Stella Rogers '25
Outdoors, an after school activity that Cate offers, allows students to explore nature and try new things. For students who already love nature, the Outdoors program provides opportunities to go off campus and explore the local Southern California wilderness, from hiking up the Franklin trail to seeing a gleaming view of the Channel Islands, to learning to bike down all the stairs of the Cate campus, to the many overnight trips Outdoors offers. Each week of outdoors consists of a rotation of either Surfing, Surf Kayaking, SUP/Bike/Hike, or climbing. It also includes a long day where each group travels a little further in their outdoor rotation. For surfing, this might mean driving to a different beach and break. Climbing could include traveling up to the Gibraltar cliffs and climbing while watching the sunset over Santa Barbara. Nothing quite like enjoying climbing so much that we must rush into the Yukon to return to campus before study hours. After all the weekly rotations, there are two weeks where the students select a specific activity they want to explore further.
Surf Kayaking is one of the more unique options that Cate outdoors offers. During the weekly rotation, Mr. Denison takes a Yukon full of kids to the Carpinteria state beach, where they unload the tiny multicolored boats and lug them to the beach. They pull up their kayaking skirts, hop in their boats, and scoot into the ocean. One of the reasons that Surf Kayaking peaks interest among the Outdoors folk is because of a T-shirt awarded to those who get their combat roll. A combat roll is when you are kayak surfing and suddenly flip over, then get back up using your paddle. This drive for a T-shirt makes the students excited to push their limits and to be more comfortable in a kayak. One of the more favored long-day activities is the surf kayaking long day.
One of the Outdoors students, Lucy Guilbert-Neal ‘25, explains that the benefits of the Outdoors program are ”getting out of my comfort zone, the opportunity to get to know a smaller group of people who may be some of your best friends and bonds with the faculty members who take you out every week.” She says this program has also made her appreciate nature, become more open-minded to opportunities, and be more adventurous while full-sending those neat activities. She says, “before Cate, I was not an outdoorsy person, but after one season of outdoors, I would say I'm pretty outdoorsy!” Through this program, she has found a love for being out on the Pacific ocean surfing, so when Ben Willams called a free day on her birthday, she asked her advisor to take her outdoors group surfing at Rincon. While they were trying to catch the nonexistent waves, these dolphins came splashing by nearly three feet from Lucy's board. This exciting moment scared a fellow Outdoors member, and he paddled fast to the shore, leaving her behind. She was afraid for a moment too until she saw that they were dolphins and felt so grateful that dolphins appeared on her birthday. Her relationship with the outdoors has brought excitement for everyday activities, an ability to jump into intimidating and new sports, and an appreciation for nature and its beauty.
There have been several weekend trips, including a sea kayaking adventure along the coast of Gaviota and two trips to Cerro Alto. During the Gaviota trip, the students paddled 6 miles and ate lunch on a coastal beach, every face getting a little bit toasted by the sun, even with sunscreen protection. Once the students reached their camping beach and set up camp, they all passed out on the warm sand, completely exhausted from the intensive day. Meanwhile, in the Los Padres national park, a different group of outdoors students was spending 4 hours in the barreling waves of Morro Bay. They felt slightly chilled after the extensive time in the pacific waters, but that was no comparison to the teenagers' beaming smiles. The Cerro Alto group spent the night at a nearby campsite, and the next morning they headed off to the mountains for a day filled with burns and sharp winding turns of the mountain biking trails.
The Cate Outdoors program allows the students to explore local nature and gain confidence in the wilderness. So far, the season has been filled with catching waves, climbing rocks, hiking trails, biking downstairs, and SUPing until the evening fog rolls in.
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