Day 20: 20/20 Vision

& posted in Summer Blog

It was another big day here at Apogee! Whether they were hiking, kayaking, surfing, biking, exploring, saying hello or saying goodbye, we can all clearly see the abundance of fun that all of our students had today. Put on your reading glasses, folks – you’re not going to want to miss this!

Skip to a Specific Trip: MCJ, CI, NEMC, CRM, GSA, CS, MCCE, DEXA, DEXB, VMA, VMB, CRLS, CRMC, CMCA, CMCB, AKMC, NWXA, NWXB, PCA, PCB, SH, AX, PMC, ECC1, ECC2, ACC

Maine Coast Junior (MCJ)

MCJ truly is the best of both worlds.  Hiking the one day and biking the next? An adventurer could not dream up a better itinerary! Today these adventurer’s traded in their hiking legs for their biking legs and hit the roads to explore Acadia through the carriage roads!

Cape Cod & the Islands (CI)

Today these biking legends explored Nantucket!  They enjoyed small-town living, the ocean breeze, and the sunshine. Cruising around Nantucket, these bikers got to leave their gear behind at camp and taste the sweet freedom of riding without any extra weight. Zoom zoom!

New England Mountains & Coast (NEMC)

No! Say it ain’t so. Today we waved goodbye to our NEMC crew as they went their separate ways.  We’ll miss you and we hope you enjoy the rest of your summer! Thanks for a great trip!

Colorado’s Rocky Mountains (CRM)

After enjoying the beauty of Colorado for the past week, CRM gave back to the community today volunteering with the City of Boulder Open Space & Mountains Park.  They celebrated their last full day together with an afternoon exploring Boulder and a final celebratory dinner together!

Golden State Adventure (GSA)

Surf’s up! Today our GSA students enjoyed their last day doing what they do best – having an absolute blast.  Today they shredded the gnar (I’ve been told this is the cool term for catching waves) in Santa Monica. They celebrated their final day together with some exploration time and a delicious dinner out!

Yesterday’s dolphin sighting!

Caribbean Service (CS)

Our CS students really know what it means to give back to a community.  Braving the heat and humidity, getting their hands dirty, and smiling through it all?! These students gave it their all today. ¡Buen trabajo! (Good job!)

Maine Coast College Essay (MCCE)

This just in: the MCCE students have finished their essays! After a week of hard work and endless typing, they are walking away with something to be proud of. Tonight they celebrated with a final dinner in Portland before they depart tomorrow! Great work!

Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEXA)

Today DEXA jumped in kayaks and paddled out to a beautiful island in Maine called Hell’s Half Acre (we promise this is a misnomer). This destination is known for sleeping under the stars and exploration, two activities Apogee trips do quite well!

Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEXB)

DEXB enjoyed all that Acadia and Bar Harbor had to offer today.  Starting off strong by summiting four – yes FOUR! – peaks in Acadia today: Bald, Parkman, Gilmore, and Sargent Peaks. They topped it off by exploring the quaint ocean town of Bar Harbor, so these students got a very Maine-y experience today!

FOUR PEAKS!

Vermont to Montréal A (VMA)

There is certainly no shortage of beauty in the Vermont countryside. Rolling hills and blue skies make for a pretty epic day! Our VMA squad cruised through 17 miles of riding today, passing through the lovely town of Middlebury and finishing at Lake Champlain.

Cupcakes for leader, Camille’s birthday!!

Vermont to Montréal B (VMB)

Rolling through the hills of Vermont, our VMB team experienced some BIG hills on their 21.5 mile day today.  They even went through one of Vermont’s famous covered bridges – both on bike and, evidently, a second time on foot!

Costa Rica Language & Service (CRLS)

These explorers got to check out Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio today! They visited the beach, checked out the flora and fauna and enjoyed their last full day in Costa Rica. Tonight they will have their final celebrations before packing up and going their separate ways tomorrow. Say it ain’t so!

CRMC/CRLS mashup!

Costa Rica Mountains & Coast (CRMC)

Vamos a la playa! Today our CRMC team headed into Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio and beelined for the beach. After some dips in the ocean at their semi-private beach, they headed into Manuel Antonio to check out the town. Reports from Parker & Emmaline also indicate numerous sloth sightings – so cool!

