The Carmel Campus was quiet the week of Sept. 21. Our Middle Division students were at Veterans Memorial Park, Pinnacles, in Yosemite and on Catalina Island for Outdoor Education, the multiday trips that have anchored the Middle Division experience for more than two decades.

All four trips are led by trained California naturalists from Naturalists at Large, who believe students appreciate the outdoors more fully once they learn to feel comfortable in it. Across the division, students build outdoor skills, take on challenges and make lasting memories with their classmates.

Grade 5

Veterans Park, Monterey. With Big Sur unavailable this year, Grade 5 camped closer to home and spent three days getting to know the natural and cultural history of the Monterey Peninsula. Students hiked Soberanes Canyon Trail and through Del Monte Forest to the quarry, walked the Pacific Grove Coastal Trail and went tidepooling at the Great Tidepool near Point Pinos. Along the way they learned the routines they will carry through the rest of their Outdoor Education years, including Leave No Trace practices and respect for wildlife and habitat. Mr. Rogers, Ms. Wyckoff, Mrs. Edwards, Mrs. Bitter and Mrs. Johns-Parson joined the trip.

Grade 6

Pinnacles National Park. Four days of rock climbing, vigorous hiking and lessons in volcanic geology and chaparral ecology, with clear skies and an emerging harvest moon each night. On the two vertical pitches of volcanic rock, every student had a team behind them, cheering as each climber reached a little farther than the last. On the High Peaks Trail, California condors flew overhead, one close enough for students to read the tracking tag on its wing. A second hike brought relief from the heat through the water-pooled Bear Gulch Caves and out to a reservoir, where students found shade and skipped rocks. Mrs. Haggquist, Mrs. Gordon, Mrs. Condino and Mr. Parker supported the trail groups.

Grade 7

Yosemite National Park. Five days and four nights of ambitious hiking paired with lessons on the glaciation and erosion that shaped Yosemite Valley. Groups climbed the John Muir and Mist Trails, learned basic first aid and outdoor survival skills, studied the Indigenous peoples who have called the valley home for thousands of years and explored habitats from riparian zones to valley floor forests. Between the hikes, students cooked for one another, cleaned up together and ended their days with the night sky and a great many hilarious skits. Mr. Brown, Mr. Koski, Mrs. Kjellgren, Ms. DePietro and Ms. Wood joined the trip.

Grade 8

Catalina Island. The final jewel in the crown of the four-year Outdoor Education journey. Getting there is part of it: students travel by bus, boat and finally on foot, taking in the length of the California coast. At Emerald Bay they studied marine ecosystems, starting with snorkeling orientations that taught them to pay attention to their bodies, their surroundings and their group, then adding kayaking and paddleboarding before taking on the all-group Water Multi-Sport challenge. Out of the water they hiked, reflected together and encouraged one another through the daily Polar Plunge and night snorkeling. Mrs. Spencer, Mr. Walker and Mrs. Koontz joined the trip.

The Catalina week draws together the values that run through all four years: engaging with curiosity, leading with kindness, acting with integrity, embracing challenge with courage, cultivating confidence and unlocking potential. Students return a little more mature, with a deeper appreciation for marine ecosystems, including the one close to home in Monterey Bay, and for the class they have become.

Visit Stevenson’s photo album to see all the photos from the Middle Division Outdoor Education trips.