Adventurous summer for NCCES students

Outing Club student members on the Wyoming Trip included Landon Airey, of Ashby, Corey Johnson, of Fitchburg, Esmay Freihofer, of Harvard, Graham Deneen, of Hubbardston, Andrea Whitney, of Leominster, Emma Weisman, of Lunenburg, Grace McCurn, of Phillipston, Bill Clarke, of Princeton, Jason Brown, of Templeton, Aly Sellars, of Townsend and Dean Wolski and Meaghan Morrissey, of Winchendon.

Twelve members of the North Central Charter Essential School (NCCES) Outing Club and four faculty advisors completed an 11 day trip to Wyoming in July.

The group flew into the Salt Lake City Airport and drove to the Big Sandy Trailhead in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. They hiked seven miles in and established a base camp on Clear Lake at an elevation of 9,000 feet.

During the week of wilderness camping, students rock climbed and snow climbed, reached the summit of several small peaks, and successfully scaled the 11,000 foot Jackass Pass, in the Cirque of the Towers area.

Before returning to Salt Lake City for the flight home, the group briefly visited Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.

The 12 student participants ranged in age from 13-to 16-years-old.

Outing Club student members on the Wyoming Trip included Landon Airey, of Ashby, Corey Johnson, of Fitchburg, Esmay Freihofer, of Harvard, Graham Deneen, of Hubbardston, Andrea Whitney, of Leominster, Emma Weisman, of Lunenburg, Grace McCurn, of Phillipston, Bill Clarke, of Princeton, Jason Brown, of Templeton,

Aly Sellars, of Townsend and Dean Wolski and Meaghan Morrissey, of Winchendon.

Some of the students had never flown before and none had ever experienced high altitude wilderness camping.

Since its formation in the fall of 2004, the NCCES Outing Club has taken more than 50 students on weekend trips to the White Mountains of New Hampshire including several winter trips on snowshoes.

In addition to raising money for the trip, the participants in the Wyoming trip completed a training program to ensure an easy acclimatization to the high altitude hiking.

The students were led by four NCCES teachers with extensive outdoor leadership experience.

Some of the equipment for the trip was borrowed from the Appalachian Mountain Club's Youth Opportunity Program.

- Submitted to The Journal