VWS Senior Trip to Yosemite

The culmination of four years at VWS comes with a hike to Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.  This year's group of seniors sent over 30 young women to the peak.  This grueling 16-mile round trip hike is the perfect capstone to their Webb career, capturing the strain and strength it takes to get through four years at Webb. The team work and camaraderie required to reach the top are hallmarks of a Webb education.  Congratulations ladies!  Special thanks to Yo-Yo and Melissa for the pictures below.

The falls as you approach Half Dome

 El Cap and Half Dome from Yosemite Valley.  Click to enlarge.

 Melissa, Letitia, Anni, Hailey

 At the subdome, with the cables in the background.  You can see people working their way up the cables if you click to enlarge the photo.


 Melissa and Ms. Lantz at the sub-dome.
 

 Celebrating at the peak!

Melissa, Kates, and Katie

 

 

Coming down.

WSC Senior Trip to the Grand Canyon

For their senior trip, the WSC Class of 2014 hiked from the rim of the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River and back.  The class typically starts before sunrise to avoid being at the bottom during the hottest part of the day.  This year, temperatures were over 100 degrees in the canyon.  Thanks to Daniel, Alex, and Erik for the pictures below.  Click to enlarge any of these photos. 

WSC Class of 2014

The start of the hike at sunrise

Erik about to take flight

The descent

 Erik, John and Evan

John, Skyler and Spencer on the Colorado River

Daniel, Bulat, Mr. Caldwell, James and Devin

 

Class Advisors: Mr. Walker, Mr. Shin, Dr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Wishek, Mr. Maffris, Mr. Fidani

       

     From the south rim

VWS Senior Trip to Yosemite

The VWS Senior Trip was a tremendous success this year.  After the traditional white-water rafting trip, the girls headed to Yosemite Park and Half Dome, where a record 31 girls reached the very top in a one-day hike.  It was the perfect culmination of four years of hard work and accomplishment at Webb.  Special thanks once again to Rita for these pictures.  To all the girls -- we'll miss you and your many talents!

 Marley leads the girls up the Mist Trail.

 At the bottom of the cables, which now require a permit to climb

 In the distance, you can see the cables stretching up to the top of Half Dome.  A line of people dots the trail, giving some perspective for how steep it is.

 Diana, Momoha, Ms. Schnupp, Lisa, and Jennie at the top.

 Ally and Rita

The whole group of girls who made it to the very top of Half Dome.  Congratulations Class of 2012!

WSC Senior Trip to the Grand Canyon

The WSC Senior Trip returned saw two major developments this year.  First, the rafting element changed to tubing, which proved to be immensely popular with the boys.  Second, not a single boy did the short hike.  That's right, all fifty-one boys who hiked (two were injured and couldn't hike) did the long hike this year, the first time in anyone's memory that this happened!  And by long hike, I'm of course referring to the descent from the rim of the canyon, to the bottom, and then all the way back up in one day.  Fitting that this particular class, which has been so unified in and out of the classroom, rallied everyone on this difficult journey.  Thanks to Ryan for these photos, and to all the boys for their contributions to Webb over the last four years.

 The Canyon in the early morning light.

 Boys begin their descent.

 To get a sense for the scale of the canyon, enlarge this photo and take a look at the boys zig-zagging down the trail.

 This bridge crosses the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon.

 Understandably, we don't have too many pictures of the boys on the way up.  But you can tell by the expressions on Ben's and Justin's faces as they approach the rim that it was a journey well worth celebrating. Congratulations Class of 2012!

Rafting the Grand Canyon

Before we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we headed north to Page, Arizona, where we boarded river rafts on a trip down to Lee's Ferry. Lee's Ferry sees off several tours of the Grand Canyon every day, sending out thousands a year, each of them taking anywhere from two days to two weeks to float down the Colorado. Our tour of the Grand Canyon would of course be on foot, but beforehand, we took a three-hour tour (cue Gilligan) down the upper reaches of the Colorado, before it enters the Grand part of the Canyon. The walls were still plenty high, and even housed some ancient petroglyphs. But the highlight of the trip for most of us was the water fight that broke out near the end, as each of the three river guides jockeyed for position so that their boat could soak the others and then get away. At some point, someone was complaining about getting wet, and proclaimed, "Can't we all just get along?" Sean then replied with my favorite quote of the whole trip: "We were arbitrarily separated into three boats. Of course we can't get along." In my mind, that pretty much sums up the history of human warfare.

The Axis Powers

The Evil Empire. This river guide illegally used his motor to get other boats wet. Not that I'm bitter.

Petroglyphs

Mr. Purvis, aboard the Evil Empire, before things got evil. At least he's using a bucket.

The Axis powers retaliate.

We liked to call ourselves Switzerland. Until we were attacked by the Evil Empire, at which point our river guide miraculously produced a bucket that he had previously denied existence of. With Tyler in charge, we unequivocally achieved revenge. Until the illegal motor incident. Not that I'm bitter.

After the trip, several of the boys climbed a nearby overlook while waiting for the bus.

Bailey and Cameron stare off into the Canyon, contemplating the next day's hike. It becomes Grand right around the corner.

VWS Senior Trip

Over the past few days, a few photos from the VWS senior trip to Yosemite have trickled in. Though I can't provide as much context as I'd like, these photos testify to the fantastic time the girls had. Thanks to Kayla and Abigail for sending some of these.

Before arriving at Yosemite, the girls enjoyed a white-water rafting trip, above and below.

Spring is always the best time to catch Yosemite's waterfalls.

Dana, Nicolette, and Grace anchor the packing line.

Eva, Summer, Emily, Danielle, and Madison are all about the climb.

Kayla

Lindsey leads a rainbow of girls up the Mist Trail.

Kayla, Emily, and Lauren