Apogee Peak News
Welcome to the November edition of Apogee Peak News! The leaves are falling (or, in the case of some stubborn oak trees, are refusing to fall until the last second), and we at Apogee are well into our 2025 trip planning! This month we’re bringing updates from our inspiring alumni, a glimpse into what’s on the horizon for next summer, and news from the office team.
Also, if your Apogee Alum has done something cool or exciting recently (and we know you have!), please send a blurb and photo to jackie@apogeeadventures.com. We love hearing from you!
Apogee Leader Feature
Lucia Daranyi
Lucia’s introduction to Apogee came in 2016 when she joined our erstwhile Coast to Quebec biking trip as an adventure-ready 14-year-old. Having grown up off the coast of Portland, Maine, on Peaks Island, this trip was her first experience riding a bike beyond her hometown. After her first Apogee summer, Lucia had fallen in love with the Apogee trip lifestyle and spent the following two summers on our Alps Explorer trip (2017) and our first-ever Pyrenees Mountains & Coast trip (2018).
In 2023, Lucia’s journey came full circle when she returned to Apogee as a leader. That summer, she guided students on our Maine’s Downeast Explorer trip, which she considers to be “one of Apogee’s best trips” (her words, not ours, but we can’t say we disagree!). This past summer, Lucia returned for her fifth summer with Apogee to lead our Golden State Adventure and Alaska Mountains & Coast trips.
After finishing up this summer’s trips, Lucia embarked on a new adventure in her native Maine as an Island Fellow with the Island Institute at Deer Isle/Stonington. As an Island Fellow, she works on a variety of projects to help out the island community. She is currently working in the adult education program on Deer Isle, creating enrichment programming for the community. Lucia has started knitting classes, a “couch to 5k” program, and is also working on launching some cooking classes for the community. Lucia says that the most fulfilling aspects of her work are the connections she’s able to form with community members on the island. She reports that she often pulls on her Apogee trip leading skills in her new role as she thinks about ways to make people feel welcome and happy in her community outreach programs. It turns out name games work with adults, too! We’re so proud of Lucia’s work and can’t wait to see what she can do in the rest of her time as an Island Fellow.
Lucia this fall while working for The Island Institute as an Island Fellow in Stonington and Deer Isle.
Trip Highlight
Northwest Mountains & Coast
Join us this season for our exciting “new” trip! We’ve given our old Northwest Explorer trip a “glow-up” (as the kids call it), condensing all of its highlights into a shorter, 13-day adventure: Northwest Mountains & Coast (NWMC)! This trip combines a plethora of thrilling activities with the stunning beauty of Washington State. On NWMC, you’ll hike through the lush, moss-draped forests of Olympic National Park and hike to vistas of the stunning snow-capped mountains in North Cascades National Park. This trip also gives you a chance to swap the hiking boots for water shoes, featuring three days of sea kayaking around the San Juan Islands and a day of whitewater rafting on the Sauk River! NWMC is perfect for teens who are looking for an action-packed adventure in one of the most scenic regions in the country!
Rafting the Sauk River (top photo), hiking in the Cascades (left) and paddling the San Juan Islands (right) – all beautiful areas that we’ll explore on Northwest Mountains & Coast!
Office Happenings
Will Robertson: Associate Director
Most of you loyal readers received an email recently from our longtime Director, Chad Olcott, announcing that he’s taking a step back from Apogee to focus on his budding business, Parallel Adventures, which many of you have seen featured in this very newsletter! If you missed it, here’s a link to Chad’s letter.
As Chad steps back, longtime Associate Director (and three-time trip leader) Will Robertson is taking on a Director role, alongside Founder and Director Kevin Cashman. Below is a note from Will as he steps into his new role:
I am incredibly humbled and grateful to be taking on this new role as one of Apogee’s directors. The moment I first set foot in Apogee leader housing in 2014, I knew that I wanted to be a part of this community for a very long time. For three years, that meant getting out there and leading trips in the field. I loved working with Apogee students: watching them grow in confidence as they learned new skills, and observing as they became a tight-knit “Apogee family.” After hanging up my “trip leader spurs,” I knew that I wanted to stay involved, and leapt at the opportunity to join the year-round team as an Assistant Director in 2017. Over the past seven years, I have thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of our work at Apogee, from the minute details of trip logistics to the strategic planning of our leader training. But the reason I’m still here – the reason I’m so excited to join Kevin as a director – is the same reason I felt such a strong connection to the organization back in 2014: the strength of the community. I look forward to continuing to serve the extended Apogee family – our students, parents, and staff – to continue to run life-changing adventure programs that offer the special sense of community I hold so dear.
Will working with leaders at our 2023 Leader Training (left), Will with his 2014 Caribbean Service: Puerto Rico group (right)
As we conclude this month’s edition of Peak News, we want to express our gratitude to you for being an essential part of our Apogee community. Whether you’re looking back on cherished memories from Apogee trips past or eagerly anticipating future adventures, we’re thrilled to have you along for the ride. Stay tuned for more exciting updates, stories, and special offers as we gear up for next summer!