Tag Archives: outdoors
santabarbara

Spring Storms and Rock Climbing

by on 20. Apr, 2012 in Brian Pidduck


We didn’t have the chance to ski in the backcountry as much as we would have liked this winter due to the lower than average rainfall/snowfall in Southern California. However, Mother Nature seems to have been making up for it recently with some particularly heavy storms. The irony is that we have had to cancel or change several of our rock climbing trips this spring due to snow in the high country. This past weekend was a perfect example: it snowed 2 feet in Idyllwild, where we were planning on climbing! While it would have made sense to simply seize the opportunity and ski powder, we were excited to rock climb and have been training particularly hard lately. So, we visited some nearby crags in the Santa Ynez Mountains and camped at the beach instead. After a weekend of roped climbing at Gibraltar Rock, swimming in the waves of El Refugio Beach and a morning of bouldering at Lizard’s Mouth above Santa Barbara, we really couldn’t complain with how our plans had changed. We were treated to remarkably clear views of the Channel Islands (including the often obscured San Miguel Island!) and . . . the perfect climbing conditions we had hoped to have. I love our weekend trips!

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FacBlog (1)

Full-throttle Sensory

by on 04. Apr, 2012 in Joy Sawyer Mulligan

On Sunday, an hour-long hike in the hills with Michael engaged all seven senses:

•kinesthetic: climbing up the Rhodes-Metcalf, up to the Gretch, back down the Corwen and ultimately linking to the Barkan
•auditory: jays jabbering in trees and bushes all along the trail; rustle of small fauna in the undergrowth
•organic: heart pounding harder, breathing more labored until, at last, the downhill
•olifactory: every spring smell now convergent–sage, greasewood, and farther away and below, orange blossoms
•tactile: rolling a snapped-off sprig of sage between my fingers (and, prontissimo, back to olifactory)
•visual: the folds of the canyon, switchbacks faintly etched in the foothills ahead and up, the valley view–a dozen kinds of verdure from the recent rain, quilt of orchards, shimmer of Lake Casitas a dozen miles distant, and closer in, the brick red of the track encircling kelly-green velvet
•gustatory: all of it, drunk down gratefully

Then, in a multisensory overload, we came off the trail near the manure pit at Hunter Barn, to hear (laughter, a fugue of talking, jangling spurs) and then see four freshman girls jogging from the barns to brunch, their morning ride over, their horses groomed and put away.

Michael: “That’s youth for ya: running in jeans and boots.”

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SailingMadison

Sailing With Some 10th Graders

by on 18. Feb, 2012 in Bob St. George

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spending time with students outside of the classroom is one of the aspects of teaching at Thacher that I enjoy the most. After Mr. Wyman, Headmaster Emeritus, declared a “holiday” last week, I decided to take some students for a sail with my newly found time. I was able to rustle up five sophomore girls for our trip out of Channel Islands Harbor on a 33 foot sloop, Rainbow. A number of the girls hadn’t sailed before, but they quickly caught on and had a great afternoon on the water.

 

 

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Finally Made it to Patton’s–A Decade in!

Finally Made it to Patton’s–A Decade in!

by on 11. Feb, 2012 in Faculty, Kara Hooper

My husband Jeff and I were recently inspired to offer a night at Patton’s Cabin with students.  Patton’s is a place we have been saying we would get to–but we took stock and realized this is year ten at Thacher, and we hadn’t made it yet.  So, there was no better time than the present.  We planned for a Friday night.  True confession: We did this in part because of our family tradition of “Fun Friday nights” with our boys.  We thought Patton’s would certainly fulfill our family criteria of a fun event for a Friday.  We also chose Friday because it would allow students to scoot off campus for a night and come back for sports commitments on Saturday, as many teams had games.  We also staggered our departure times to accommodate late practices.

By 3:45 on Friday afternoon, our boys Hayden and Hiram, Jeff, our dog Cypress, five students and I were headed to Patton’s.  We enjoyed a leisurely walk in with the sun sinking behind the ridge, opened the cabin and got dinner started.  We marveled at the propane stoves, running water from a cistern and cozy wood stove.  Soon after, our colleague Nick Van Sant arrived with several other students; they had hiked in under the light of the rising almost-full moon.  Finally, Jerry and Keri Holden walked our last three campers in by 7:45 PM.  From there, the festivities began in earnest–marshmallow roasting for s’mores, a roaring fire outside for singing (thanks to Evan Farese’s ukelele (CdeP 2013)) and card playing in the cabin.  Eventually everyone fell asleep, and in the morning, we made pancakes.  Margot Hughan (CdeP 2012) manned the griddle and did a fantastic job.

By noon, everyone was back on campus, ready for contests against Cate or heading to the barns for chores.  Still, we all felt restored by our time away and amazed by the benefit of this little spot of heaven.  From the maintenance parking lot to the front door of Patton’s was an hour and twenty minutes.  I am sure that Clarence Patton never could have imagined back in 1898 that one hundred and fourteen years later, his homestead spot in the wilderness would offer such close comfort for those seeking a respite from the hustle and bustle of campus life.  Fun Friday, indeed.

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mtbpattons

Over the Ridge to Patton’s Cabin . . . and Back Again

by on 09. Feb, 2012 in Bob St. George, Brian Pidduck, Faculty

All Thacher students have ridden a horse over the ridge (the Nordhoff Ridge that is) and camped in the Sespe at some point during their Thacher career. This past weekend we did a variation of this excursion, also riding, but under full human power – on mountain bikes!

Adam Silberberg (CdeP ’15) joined my twin brother (Kevin Pidduck), Bruce Rogers (brother to Karleanne Rogers) and I for an 11 AM departure from the Sisar Canyon Trailhead in Upper Ojai. Together we climbed up and over the ridge and descended the Lion Trail (passing faculty member William Okin with several freshmen on their horseback ride back to Thacher after a night at Patton’s Cabin) to the Sespe River and our home away from home – Patton’s Cabin. The cabin is a remarkable refuge for trail weary travelers, whether on foot, hoof or by bike wheel. It is rustic yet comfortable, spartan yet remarkably functional. What a superb backcountry cabin we have for our use! We at Thacher are very fortunate.

The next morning we were met by Bo and Julie Manson, Bonnie LaForge and Bob St. George (faculty at Thacher) as well as sophomores Grant Ellman and Jamie Rush (CdeP ’14). Bo, Julie and Bonnie graciously carried our gear back out to the trailhead for us while we mounted our chromoly and carbon fiber steeds for an ascent back up the ridge via Henry Canyon. After admiring the view of the Channel Islands from the ridge top, we zipped down Gridley Canyon and were back at Thacher by 1:30 PM. It was a fantastic tour of the backcountry and a wonderful opportunity to share in the delights of bikes and trails with students and faculty. All of us can’t wait until the next mountain bike adventure we can cook up. It is remarkable to consider the potential for mountain adventures immediately out our back door at Thacher.

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