BHS students marvel, learn at the rim of the Grand Canyon
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
For Burlington High School Assistant Principal Jill Oelslager, the more times she visits the Grand Canyon, the better.
After all, several family trips to that area helped cement her love for the region. But now, Burlington High School students are getting to share that passion on an annual basis.
For the fourth year, Oelslager and students from BHS made the trip to the Southwest, where students embarked on a seven-day, six-night adventure that included rafting down the Colorado River and hiking into the Grand Canyon.
Oelslager said this year’s trip was easier than past years.
“The more years I go, the better I feel,” said Oelslager. “It’s getting to be more enjoyable for me.
“This group of students was awesome,” she added. “They all got along really well together.”
Twenty-two BHS students made the trip, and studied Earth Science as part of the trip – learning about the geologic history of the area, volcanoes, lava flows and even about weather and climate.
Two of the students who made the trip, Rose Uhen and Hannah Peterson, helped with a presentation about the trip to the Burlington Area School District School Board Monday night.
“It’s the most fun I’ve had seven days in a row,” Uhen said.
Students were required to keep journals and make a Powerpoint presentation on various items during the trip. They also participated in two daylong hikes – one to the top of Mount Kendrick and the other a 12-mile hike into the Grand Canyon (the recommended maximum for novice hikers).
After four years, more than 120 students have made the trip. The reviews from Peterson and Uhen were positive.
One of the highlights of this year’s trip was climbing in and around a 30-foot high lava flow near Flagstaff, Ariz. Students wore head lamps in order to get inside a lava cave, where they were forced to crawl – and climb – where lava had once traveled.
“No one expected it to be like that,” said Peterson. “We got to experience total darkness.”
Students also got to experience the difference in climate between Arizona and Wisconsin. Uhen commented about returning home to the more “humid” heat, while in Arizona, the air was so dry that students didn’t even know they were sweating.
To combat that, students carried Camelbak water containers, and filled them with an electrolyte replacement drink on the two long hikes.
Students also got a chance to see, beyond the Grand Canyon, different kinds of volcanoes, including the Sunset Crater – a cinder cone volcano that erupts just once.
They also took a rafting trip from Glen Canyon Dam to Lee’s Ferry, where one of the two raft drivers was a little more ambitious than the other, said the two girls.
“The Colorado River is like 40 degrees,” said Peterson. “Her raft got to cruise, while ours went through some rapids.”
Those involved also got chances to take photos at Antelope Slot Canyon – which Oelslager said is the most photographed in the world – as well as Horseshoe Overlook, where there is a 1,000-foot sheer drop and where students Army-style crawled to the edge to look down to ease any fears of falling.
Perhaps the best lesson in practical geography came there, where students learned that the horseshoe would eventually disappear.
“They told us the horseshoe will go away,” said Uhen. “The water will wash it away.”
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