WSC Freshman Retreat on Mt. Baldy

Imagine traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles to a new school.  Imagine 100 degree heat, saying goodbye to your family, organizing a new room, and having to make a first impression on 50 other people doing the same thing. Now imagine that you are whisked away from the school, driven high into the mountains, fitted with a harness and helmet, and attached to a rope.  The rope plummets over and through a series of waterfalls -- four rappels in all.  And that's your way down.  Who wants to go first?  As it turns out, there was no shortage of excitement in the WSC Class of 2017.  They self-rappelled one after another, getting soaking wet, and taking the plunge -- literally and figuratively -- into high school.  Congratulations on a great freshman retreat!

 On the first rappel, which was dry, Adrian was belayed by Gabe, one of the student leaders on the trip, and the first to volunteer for belay duties.

 The second rappel provided the boys with their first shower of the retreat.  Below are "before, during and after" shots of Parsa entering and emerging from the waterfall.

 

 David happy to be clean.

Andrew F. on the second rappel.

Andrew C. starts his descent down the more technical third rappel.

 Ilya at the base of the third rappel.

Wyatt makes his way beside the waterfall on the fourth rappel.

 One shower wasn't enough for Darren, who jumped back in once he got off rope.

 Since we spent so much time enjoying mother nature, we also spent some time giving back.  The boys did trail maintenance on the Bear Canyon Trail, which runs from Mt. Baldy village all the way to the peak.

And of course there was relaxation.  Here the boys bond over a lively card game.  

Adventure, work, and fun.

Not a bad start to the new year.

Trail Stewardship in the San Gabriels

During the school's Men in the Arena field trips, each class sought a way to give back to the local community.  The freshmen class accomplished that in the San Gabriel mountains, where we worked with the US Forest Service to improve a section of trail north of Azusa.  Fifty students and eight adults worked on expanding trail, weeding invasive species, and creating water run-offs to prevent erosion.  Though we could have spent several more hours out there, we got some good work done in the limited time we had.

 Nik and Carlos expanding the trail

 Mark and Ray clear invasives

 Danny and Julian

 Cameron and Tylor

 Carlos and Armen

 Clifford, Dylan and Kevin clean up the effects of erosion and block the shortcut people were using. Staying on the main trail is one of the seven elements of Leave No Trace ethics.

 

Mr. Rosenfeld, Jayu and Francisco working on a water run-off

 The group celebrates after finishing.  On the left is Freddie Duncan of the US Forest Service.

Trail Stewardship on Mt. Baldy

A van load of Webb students traveled up to Mt. Baldy village on Sunday, where we worked on the Bear Flats Trail, which runs all the way to the peak.  We expanded trail and curbed erosion on a good mile of the trail, though there's still much work to do.  The Webb Schools works with the U.S. Forest Service on this section of trail, and has officially adopted it as our own.  It's a great way for students to give back to the mountains that give us so much. 

 The group works on expanding this section of trail, which has severely eroded on the downhill side.

 Anita carries stones for a retaining wall.

 Yoon and James sort some of the stones.

 Shaun and Cathy.

 Yoon, James, Cathy and Alan proudly showing off their work.

 In addition to the reward of a job well done, Johnny, Michelle, Alan, Cathy, Yoon, Anita, James and Shaun got to enjoy great views down into the valley.

 Alan trimming some thorny branches.

 Johnny and Shaun set a line for some widened trail.

 Michelle and Alan

 Cathy and Anita.

The crew celebrates with Smokey at the end of our day.  Then we went to the Mt. Baldy Village diner for some nachos and iced tea.

Urban Field Trips - Stewardship on Mt. Baldy

Tuesday, March 1 was field trip day at Webb. Though our original plan was to hike to the peak of Mt. Baldy, heavy snow convinced us that doing some trail stewardship at lower elevations was more prudent. Even at around 5,000 feet, though, the trail was covered, making maintenance difficult. Slipping and sliding our way up the Bear Flat trail, just outside of Baldy village, we located several blowdowns, and commenced work on clearing the trail of a couple egregious offenders. Since we didn't know what to expect, we brought all kinds of tools, but unfortunately only one saw. So we took turns cutting off branches, always heeding the advice of Freddie Duncan, our National Forest Service escort. He's an expert on clearing trees, and knows exactly how and where to cut to minimize risk. Such tangible work, especially on a day when the trail was hidden, is always rewarding.

Josh begins working on the smaller branches, to give us access to the larger ones.

Mr. Purvis crawls through a gap in the tree that we were about to clear.

Jordan commences work...

...under the expert guidance of Freddie Duncan of the National Forest Service. Freddie will return later with a chainsaw to clear the heavier, more entrenched pieces.

John works on another section...

...while Adrian scours the area for invasive limbs.

Alex takes his turn at the saw.

Davis puts the finishing touches on this branch.

Here, we're standing on the section of trail we had just cleared. The tree behind us had previously blocked the way.

On the way down, Puji got the most out of his traction-less shoes.

With Smokey. Not surprisingly, today's fire danger was "low."

Trail Stewardship in the San Gabriels

A group of eleven represented Webb with vigor on Saturday, as we accompanied the San Gorgonio trail builders on a service trip in the San Bernardino hills. The main goal was to restore trail conditions after a spate of holiday storms. This consisted mostly of clearing rock falls and widening trail. The average trail will lose about six inches of width per year, mostly to erosion and growth of vegetation. As we hiked, we identified problem areas and worked on urgent ones, and then took care of the rest on our way out. It was a four-mile hike, with lots of stopping for work. As much as we use the abundant trails in this area, it was nice to finally give back.

Jake, Terence, Shaun, Kate, Laura, Marja, Mr. Caldwell, and Ryan in front of Smith Mountain Saddle. We were moving toward the saddle for most of the day.

Kate, Marja, and Shaun filled in water troughs and then created run-offs to prevent future erosion.

Jake and Terence

A well-deserved lunch break

Marja sports a new hairdo.

Ryan stamps down a piece of trail he had just leveled out.

Marja and Shaun clear the trail of this recent rock fall.

Laura and Mr. Caldwell rake debris from this bend.

Celebrating a successful day of service