Our next batch of Leader Bios includes some amazing folks headed out to lead our Pacific Coast, Alaska Mountains & Coast, and New England Mountains Coast trips. Check them out!
Name: Lila Gilmer (she/her)
2025 Trips: Pacific Coast and Alaska Mountains & Coast
Prior Apogee experience: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains ‘24
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
School: Colorado College, Class of 2026
Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Trail running, hiking, open-water swimming and camping.
Highlights of the past year: Lila was moving and grooving, backpacking the Four Pass Loop in Colorado’s Maroon Bells, road tripping through Utah’s National Parks, and exploring new parts of Colorado with Apogee!
Where you can find Lila when she’s not running: Lila can usually be found making elaborate air fryer meals in her dorm, exploring new coffee shops, and playing Spoons like it’s a professional sport.
Additional super awesome facts about Lila: She is a triplet! At Colorado College, Lila is a Residential Advisor and is the captain and “hype-woman” of her track team. She is also the current reigning champion of the team’s pickleball league. Lila also teaches swim lessons and has worked as a nanny. She has had so much fun the past few years at school in Colorado hiking and exploring the natural world around CC! She is looking forward to cooking up some creative camp meals and being back for another epic summer with Apogee.
Name: Seth Grauer (he/him)
2025 Trips: Pacific Coast and Alaska Mountains & Coast
Prior Apogee experience: Cape Cod and the Islands ‘24 and Vermont to Montreal ‘24
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
School: Carleton College, Class of 2026
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Biking, skiing, frisbee, and broomball
Highlights of the past year: Seth has had a busy past year. From completing an internship with a housing policy consulting firm in San Francisco, to competing in a pickleball tournament, to exploring Bryce National Park with his family! So many fun and fulfilling adventures!
Where you can find Seth when he’s not winning pickleball games: Hanging with his dog, reading, cooking, cheering for the Detroit Lions, or spending time with his friends.
A few more reasons why Seth is the coolest: Seth cares a lot about the environment and is the Vice President of the Environmental Club at Carleton, where he helps to lead various events like waste audits and pop-up thrift stores across campus. Seth also works as a Program Lead for Carleton’s Food Recovery Network, where he takes unused Carleton food and donates it to unhoused people. Seth also previously interned for a company that provides ACT tutoring to high school students. When not helping out the environment, tutoring, or working on his salsa skills (the food, not the dance), Seth loves to geek out about F1 racing. Seth is beyond excited to be back at Apogee this summer, and to spend the whole summer camping along the west coast and up in Alaska!
Leader Name: Henry Hamilton (he/him)
2025 Trips: Pacific Coast Support Leader and Maine Coast Junior
Prior Apogee experience: Iceland Mountains and Coast ‘24, New England Field Leader ‘23 and ‘22
Hometown: New York City, New York
School: Skidmore College, Class of 2023
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, biking, running, and triathlons
Highlights of the past year: Henry had a very exciting year, starting a job teaching 3rd graders in New York City, the city where he was born and raised!
Where you can find Henry when he isn’t in the classroom: Henry is always looking for his next Lego project (which is also a great time to listen to a good podcast). He’s part of a trivia team, and when he’s not testing his general knowledge, Henry loves trying out new restaurants with friends!
Super fun facts about Henry that will make you smile: During his time at Skidmore, Henry led pre-orientation hiking and canoeing trips for incoming students, and he also had his own radio show called Rock and Roll Is Rolling throughout his time there. In addition, as a former Apogee student, Henry participated on our Pacific Coast, Europe Coast to Coast, and Coast to Quebec biking trips. Henry is super excited to be coming back for his FOURTH summer at Apogee! He is looking forward to supporting all of the epic bikers on the west coast and then spending time on the breathtaking coast of Maine!
Name: Sara Litteken (she/her) 
2025 Trips: Alaska Mountains & Coast and New England Mountains & Coast
Prior Apogee experience: Caribbean Service: Puerto Rico ‘24
Hometown: Saint Louis, Missouri
School: Boston College, Class of 2024 and Boston College Master of Social Work, Class of 2025
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, backpacking and kayaking
Highlights of the past year: Holy moly Sara has had quite a year! On top of getting her Masters, Sara learned to backcountry ski, ran the Boston Marathon, and explored the White Mountains on hiking and backpacking trips!
Where you can find Sara when she’s not hiking or traveling: She’s probably running, playing basketball, or reading. She also loves to bake bread!
Other reasons we think Sara is the bee’s knees: She is wrapping up a Masters Program through Boston College for a degree in Social work. Sara has spent the last three years volunteering in local high schools as a clinical social work intern or classroom aide. On campus, Sara leads trips for BC’s Outing Club and is also very involved with one of the improv and sketch comedy groups. This past year while on our Puerto Rico Service trip, Sara learned to surf and has been continuing to learn in New England since! Finally, Sara is an Apogee alumna, and she has attended most of the Spanish speaking trips that Apogee offers (although some of them look a little different than they did when she was a student)! She can’t wait to connect with her students and share an amazing summer with them in Alaska and New England.
Name: Zach Orluk (he/him) 
2025 Trips: Alaska Mountains & Coast and New England Mountains & Coast
Hometown: West Granby, Connecticut
School: Hamilton College, Class of 2025
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, paddling, bird watching, cross-country skiing
Highlights of the past year: Zach has had a year of grand adventures. He trekked to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal, paddled across Lake Placid, and climbed Volcan Baru, the highest point in Panama, to watch the sunrise over both the Atlantic and Pacific at the same time!
Where you can find Zach when he’s not summiting a mountain: He is likely playing soccer, on a climbing wall, or reading a good book.
Further proof of Zach’s awesomeness: Zach studied abroad in Panama and studied tropical ecology, while also getting to do some really amazing hikes in the area. He also led a crew in a wildlife refuge to maintain trails, assist with research, and protect our local environment for the last two summers. During those two summers, Zach learned to identify almost all of the local birds. On top of all that amazing work, Zach created a youth conservation corps in his home town that works to maintain trails, remove invasives, and involve young people in conservation alongside the local Land Trust. Zach is so excited to join the Apogee community this summer and explore new parts of the US!
Name: Lucie Steig (she/her) 
2025 Trips: New England Mountains and Coast and New England Field Leader
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
School: Hamilton College, Class of 2025
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety & CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, Skiing, and sea kayaking
Highlights of the past year: Lucie was moving and grooving all year long! She studied abroad in Glasgow, Scotland, hiked to Annapurna Base Camp and Poon Hill Loop in Nepal (with Zach!), and raced in the Adirondack 90 Mile canoe race.
Where you can find Lucie when she’s not on a long run: Lucie loves watercoloring, hanging out with friends, reading, trying out new recipes.
Facts that will make you say, “Wow, Lucie is awesome”: As a kid, Lucie was on a unicycle team. In high school, she led tours for elementary school students at the Seattle Art Museum. More recently, Lucie interned for Hamilton College’s Adirondack Adventure orientation program. Apart from her summer at Hamilton, she also leads backpacking and camping trips for first year students. Lucie spent last summer working for the Cascades Butterfly Project where she surveyed plants and butterflies within the North Cascades and Mount Rainier National Park to aid climate research within the Parks. Lucie is beyond excited to be working with Apogee this summer, getting to know students and staff alike, and spending some quality time in Maine and beyond!