up at four in the morning. Our camp was packed up and ready for us to start hiking at five AM, with our headlamps leading the way across the edge of the canyon. We watched the sun rise over the rocky cliffside that dropped into the San Juan River while we trekked along as the day got hotter. By midday, the sun was beating down on us hotter than anything I’d felt before. We scouted for routes and climbed with our packs on over rocks and across the boulder field on the side of the canyon. After 10 hours of exhaustive heat and hiking, we got to jump into the San Juan River, which our group ended up naming the Sandy Juan River. We ate snacks, fueled up, and put our packs on again to hike another few hours along the canyon. Our group made a pulley system, to pull our packs over the washed-out cliff we had to traverse. After 14 long hours of sun and being on our feet, we sat in a circle and listened to Isabel’s downloaded songs. No experience will ever make me as happy to scream every lyric to Stay by Rihanna as when we all sat in the canyon on day seven.
Group B: Piper Forsyth
After being trapped in a quigloo for 32 hours and getting frostbite on all my toes on second exped, I was so excited to go back out to the warm canyons. The weather called for swimming in cold flowing rivers, and tanning on the slick rock. All of the skills we had acquired on the last two expeds gave the group comfort in navigating the complicated terrain of Dark Canyon.
One of our first days practicing for IST (independent student travel) my group set out on a 4 mile hike feeling good from the day before. Throughout the day we came to many roadblocks and had to problem solve to keep progressing towards our campsite. After many hours of route finding and getting turned around, we had only gone about 1.5 miles and the sun was getting low. We decided to find an alternate campsite and felt slightly defeated the remainder of the night. The following days we started IST and felt much more comfortable problem solving and efficiently hiking in, through, and around the canyons. This day felt like a shift in the trip; everyday after was completed with careful planning and done with ease. This growing confidence allowed us to grow closer as a group and finish out the trip on a high. Although I am sad to see the outdoor aspect of HMI behind me, I’m so glad I finished on such a bonding and rewarding exped.
Evan Hinchley:
Third exped is going to be the highlight of HMI. I remember looking back at the first exped and thinking of all the time we spent wet and cold. This final exped was nothing like that. My group got to swim at waterfalls and enjoy the sunshine and when it did rain we were able to take cover under overhangs. We also got independent student travel which was the most exciting part of the trip as myself and 11 other students got to travel on our own. Overall this was the best time I’ve had at HMI being able to explore with all my friends.
Coco O’Brien:
The two weeks we spent in Dark Canyon were some of my favorite at HMI so far. My group was led by Dylan, Laura, and Katherine and we got to spend most of our time in Dark Canyon, surrounded by flowing water. For the first few days, we hiked with our I-team, but still had most of the responsibilities of leading our group and our navigation. We were excited but also a little nervous for IST, or Independent Student Travel, because we weren’t sure of our capabilities yet. On our first official day of IST, however, we managed to make it to our camp at a reasonable hour and all in one piece, which is a feat in the canyons, which are tricky to navigate and taxing to hike. We were all rewarded with brownies after dinner and a clear night perfect for cowboy camping under the stars. While I greatly appreciate the company and support of our I-team, my best memories come from our times of independence from them. The accomplishment we felt at getting to camp safe everyday all on our own distracted us from our thirst, sunburns, and desires to shower. The time we got alone allowed us to learn new things about each other and ourselves, while having fun and hanging out, reading and playing card games. Leaving the canyons on the last day was harder than I ever expected it to be. The prospect of non-rationed food and hot showers didn’t compare to the simple happiness we experienced while on exped.
Avery Thorpe:
Going into our third expedition I was super excited to be going back to the canyons. My group went to Dark Canyon, which was a really hard but beautiful route. 3rd expedition is a really cool experience because we are able to take what we have learned during our past two expeditions and be more independent. Although the terrain on this one was much harder, the skills and tools we had prepared us for it.
During our independent student travel days, we learned to work together as a group to make decisions and navigate our way to our next campsite. These days were hard, but they really showed how much we have all learned. Our first independent student travel day we expected to be really hard because it was our longest day. But, we made a plan to cut the route from about 7 miles to 5 miles. This day ended up being really fun and we made it to our camp early, and we found water easily. This made us all excited because the day before we had struggled to find water. This expedition has shown me how capable I am and that I am able to survive in the backcountry with little help.
Group C: Shaden Higgs
In 13 days, I single handedly broke a record for most places traveled in pink sparkle crocs – 450 miles of gas stations, cliffs, rattle snake drainages, waterfalls, tents, and road sides. For 7 nights, they sat peacefully at the bottom of my sleeping bag. For 3 nights, they became part of an intricate rock and backpack wall to block rivers of mud from our collapsing tent. For 1 night, they hosted a scorpion beneath them as I slept peacefully on top. They were barely on my feet when 8 people discovered the scorpion at 6:30 in the morning after sleeping with our heads in a circle on slick rock.
They hung off my backpack every morning as I put on my painful hiking boots, dangling behind me as we army crawled in the moonlight through the bushes of Road Canyon and 9 miles across a desert wasteland through 20 foot tall sandy drainages. When I put them on my feet in a puddle after 10 hours of hiking, I thought I had completed the hardest part of the expedition – until we were informed that that same puddle was our only drinking water for the next two days.
