Oh me, oh my – it’s Friday, so that means it’s time to meet some more awesome Apogee leaders. Say hello to our Vermont to Montreal, Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, and Maine Coast Junior leaders!
Name: Calista Quirk (she/her)
2026 Trips: Vermont to Montreal and New England Support Leader
Hometown: Sterling, Virginia
School: Elon University
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety, and CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Climbing, hiking, backpacking, camping, and fishing
Highlights from the past year: Hiking the Inca Trail in Peru and studying eco‑tourism in New Zealand!
Where you can find Calista when she is not on trail: She is likely spending time with friends, reading or writing poetry, going on a spontaneous adventure, or cooking a nice meal with her roommates.
Further proof of Calista’s awesomeness: She spent a semester in high school traveling across the western United States, learning about indigenous lands, studying geology, and participating in multiple service opportunities connected to the regions she visited. Calista is also an assistant troop master to a local Boy Scout troop, where she loves spending time with her group and teaching topics such as wilderness first aid, kayak safety, navigation, and cooking in nature. She is also an expert in music trivia (test her skills on a bike ride this summer), and prides herself on her ability to cook a mean “marry me” chicken pasta from scratch to bring to any potluck. Calista cannot wait for her summer at Apogee and is so excited to meet all her students and explore Vermont and Canada!
Name: James Bauman (he/him)
2026 Trips: Vermont to Montreal and New England Support Leader
Hometown: Akron, Ohio
School: Wake Forest University
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety, and CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, and skiing
Highlights from the past year: James went scuba diving and conducted research at Lighthouse Reef in Belize, created (and then hiked) a 40‑mile backpacking loop in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains, and saw Tyler Childers in concert.
Where you can find James when he is not out hiking: He is likely cooking up something tasty, playing soccer, going for a run, volunteering, traveling, listening to music, or heading to a concert!
Super fun facts about James that will make you smile: For the past four summers, James has volunteered as a camp counselor at a camp for kids with type 1 diabetes. At Wake Forest, he leads the health branch of the volunteer service corps, which connects undergraduates with service opportunities in the area, and he also leads trips for the WFU outing club. He won two high school state championships with his soccer team, and still loves to play to this day. He also recently circumnavigated part of the Great Lakes, including Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and a portion of Lake Michigan, in a 28‑foot boat with his best friend and his dad. James is looking forward to all the goofy moments that await him and his groups this summer, and especially the laughter that comes with being outside and creating new bonds!
Name: Luke Balmer (he/him)
2026 Trips: Vermont to Montreal and New England Support Leader
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
School: Vanderbilt University
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety, and CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Backpacking, kayaking, and running
Highlights from the past year: Last summer, Luke biked across the USA (more on that below)! In the past calendar year, he has also visited Iceland, Ireland, Vietnam, and Florida.
Where you can find Luke when he is not traveling: He is likely crafting — whether that’s sewing, woodworking, laser cutting, or embroidery. He is also a lover of poetry, photography, and Pokémon (the 3 Ps)!
Why else we think Luke rocks: Luke rode his bike across America last summer, in part because he spent his junior year of college in a wheelchair following an injury. So he raised $1,800 over the summer for ABLE Youth, a nonprofit that works with kids who use wheelchairs. In total, he traveled 4,000 miles across 72 days, passing through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Virginia. Luke is also an ice cream connoisseur, having spent two and a half years working at a Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop during college – he can name over 30 flavors from memory, including their recipes, allergy info, and flavor profiles! Luke is so excited to spend his summer in Vermont, Canada, and Maine, and he’s especially looking forward to creating a supportive community on his trips where everyone can enjoy and challenge themselves!
Name: Ella Wacks (she/her)
2026 Trips: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and Maine Coast Junior
Hometown: New York, New York
School: Skidmore College
Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness Swim Safety, and CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Hiking, camping, and swimming in lakes
Highlights from the past year: Ella headed out west on a trip to Colorado this year! She adventured in Rocky Mountain National Park and cannot wait to return with her groups this summer!
Where you can find Ella when she’s not out adventuring: You will likely find her rock climbing, reading, watching the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, or hanging out with friends!
A few other reasons we love Ella: She is the president of Skidmore’s Outdoor Club, where she and her team work to facilitate amazing trips and events for her college campus and outdoors community! She has been able to do many incredible hikes throughout her life so far, but her favorite (so far) was in Majorca. She spent a semester teaching elementary school students poetry and was amazed by what they wrote and performed! Ella cannot wait for her first summer with Apogee. She is so excited to spend time in both Colorado and Maine, to meet all of her amazing students, and to make some excellent s’mores!
Name: Brennan Murley (he/him)
2026 Trips: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and Maine Coast Junior
Hometown: Bethesda, Maryland
School: Macalester College
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety, and CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Biking (both road and mountain), backpacking, skiing, and nature photography
Highlights from the past year: Brennan had a jam-packed year, with an epic road trip all around the US, studying abroad in Madrid, exploring Europe, presenting his capstone, and finishing out his last season on the Macalester baseball team.
Where you can find Brennan when he is not traveling around Europe or taking a road trip: He is likely spending time with friends, collaging or crafting in some way, playing spike ball, throwing around a football or baseball, or finding a new spot to watch the sunset!
Further proof of Brennan’s awesomeness: Brennan not only plays baseball for Macalester, but he has also been a coach! He has worked for several years at sports camps with students of all ages. During his semester studying abroad in Spain, he loved immersing himself in the culture and language while traveling to countless new places across Europe. He cannot wait to join Apogee this summer, where he’s especially excited to meet the amazing community and to explore Colorado and Maine with his students and co-leaders.
Name: Sarah Walcott (she/her)
2026 Trips: Colorado’s Rocky Mountains and Maine Coast Junior
Hometown: San Francisco, California
School: Hamilton College
Certifications: Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness Swim Safety, and CPR
Favorite outdoor activities: Trail running, mountain biking, skiing, hiking, and swimming
Highlights from the past year: During spring break, she was able to hike to Annapurna Base Camp in the Himalayas with the Hamilton Outing Club! She also loved exploring new hiking trails and finding new beaches while she was home in California for a spell.
Where you can find Sarah when she’s not hiking or exploring: She loves reading, trying out new types of coffee, and spending time with her dog.
Other reasons Sarah is the niftiest: Sarah has been a first-year orientation leader for three years at Hamilton, and she also leads hiking, canoeing, and kayaking trips for the outing club. On top of that, Sarah joined the Marathon Canoe Racing Team and canoed 90 miles across the Adirondacks! Sarah also recently studied abroad in Chile, where she was able to hike in Patagonia and also taught in a 4th-grade classroom. She is so looking forward to her summer with Apogee and cannot wait to meet all her students and make new friends within the wonderful leader community.