Life in Los Angeles can be a hectic affair ““ a sea of
taillights, headlights and constant honking can feel suffocating at
times.
Paired with the endless train of due dates dictated by the
fast-paced quarter system, city life may leave some UCLA students
looking for space to breathe during the three-day weekend in
February, when they will finally get a break from work.
UCLA Recreation’s Outdoor Adventures program will host
three trips on President’s Day weekend, giving students a
chance to get away from the city and explore the local
wilderness.
In groups of 15, students will be able to kayak, rock climb or
snowshoe backpack on four-day trips that cost between $99 and
$229.
Alex Morris, assistant manager of Outdoor Adventures, said four
guides and at least one leader called a primary goes on each trip.
Primaries are trained and certified in either first aid or as
Wilderness First Responders so that they can address problems that
may arise in the wild.
Erika Raney, a third-year political science student and Outdoor
Adventures leader, said she took an 80-hour, 10-day course to
become a Wilderness First Responder, learn skills ranging from
reducing dislocations to treating puncture wounds and altitude
sickness.
“Almost anything that you would encounter in the back
country, you’re able to treat,” she said.
As a guide, Raney is unpaid but goes on trips free of charge.
Rock climbing trips to Joshua Tree, east of Los Angeles, and Red
Rocks Canyon are her favorites in the program.
The Red Rocks Canyon, with its light pink sandstone rock
formations, is located in the Southern Nevada Desert. Program
participants will spend President’s Day weekend hiking and
scaling the canyon walls.
Ideally, he said, each climber will find a climb he or she
cannot complete. Rocks that have vertical surfaces with few
protrusions and indentations are the most difficult to climb.
No prior experience is required for program participants, and
Raney said climbing challenges people to develop both skills and
independence.
“People just inherently have a fear of heights, and
it’s really great to see people fall and realize that
they’re OK and they can keep going,” she said.
“On rock trips, people are really pushed to overcome those
fears and anxieties they might have had.”
Meals on the trip might include Dutch-oven dinners, where
campers cook dishes in cast-iron pots buried in charcoal. A
favorite is the “potato surprise,” which consists of
potatoes, vegetables and cheese, Morris said.
Tim Yeo, who studied economics at UCLA and graduated in 1999, is
a primary guide who goes on one or two trips each quarter.
Now a mortgage broker, Yeo said he first became interested in
the outdoors during his youth and while he was in the Singapore
army, where the outdoor training program included backpacking. He
says his favorite program trip is kayaking in the Black Canyon,
near Las Vegas.
The first day of the outing, participants learn to maneuver sea
kayaks which are about 20 feet long and seat a single person.
The waters of the Colorado River that participants navigate are
smooth for the most part, Morris said, and paddling upriver,
kayakers can see the Hoover Dam.
The trip includes exploring areas adjacent to the river like the
Arizona Hot Springs and a sauna cave ““ a naturally enclosed
space with high temperatures that contrast intensely to the cold
waters of the river.
“It’s an opportunity to go somewhere that’s
fairly local that’s also completely isolated and beautiful
… It’s really close to Las Vegas, but you feel like
you’re in the middle of nowhere,” said Raney, who is
going on the Feb. 13 kayaking trip.
The third President’s Day weekend trip is snowshoe
backpacking, and Morris said the trip’s location will depend
on the snow level in various regions that weekend.
Snowshoe backpacking involves hiking with special shoes that
don’t sink into the snow.
Depending on weather conditions, backpackers may be able to dig
and sleep in snow caves ““ holes in the ground are covered
with tarp that are warmer than outside.
At altitudes above 10,000 feet, the temperature hovers around 20
degrees Fahrenheit, and the landscape blanketed in white is a
stranger to the gum-spattered sidewalks of the city.