Described as “an oasis in the desert” and offering the perfect basecamp for adventures in southern Utah, Hanksville has long been one of our students’ favorite springtime haunts. The desert around Hanksville is filled with amazing canyons, and the canyoneering opportunities are plentiful. Canyoneering is “the exploration of a canyon from point A to point B,” according to Outward Bound, “using a range of techniques that include hiking, scrambling, sliding, stemming, chimneying and rappelling,” and the wide range of challenges and opportunities it offers its practitioners has made it a staple of the College’s Experiential Leadership Program.
Fifteen hearty souls left Lander on Saturday, planning to spend three days backpacking in non-technical canyons and three more days exploring some of the more technical slot canyons in the area. The itinerary has the group traveling through Little Wild Horse Canyon, moving to Ding and Dang Canyons, traveling down Bell Canyon and Sandtrax, and finishing off with East and West Fork Canyons and Blarney.
As is always the case on our trips, these fifteen students will do more than just focus on the physical challenges presented by the canyons. Along the way, they’ll also spend some time with C.S. Lewis’s “Meditation in a Toolshed,” with Flannery O’Connor’s “Greenleaf,” and with G. K. Chesterton’s “The Romances of Childhood.” Prompted by these readings, they’ll discuss “the desert as a place of simplicity, and how this simplicity mirrors the simplicity of childhood that Chesterton speaks about.” They’ll grapple with the question of “What is the difference between looking at nature and traveling through it, and how does our experience affect how we view nature?” And they’ll explore “how technology is represented in O’Connor’s story, and what that shows us about the power of technology in the modern age,” asking “if tech is neutral morally, psychologically, and/or effectively, and how does it affect how we see the world?”
They will also carve out space for vital “Kairos time.” As our friends at COR Expeditions explain, “while our trips are high adventure, we make sure that every day has Kairos time. Kairos is a Greek word for a time set apart, different from chronos, which was the Greek word for chronological time. During this time, students are invited to spread out and find a quiet spot within eyesight to pray, journal, and meditate about a brief topic, excerpt, scripture verse, etc., that was chosen by the leaders and instructors of the group to highlight the theme of the trip.”
By next Saturday, they’ll be back in Lander, tired but invigorated by their time spent in the beautiful, challenging terrain around Hanksville, Utah. Please consider encouraging them in their adventures by joining this year’s Flash Campaign!
Gifts made through the form on the Campaign page will automatically be assigned to the Flash Campaign, and will appear in the Goal Meter at the top of that page as it is updated each day. If you would prefer to make a gift over the phone, via check, or through another philanthropic vehicle (such as a gift of stock or a mutual fund transfer), please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at oia@wyomingcatholic.edu or by phone at (877) 332-2930, and the Advancement team will ensure your gift is assigned to the Spring Break campaign.