California Mountains & Coast (CMCA)

Report out of California: a day of engaging with the community, backcountry prep, and oodles of fun! These CMCers started the day at the Empire Food Bank in an area of California that was hit by the wildfires of 2017 and 2018. They made 4lb bags of plums and we are super proud of the work they did! After service and a big grocery shop they drove to Sonora in preparation to go into Yosemite tomorrow. Who is jealous?? Me for sure!!!!

Bonus pic from yesterday!

California Mountains & Coast (CMCB)

IT was a full day for our friends on the west coast! The day started with a morning paddle through Tamales Bay as they headed for the mainland. Waving goodbye to the water, this crew hopped into the van with their wobbly sea legs and drove to Sonora for some grocery shopping and laundry. Tomorrow they head into the remarkable Yosemite Valley!!

Alaska Mountains & Coast (AKMC)

Look who is out of the woods!! But don’t worry, not for long. Our Alaskan squad emerged from the Chugach wilderness and headed into some more backcountry prep. Tomorrow they will go back into the Chugach woods but for THREE days this time. Aren’t these hikers simply marvelous?!?!? We think so.

Celebrity guest – Director Chad Olcott!

Northwest Explorer (NWXA)

Celebrate good times, come on! NWXA is wrapping up and there was no shortage of celebration out in Seattle today. With tired legs and full hearts, NWXA took Seattle by storm and rewarded themselves with a day of fun and exploration! They even got to visit the original REI – a hiker’s dream!

Northwest Explorer (NWXB)

Straight from the backcountry to the big city! Trading in trees for traffic, these superstars made their debut back into Seattle civilization. From visiting Pike Place Market, to eating delicious treats, these NWXB-ers certainly got the celebration they deserved.

Pacific Coast (PCA)

Upon viewing the famous and crazy hills of San Francisco, this group of bikers thought, “How could we not?” and decided instead of resting they would spend their last day biking up and down some hills, just for kicks. Just kidding! They had an awesome day of exploring all that the city of San Francisco has to offer and celebrated their amazing three weeks together with a final fancy shmancy dinner. I just KNOW there were some happy tears shed during final Apogees and Perigees.

Pacific Coast (PCB)

A beautiful day in the big city! Trading in their biking legs for their city shoes, these west coast fanatics had a final celebratory day exploring the famous city of SF! There was so much to do that they could hardly choose, but they made the most of their busy day and had a blast!

Scottish Highlands (SH)

Another fabulous day was spent hill walking in the highlands! We have heard they had amazing views of the north end of Loch Lomond. As the Scotts say, Lang may yer lum reek!!! (May they live long and stay well!!!)

Alps Explorer (AX)

With full hearts and strong legs, our recently completed Tour Du Mont Blanc hikers gave a big thank you to the beautiful country of Switzerland by doing their part to clean up the botanical gardens of Geneva. Later in the day, this group of civically responsible hikers explored Geneva – probably buying tons of delicious chocolate along the way. Tonight they will celebrate an amazing three weeks together with a scrumptious Swiss dinner!

Leader Jack DeAngelis titled this picture “Le jet de l’eau au Genève!” which I used Google to translate to “The water jet in Geneva!”. Hopefully he taught every other member of the team to speak fluent French.

Pyrenees Mountains & Coast (PMC)

These amazing students trekked 11km filled with epic elevation gain.  Nestled into the heart of the CdF, these students arrived at a beautiful refugi on the shore of a lake.  We are so excited to see their photos soon, they are sure to be amazing!

Europe Coast to Coast 1 (ECC1)

Guess who biked 115 KM today from Tuttlingen, Germany to Bregenz, Austria?!?! THIS SQUAD! As their minds and muscles were getting stronger, they caught some beautiful views of the Alps and Lake Constance. If they squinted I’m sure they could see Fräulein Maria, Captain Von Trapp and the Von Trapp family singers climbing the Australian Alps (hopefully there are some Sound of Music fans in the crowd..). They’ll sleep easy knowing they have a well earned rest day tomorrow!

Europe Coast to Coast 2 (ECC2)

A lovely German ride for these folks today – from Schiltach to Tuttlingen. These German town names just roll off the tongue don’t they?! These outrageously impressive bikers climbed 1100 ft uphill over the course of just THREE miles. I think I see a Tour de France or two in their futures…

America Coast to Coast (ACC)

95 miles?  Am I reading this right?! ACC crushed 95 miles today.  Luckily for them they have a beyond well-deserved rest day tomorrow. My goodness… my legs hurt just thinking about that! Very impressive!