One of this year’s sophomore backpacking trips took an unexpected turn when excessive smoke from the Garnet Fire forced the Outdoor Education program to relocate the long-planned excursion from Yosemite National Park to Big Sur.
The Garnet Fire, which burned tens of thousands of acres near Yosemite’s southern boundary from August to September, created hazardous air quality levels throughout Yosemite National Park and surrounding areas. As conditions worsened, Positive Adventures, a naturalist group that Poly partners with for various Outdoor Education trips, chose to prioritize student health and safety, relocating the Yosemite backpacking trip to Big Sur just days before departure.
“One of the challenges of running backpacking trips is with the change in our climate. There are more potentially dangerous situations, and once you send a group backpacking, you can’t easily move,” explained Director of Outdoor Education Laura Marion. “So for all of the backpacking trips we run, we have backup plans.”
“Hearing the news that we were going to Big Sur was a downer,” sophomore Ayende Terrazas reflected. However, he added, “I think the trip was still fun even though we didn’t go to Yosemite. First of all, the place was beautiful driving there and back and also the camps that every group was stationed at.”
Within a week, the Outdoor Education leadership team transitioned to their backup destination, Big Sur, working closely with Positive Adventures to rebuild the itinerary in addition to rebooking buses. Instead of hiking granite cliffs and high valleys in Yosemite, students explored the rugged coastline and misty forests of California’s Central Coast.
“The scenery at Big Sur, amongst the redwood trees and fern gullies, was really pretty. On our hike out, we’d turn a corner and suddenly see the ocean in the distance. It was breathtaking, but very different from Yosemite, where you have granite monoliths and sweeping views of 10,000-foot peaks,” said Human Development teacher Stephanie Monteleone, who led the trip.
“I was really excited about Yosemite because the juniors who went said it was a good trip,” said sophomore Kylie Cameron, “but [Big Sur] ended up being rewarding because it was really pretty.” Despite the last-minute shift, the trip preserved its goals of teamwork, exploration, and reflection in nature.
“The main purpose of the trips is to be away from phones, in the backcountry, cooking food, carrying your life on your back, setting up tents, bonding with classmates, working together, and in that sense, it doesn’t really matter where you go,” Marion added.
