KATIE FOREMAN / FEATURE EDITOR

EMMA-KATE SQUIRES / PHOTO EDITOR

Over break, USD’s Outdoor Adventures club (OA) stayed busy exploring one of the U.S.’ biggest and most popular national parks — the Grand Canyon. On OA’s trip, five students and the Assistant Director  of OA stayed five days and  four  nights at Phantom Ranch (the bottom of the Grand Canyon) and hiked a total of 48 miles over the span of their excursion. The USD students who were a part of this journey, including The USD Vista’s Photo Editor Emma-Kate Squires, shared their experiences of joining together with a group of people they didn’t know, to create memories they said they’ll never forget. 

USD first-year William Poli was one of the OA members who decided to embark on this expedition and talked about the group dynamic they had.

“One  thing  that impressed me was the fact that we were all able to just become friends and be more   than  cordial  with each other and just laugh and have a good time,” Poli said. “I think we’ve had some good times. It’s just the conversations on the hike… you really get to learn about someone.”

Poli said that it didn’t matter that the group didn’t know each other from the start, because the trip allowed them to bond and come together.

“Being with a group of people who I wasn’t very close  with is really really cool. I got to meet new people and initially   it   might  have been a little unsettling, like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go down to the Grand Canyon with people I’ve never met,’” Poli said. “But it’s been great.”

Poli is not the only one who feels bonded to their fellow adventurers. USD Senior Caroline Duncan shared her perspective on her clubmates. 

“I didn’t really meet anyone in person [before the trip], and I wasn’t super close with anyone, and I think that might be true for everyone. But we all sort of realized we’re pretty similar, and that we’re a little more quiet, maybe a little more shy at first, and then we start to open up,” Duncan said. “So this was kind of a perfect trip to bond.”

Duncan shared that what she will  miss  most   about   the   trip  is the  little  moments  they   all  shared together on the trails, whether it be silly conversations or walking together in silence, reflecting. 

Being a part of this supportive group helped USD first-year Madeline Kramer push herself beyond her limits. 

“I learned that I can do more than I think I can for sure. And also being with other people and having a community that can help you definitely can help you accomplish more than you think you can.”

When discussing the challenges of this trip, the answer remained the same from all participants: the hike down the canyon. 

“I definitely think the hike down [was the most challenging]. I knew it was gonna be hard. I didn’t know it was gonna be that hard,” Kramer said. 

Duncan explained that with physical struggles also comes mental struggles. 

“It’s a lot of steep downhill, and it feels like it goes on for a very, very long time. And so I think even some like mental doubts of ‘can I really do this?’ or just looking over and seeing below, just the zigzagging back and forth of like, ‘oh, yeah, I’m gonna have to do all that,’” Duncan said. “And I think that was just a challenge to sort of push through that and realize that this is possible and I am very much capable of doing that.”

As for what pushed Duncan and some of her clubmates to persevere through the exhaustion and the pain was her fellow adventurers. 

“It was motivating to look at the person next to me who’s feeling it the same way and keeps going. They kept on going, so I can keep on going,” Duncan said.

While it was definitely a test of mental and physical strength, USD first-year Billy Davis expressed that it also was a moment of serenity. 

“I’m gonna miss the peace… I think nature in general is very peaceful. It’s impartial, it doesn’t really care much for what you feel about a situation, and I think that can be a good thing in a lot of cases,” Davis said. “Being a part of such a complex thing almost helps, ironically, makes concepts simpler for me. I think it puts my life into perspective when compared to the  world and seeing that I’m just one little piece of a larger thing.”

Mark Ceder, the Assistant Director of OA, talked about his role   as   the   group’s guide on the trip. 

“I try to balance kind of being hands off but also being the guardrails, like the bumpers from bowling alleys to make sure that things don’t go off the rails,” Ceder said. 

Ceder talked more about what OA means to him. 

“[OA has] also been a place that provides…  experiences of a lifetime and not just going to the Grand Canyon,” Ceder said. “To camp and  kind of  be  removed from the rest of civilization for as long as we do, and to step away from  our   devices  and all of the day to day, I think is a really important    thing that OA provides.”

One lesson he hoped his adventurers would take away is that things don’t always have to go perfectly according to the plan. 

“We deal with reality. Whatever the weather is, we deal with it, the food situations, whether it’s too much food or not enough food and I think it’s okay that things don’t go perfectly… And sometimes we get caught up in our head of how things are supposed to be. And here it’s like, great, it’s supposed to be that way. It’s not. Let’s make do, and we move forward,” Ceder said. “Life isn’t perfect.”

The adventurers fondly told stories of playing dominoes together at the campsite, visiting Ribbon Falls and getting to know each other better. On this trip, the campers were able to learn more about themselves and one another, having to adapt to real-world situations every day. Although the trek was difficult, the campers said their memories made it worth it. 

“Challenge is a part of it,” Poli said. “It’s the payoff.”

For more information on Outdoor Adventures’ next trip, go to the Outdoors Adventure website at https://www.sandiego.edu/outdoor-adventures/. 

A view of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the moments before sunrise when the students were preparing for the day ahead and the campers hiking back from Clear Creek Trail. 

 Photos courtesy of Emma-Kate Squires/The USD Vista