For many, roughing it in the outdoors is a few days of car camping with friends and family. But for OVS students Logan Wallace and Ben Manning, who this summer spent three weeks thru-hiking the tallest mountains of California, the outdoors is much more than that. 
In late June and early July, Logan and Ben led a 250-mile hike in the high Sierra Nevadas.
Together, they fished, swam, and sang their way through 21 days on the renowned John Muir Trail, with OVS Lower Campus Outdoor Education coordinator Matt Inman, and his associate Duncan Wallace (Logan’s father), supporting them.
This trip tested the students physically and mentally, but it was well worth it.
“I felt like a different person, always smiling,” Ben said. “I was really in my element.”
On June 26, the four of them left the Yosemite Happy Isles trailhead heading south.
The John Muir Trail has a diverse range of scenery and terrain, from the lush and green Donahue Pass the group started in, to rocky and dry, wind-swept passes high in the mountains. Famous landmarks on the trail include Sequoia National Park, Mt. Whitney, and Devil’s Postpile.
“It is the most beautiful 200 miles in California as far as I’m concerned,” Mr. Wallace said.
Months of planning went into this trip. The thru-hike was Logan’s idea, inspired by his dad, who hiked the trail 20 years ago.
Together, they made arrangements for food and what they needed to carry. The high schoolers were nervous, but also eager,
“I was really excited,” Logan said. “Excited to get out of the house, go somewhere new outside of Ojai.”
Each day, the group hiked 13 miles, an impressive but intentional amount so they could enjoy the journey rather than endure excessive strain every day.
The students swam in every river they saw, sang every song they could think of (Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Drake, and more), read books, drew, napped, and fly-fished into the night. Ben celebrated his 17th birthday on the peak of Mt. Whitney.
Above all, they connected with fellow hikers on the trail.
“We met a surprising amount of people,” Ben said. “The people we saw would be the most memorable thing about the trail.”
This trip tested Logan and Ben’s leadership and independence.
Mr. Inman and Mr. Wallace let the high schoolers take charge and lead the thru-hike. In fact, they were so confident in their abilities that halfway through the trip, they left Logan and Ben on their own for 6 days.
According to the students, those were the best times, both a challenging and freeing experience. “It was definitely a confidence booster,” Mr. Wallace said. “A confirmation that they’re [Logan and Ben] confident outdoorsmen.”
On July 17 at Cottonwood Lakes, the party finished the John Muir Trail.
Instead of anticipating the end of a long, long hike, Logan and Ben were looking ahead, discussing what the future holds in terms of more long-distance hikes. Logan has goals to tackle the daunting, 2,600-mile Pacific Crest Trail in the future.
They had the time of their lives and became
stronger and more independent because of it. “I liked how normal it felt,” Logan said. “How normal it was to wake up inside a tent, in the most beautiful places of California.”