Many folks are wondering what the Adventure Treks team does this time of year. While most of you have put your backpacks away for the season as you transitioned from outdoor adventurer to student, we haven’t stopped doing what we love: working with teenagers in the great outdoors.
Believe it or not, our fall outdoor education season is just as long as our summer season! Just a few days after we closed our summer base of operations in Washington in August, we began training our school group instructors at our Camp Pinnacle base in NC.
We have an incredible team of instructors, including Joe Sisti, Dennis Mabasa, Allison O’Brien, Casey Clark, Nate Humphreys, John Cox, Wells Jones, Brett Smith, Laura Horowitz, Jenna Maurer, Katie Bigbee, Kacie Ross, Emily Riggs, Ian Hilburger, Zach Dugas, and Devin Wilkinson. Several instructors have also made guest appearances during particularly busy weeks including, Rachael Mallon, Nick Hill, Jack Hoiland, Elise Campbell, Katie Ebner, and Sam Haines.
We love school programs because we know the growth and learning that happens outdoors transfers immediately into the classroom. Invariably, a school community becomes far closer as a result of shared outdoor adventure. Our programs do many of the same activities we do in the summer (backpacking, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing), and we also offer science programs and programs that emphasize community building. Our educational programs also give kids who might otherwise never have an outdoor adventure the chance to have a great time outdoors.
Summer is too short, so we are glad we get more time to spend with our great instructors. This fall, we will work with more than 700 students and 75 teachers from 12 different schools. Our last program ends November 2, and by then, we’ll be more than ready for a rest!
Meanwhile, we are also hard at work in the office getting ready for summer 2017. In fact, a couple of 2017 trips have already filled and several trips are already half-full! We are also planning a new trip in Yellowstone and the Tetons, which we’re very excited for. We’re about to launch a brand-new website, and we’ll have many fun new videos for you to watch soon.
We hope you are having a great year at school and are making plans to join us again for summer 2017!