Much like the Wild West, many of our students are exploring new frontiers. Some are saddling up on their trusty steeds (bikes), a few are hiking up mountains (possibly looking for gold?) and many are just meeting their crew for the first time. Luckily for you, we’ve lassoed up a few photos from the rugged West, so let’s see what these wranglers got up to today!

Skip to a Specific Trip: MCJ, CI, NEMC, CRM, MCCE, DEX, CMCA, CMCB, AKMCA, AKMCB, AXA, AXB, PMC

Maine Coast Junior (MCJ)

These young explorers packed up early today to hike around Jordan Pond and the South Bubble Trail in Acadia National Park. They ate a hearty lunch at the summit and had fun scouring Bubble Rock for gold. They’re happy to get some much-deserved rest back at the ranch tonight before jumping on their bikes tomorrow!

Cape Cod & the Islands (CI)

Just like John Wayne, these wranglers are doing good for their community. They rolled up their sleeves on Martha’s Vineyard and spent the morning picking, bagging, and planting lettuce at a local farm – which we all know is a cornerstone of Western cuisine! They even got a taste of ranch life by taking care of some chickens. The gang then got to cool down with a nice afternoon at the beach.

 

New England Mountains & Coast (NEMC)

Some may say this town ain’t big enough for two hikes… but NEMC would beg to differ! This crew rounded up the energy to hike to Arethusa Falls (the highest waterfall in New Hampshire) and to conquer the beautiful five-miler that is the Frankenstein Cliffs. We’re getting reports of a stellar campfire planned for tonight, surely with some renditions of “(Ghost) Riders In the Sky” or “Ring of Fire.”

 

Colorado’s Rocky Mountains (CRM)

Yee-haw!! The CRM crew is all together and ready for their upcoming showdown with the Rockies. These folks met up at the Denver airport today and headed toward Rocky Mountain National Park. Hope they find some gold in them there hills! And they didn’t waste any time making friends with the locals – see for yourself in the third picture below when they had a visitor to their campground!

Maine Coast College Essay (MCCE)

After another morning of wrangling essay ideas, the MCCE crew printed out some awesome first drafts to edit on paper before lunch today. They had a darn good picnic lunch before heading to nearby Orr’s Island for a picture-perfect afternoon of sea kayaking, and they even reported a bald eagle sighting! Perhaps their home is on the water, not the range?

 

Maine’s Downeast Explorer (DEX)

DEX lassoed their herd of hikers together for the first time yesterday and set up camp in Camden. They cooked up some rootin’-tootin’ good veggie pesto pasta for dinner and ended the night with a beautiful sunset and some cupcakes to celebrate the group becoming a “bear pack” – did you know the word for a group of bears is a “sloth”?  Early to bed, early to rise – the group crushed their hike at Acadia’s Beech Mountain today!

 

California Mountains & Coast A (CMCA)

Well howdy, y’all! These explorers arrived in California today ready to buckle in and giddy up. They stopped for lunch at the Golden Gate Bridge before moseying on down to camp. They’re looking forward to their first day in new terrain tomorrow – sea kayaking!

 

California Mountains & Coast B (CMCB)

CMCB is ready to explore their new frontier! The gang arrived in California today and set up camp in the wide blue yonder. They’ll get some good shut-eye tonight before they tackle their first hike tomorrow on the gorgeous bluffs of Point Reyes National Seashore. Unfortunately, the group wasn’t able to get us a photo by blog press time, but we’ll do our best to post a few tomorrow to make up for it!

Alaska Mountains & Coast A (AKMCA)

When it comes to the Wild West, it doesn’t get much more wild (or further west, for that matter) than Alaska!  Rugged terrain abounds for these pioneers, who aren’t wasting any time at all, as they’ll start their first backcountry trip tomorrow. We have word that the group is settled into the campground for the night but, unfortunately, wasn’t able to squeak a picture out due to spotty service. We’ll do our best to post one (or a few) tomorrow!

Alaska Mountains & Coast B (AKMCB)

While we’re talking about the Wild West, the AKMCB squad is heading “North to the future” to begin their trip! The intrepid group will spend tomorrow exploring the coastal town of Seward and preparing for their upcoming overnight kayaking adventure. Similar to their AKMCA sister trip, this crew made good time to camp today but wasn’t able to get a photo out – just building the anticipation for tomorrow’s blog photos!

Alps Explorer A (AXA)

The moment is here! AXA students finally arrived in Geneva today to meet the rest of their Apogee family. The group kicked things with a park lunch and eagerly began the process to start getting to know each other. After some laughs, they packed up to enjoy the beautiful train ride to Zermatt. They set up camp there for the night, and rumor has it they’ve got the best view in the Wild West – the Matterhorn!

 

Alps Explorer B (AXB)

Aaaand they’re off! The AXB crew met up for the first time today, marking the beginning of their journey through the Wild West (…of Europe, of course). This bunch staked their claim to a campsite in Zermatt, where they’ll get some rest before their day hike tomorrow. Apparently they can see the Matterhorn… is that a new breed of cattle? Nope, it’s just an epic mountain!

Photo note: due to some flight delays, our group was temporarily split into two groups for the train ride to Zermatt, but the full group is now together in Zermatt – we’ll have a full group photo for the blog tomorrow!

 

Pyrenees Mountains and Coast (PMC)

Yippity-oh-ky-yay! PMC is off to an amazing start. The group saddled up to Barcelona and transferred down the coast where they jumped into the water and then cooled off on the sand. Things are running so smoothly, you’d never know that this is their first rodeo!