Beginning-of-the-Year Trip: Big Sur
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Sunday, September 19
Students arrived on campus bright and early at 6:15 AM. We used one 55-passenger Santa Barbara Airbus, a U-Haul truck, the green van, and the Yukon. The packing-up went very smoothly, and we left promptly at 7:15 AM. Our first stop was Hearst Castle for an 11:20 tour. Before the tour began, we saw an informative movie on the life of William Randolph Hearst in the theater. The tour included the Esplanade and Gardens, the Casa del Sol guesthouse, the Casa Grande’s assembly room, dining room, billiard room, theater, and indoor pool. We were back on Highway 1 around 1:30 PM and arrived at Plaskett Creek Campground after 3:00. We set up camp, and then everyone walked the short distance to Sand Dollar Beach, which is the largest and most accessible sand beach in Big Sur. Some brave students went swimming in the very cold water, others walked down to the tide pools, and groups of students just hung out. Back at camp, the usual camp activities of cooking dinner and hanging out were enjoyed by all. After dinner, an all-school meeting was held to go over the activities for Monday.
Monday, September 20
Our first activity of the day was a special visit to our camp by two representatives from the Ventana Wilderness Alliance with Greg Meyer and Morgan Harris. We walked across Highway 1 to a meadow overlooking Plaskett Point, and there the school was divided into two groups. Greg’s activity involved small groups of students working together with detailed maps to locate key Big Sur landmarks, including peaks and rivers, such as Cone Peak, which we could see in the distance. Morgan covered the role of fire in Big Sur and had the students divide into two groups. One group took the environmentalist point of view of not doing major clearing of vegetation and allowing fires to burn more freely. The other group was the homeowners’ group, who were in favor of doing major clearing of wilderness to protect dwellings and using aggressive fire suppression. After concluding the activities by meeting together in a big circle with the presenters leaving us with words of inspiration, the students returned to camp to prepare lunches. At about 2:00, we left for our all-school hike up nearby Mill Creek. After a short bus ride, we broke into trail groups according to the different classes. Megan took the Lower School, Hugo took the 9th grade, Suzie the 10th grade, Bryan the 11th grade, and Gordon the 12th grade. The hike up through the beautiful Redwoods was dramatically punctuated by the sights and sounds of bubbling Mill Creek. Each group was separated by 5 minutes at the start of the hike, so they could bond together with their classes. We hiked for about an hour and stopped at a backpackers’ camp for an all-school get-together. Back at camp, students were told to wash off with the special Technu soap to get rid of any residue of poison oak. It seemed to work well, as no students reported getting poison oak. The evening was a typical Anacapa food group cooking fest and clean-up with lots of hang-out time.
Tuesday, September 21
The morning activity was a hike up Lime Kiln Trails for most of the school. Gordon had a group of nine ready to do a service project for the Ventana Wilderness Alliance, but that fell through. Instead, he drove the Yukon up a nearby backcountry road to explore the remote interior with great views of the coastline. After lunch, everyone went back to Sand Dollar Beach. The nearby Pacific Valley School came down to the beach to join us for a friendly football game. Students explored tide pools, swam, looked for jade, or just hung out on a spectacularly beautiful, sunny day. Back at camp after dinner, there was an all-school meeting to go over Wednesday’s big travel day.
Wednesday, September 22
Teachers woke up at 4:30 AM, and the students were up and about by 5:00 for a 6:30 departure. The goal was to get to the Monterey Bay Aquarium no later than 9:00 AM, and because of the impressive teamwork, we made it and were even early. While waiting for our 9:15 Discovery Labs, we spotted quite a few Sea Otters frolicking in the nearby kelp beds. At 9:15, the school was divided into two groups for the special Discovery Labs that we were lucky to arrange in advance. The focus of the labs was the Biodiversity of the Kelp Beds. Students were expected to make various observations on how organisms in different tanks were similar and diverse. After the labs, students toured the Aquarium with their class groups until 11:45 at which time, they met for roll call and were given $5 each to go in small groups to have lunch along Cannery Row. They met back at 1:00 to take the short walk to Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station, where we were greeted by three Ph.D. students, who led three groups throughout the sprawling marine science research center. This was an incredible opportunity orchestrated by our new Stanford-grad science teacher, Megan Nesland. The information shared by the group leaders was at a very high level, and the questions asked by Anacapa students showed excellent critical thinking. After the Stanford tour, we took off to do our tourist stops in Big Sur, which included the architecturally inspired Nepenthe Restaurant with its amazing views, the Henry Miller Library, and the Big Sur waterfall at Julia Burns State Park. Back at camp, the last food group dinners were prepared, followed by the traditional Appreciations Campfire, which for this trip (as opposed to last year’s creative Death Valley survivor fire!) had an actual fire!
Thursday, September 23
Camp was broken down, and we left around 11:30 for our scheduled meeting in Cambria at the University of California’s Rancho Marino Preserve. On the way, we stopped to see the Elephant Seals, who use the San Simeon beaches near the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse to haul out. At the Preserve, we were met by Don Canestro, the Preserve’s manager. He gave us an overview of the human history of Rancho Marino and its different environments, including a rare Monterey Pine forest, grasslands, and the nearby intertidal zone. After our introduction, we walked along the bluff to a spot where we could access the tide pools. We left for Santa Barbara at 3:00 and made it back safely to campus by 5:45. The unloading was well organized and went smoothly. Another great Anacapa trip in the record book! Thanks to all!