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Prep Outdoor Leadership Program

“Even after years of intimate contact and search, this quality of strangeness in the desert remains undiminished. Transparent and intangible as sunlight, yet always and everywhere present, it lures a man on and on, from the red-walled canyons to the smoke-blue ranges beyond, in a futile but fascinating quest for the great, unimaginable treasure which the desert seems to promise.”
– Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

 

Director of Service and Environmental Learning Eric Rounds has initiated a Prep Outdoor Leadership Program this year, and on Friday, October 14, the inaugural group of two juniors and four seniors traveled to Ridge Comb, a very remote campsite in southern Utah. Students spent the stunning fall weekend hiking, reflecting, drawing, and photographing.

The purpose of the program is to explore local hiking trails, adventure out on overnight camping trips, and to learn about the logistics and risk management structures that exist behind the scenes of Prep’s larger bi-annual grade-level trips. Eventually, the program will include opportunities to learn about wilderness first aid, search and rescue, and backcountry survival.