On a stormy night time bathroom excursion, the pink crocs sunk 5 inches into mud, almost too heavy to lift. They were cleaned by our trek to the top of a cliff where we discussed the history and morality of bears ears national monument, and dirtied again when I slipped 10 feet off the side of a rock into a pit of dirt, holding my school work in hand. Just as I accepted that the sandy orange hue would never wash away, I set up my tent in a hail storm and waded across a flash flood in sport mode with our entire food stash for my favorite part of the day – me and Izzy cooking cheesy pasta and brownies and pizza and caramelized tempeh overlooking the sunset of the day.
The pink sparkle crocs might have gone through more than anyone on our trip – trumping our cut up legs, sandy water, bad sock tans, and moldy cheese – but they also saw more perseverance and adventure than any pair of shoes I’ve owned.
Vivi Webber:
For the third expedition, I took the role of a Student Expedition Leader. I was prepared to face challenges, struggle, but most importantly, growth. It was the third time around and this time I was filled with nothing but excitement. I was heading back into the canyons with a group of people that became my family through a long 13 days of backpacking and bonding. It all began with a long 8 hour drive that kept us busy with singing and laughing the whole time. My favorite part about being SEL was working with the people there. My goal as a leader was to bring everyone together as a team. That team you grow becomes your family, and I couldn’t be more proud and lucky to have the family we created. The people are what make this experience so special to me. There we were, trekking along somewhere on a desert highway, getting to grow closer and closer to one another through survival and perseverance. Every individual holds such a unique place in this family. The question we asked to each other was “What is a special relationship you have made at HMI?” Hearing everyone speak on the people they have met and have grown with showed me why I wanted to lead this in the first place. I remember Sarah, my expedition leader, told us that this group reminded her why she does this for work. I was so happy. And it’s true, this family was so special.
There were so many memories from the third expedition that I am still reminiscing about.
I was really excited to have the opportunity to work with the Instructor team. Sarah, who is my APUSH teacher here at HMI, quickly became a second mom to me. The first few days of HMI I was feeling really homesick. Sarah was there immediately to give me a big hug and comfort me. I knew at that moment that she would be someone I would look up to this whole semester. Although I developed a strong relationship with her in the classroom, I was ecstatic to hear that she would become my expedition leader for the third trip and I would be able to lead with her. Throughout the trip, Sarah showed me how to stay true to my instincts and use my strongest traits to lead everyone. I have grown by watching her strength and now will carry that with me for future milestones in my life.
Just like that, I completed three whole trips in the backcountry. This time, I learned more about myself, the people around me, the environment I put myself in, and the reason I chose to come here. I will remember these times and lessons forever. I am grateful for the role of SEL because it helped me become a stronger person both for myself and my community.
Arielle Ramirez-Hardy:
On the first day, after our fun eight hour car ride to Bears Ears, Utah, we parked by the side of the road to camp. Everyone could feel the pure excitement of another expedition trip. All of a sudden, the car exhaust fell off of the van from hitting a bump! Everyone tried to help fix it, but it was no use. That night we camped outside on the ground without tarps and counted stars to fall asleep. The next morning we contacted another group and got a ride to our trailhead where our hiking adventure started!
We hiked 3.5 miles the first day, and this canyon was beautiful. We started in the depths of Lime Canyon. When we reached our first real campsite, we set up our cooking gear and got cooking. Over the entire expedition, we made meals such as garlic pasta, broccoli, cheesy bagels, oatmeal, pizza, hash browns, pesto pasta, cheesy pasta, sunbutter-brown sugar wraps, and much more. We then hiked 4 miles the next day, then 3, then on day five I was LOD (leader of the day). Our hike was beautiful, and we thought we were around three miles behind where we actually were at the end, which was worrisome for our navigational skills but a relief because we had gotten to our campsite without even knowing! Two days later, we hiked to N2, which was a campsite on the other side of a ridge out of Lime Canyon. We sumitted the ridge, which consisted of climbing and breaks under shady trees. At the top I remember pure joy and excitement filling me as I shouted when the view came into perspective. It was a 360 view all around where we could see the snow-capped mountains far into the distance, Comb Ridge, Bears Ears, and other mountains, mesas and canyons. We then had a layover the next day where we discovered that the drainage we were using for water cliffed off completely and displayed the inside of a canyon that was absolutely beautiful. We spent the day washing ourselves and doing work at the amazing ledge soaking in the sun and freedom. That night we had Circle on the top of the ridge from the day prior, and this consisted of a lot of climbing up sketchy rocks with headlamps and a lot of laughing.
Two days later, it was time for our infamous 9-mile day. We had been working towards this day and looking forward to the new challenge. We woke up at 3am, everyone just laughing and excited. We hiked three miles out of the canyon we were in, three miles across Comb Wash, one mile in the wrong direction, and three final miles into our new canyon to call home. That day we sweat, went into the wrong canyon, jumped over a barbed wire fence, sang, screamed and laughed until our stomach hurt. The new canyon was more beautiful than the last, as it was filled with luscious trees and beautiful running water. You never know what type of water you’ll get in the Canyons, as all 11 of us had to survive off of a puddle of water one night. On the second to last night, we saw a beautiful pool of water and couldn’t wait to swim, until it started to pour. We were waiting out the rain underneath a cave when we heard a loud splashing sound. We all ran to see what it was and were so excited when we saw it was a flash flood! The flood ran down a small drainage area in the middle of the canyon right where we were camping and emptied out into the large pool area. Luckily, our things were fine. The next day we hiked to our trailhead for the last day and climbed so many rocks and steep walls. Overall, the third expedition was an amazing new experience that is now one of my favorite highlights of HMI.
