By Kirana ‘28
Hello future Harvard-Westlake student! By now, you may have heard about the 9th grade trip to the Colorado River. You might have a lot of questions, but don’t worry. After reading this article, you’ll feel prepared for your week-long trip and you’ll be ready to tackle it head on.
Prep:To prepare for the retreat, you will want to find a tent partner, whom you will be sharing a tent and a canoe with all week. Then you will be asked to choose if you want to go on the long side or short side. My advice is to choose whichever one you have more friends on. The people you’re with will be a big part of your retreat experience. There are some things that you should absolutely not forget, including sunscreen, drinking water, a hat and sunglasses, and extra plastic bags to make sure your stuff is waterproofed.
Day 1: We started off the day by meeting at school at 6am. Then we took a 5 hour bus ride all the way to Arizona, bringing our daypacks, larger bags, sleeping bags, and packed lunches along with us. We made one stop at around 10am and arrived at the campsite at 12. We turned in our phones for a distraction-free experience. When we arrived, it was already 110 degrees and the sun was shining. We all had to drink plenty of water and apply sunscreen. There were port-a-potties set up for us to change into our swimsuits and from there we got placed into our retreat groups and met our naturalists. My naturalist’s name was Max. Max led me and 11 of my classmates, along with our chaperone Ms. Nunns, into the water. We learned to paddle our canoes and floated around for a while. Then they taught us how to pitch our tents and we set up camp for the night. Dinner was burgers with salad, and there were vegetarian options for the non meat eaters. We had free time after dinner and students could be seen running around, playing cards, and listening to music on portable speakers. Then the naturalists called us out for a night float on our canoes. We ended the night with silence and a beautiful sunset.
Day 2: We awoke bright and early at about 7am and had to pack up our tents before breakfast. We ate ham and cheese croissants and yogurt and then hit the water. We canoed for about 2 hours before stopping for a snack. Our naturalist, Max, tied all of our canoes together in a “pod” and passed around cheez-its, dates, candy, and chips. Then we floated all together for a while before hitting a sand bank. We stopped and played in the water, got out to swim, and had splash fights with our friends before it was time to go in search of a mini lake inside a secret passageway. After finding it, we podded up again to have lunch, which was turkey sandwiches. We had been on water for 6 hours when we finally reached the second camp at 4pm. It was dusty and we had to dock our canoes and set up for the night. We had free time until dinner while the other groups arrived, and ate burritos. Then we all sat in a circle together and looked at constellations before heading to sleep.
Day 3: We began the day with a sunrise walk at 6am. Together we sat in silence and watched the sun come up, and then were sent off to pack up for our second full day out on the water. Breakfast was bagels and yogurt and then we took off. This day was my favorite, the paddling was peaceful, and we went through a series of twists and turns to get to a beautiful lake. We met up with the other groups for lunch at a sandbar and had turkey sandwiches again. We hung out there with our friends for 2 hours before heading to our final campsite. This time, it was huge with all the groups and when we got there we floated down a lazy river. We set up camp again, and had even more free time before dinner. We even got to play Uno. Dinner was pasta and garlic bread.After that we headed to the campfire for s’mores. At night, racoons visited our campsite, so make sure that you turn in any food you have to the kitchen before you go to sleep.
Day 4: Our final day was long and tiring. We got up at 3:30am to the sound of Chappel Roan’s “Hot to Go” blasting in our ears, with the naturalists telling us to pack up our tents. We launched canoes in the dark and floated downriver until sunrise. When the sun was finally up, we were given breakfast on the water and the sky was simply gorgeous. We paddled for a few hours after that and landed back at the dock by 11am. We washed our canoes, got hot dogs, and were sent on buses back to Harvard-Westlake.
I think retreat is something that everyone should try because it’s a bonding experience. Yes, you’re dirty and hot and tired, but it brings you so much closer to the friends that you choose to go with. I don’t regret going and I would go again if given the chance. Ninth grade retreat is a truly special opportunity that every Harvard-Westlake student should take advantage of while we can.
