SLDC Sequoia Running Camp offers a variety of fun outdoors. Photo collage courtesy of junior Aidan Field.
San Luis Obispo High School students spend their summers in a variety of ways. Some travel to other countries, work jobs, or get ahead on schoolwork, but some spend a week in the Sequoias with their cross-country (XC) team.
“It’s a really big team tradition that our school has been doing for a very long time, and it’s a really fun thing to be a part of,” said senior Rebekah Waterbury.
San Luis Distance Club (SLDC) is composed of runners in and around San Luis Obispo county, but they primarily consist of SLOHS alumni, coaches, and student-athletes.
SLDC and the SLOHS XC team hosts the SLDC Sequoia Running Camp. Fifteen athletes from the boys team and fifteen athletes from the girls team are invited to participate. Their families often join as well. Campers are joined by their coaches, former coaches, and a multitude of alumni, often legends of the running community.
“I thought it would be a really cool experience especially as a freshman, it gave me a good time to connect with the team and get a good start to the season,” said freshman Maddox Lee.
The total number of campers can exceed sixty people, ready to spend a week in the Sierra Nevada.
SLDC Sequoia Running Camp participants pose for a picture at the end of their week-long journey. Photo courtesy of cross country coach Dan Berkeland.
The team carpools with multiple vehicles and a large truck containing the entire camp’s supplies. After the four hour drive to Sequoia National Park, the team sets up camp and already prepares to run.
Campers carpool to their run’s trailhead, usually early in the morning after a dry breakfast.
Every morning. runners run on scenic trails throughout the park. These runs are strenuous, and the high elevation makes it even more difficult.
Nevertheless, the morning light illuminates Sequoia National Park and makes these trails breathtaking, (even more than the elevation already does). There are a variety of runs which teach athletes important lessons in teamwork, group responsibility, and appreciation for our natural environment.
A ton of mountain peaks are visible from trails like Panther Gap. Photo courtesy of junior Aidan Field.
Athletes run alongside cliffs with views of glaciers and fourteen thousand foot tall peaks.
After these runs, athletes return to camp and chow-down on a much deserved breakfast.
The rest of the day is composed of swimming in the nearby creek, sunbathing, and fun camp activities, such as the corn-hole tournament, talent show, and much more.
“[My favorite part was] probably going down to the creek and just hanging out in the water,” said freshman Austin Asquith.
The camp also includes one day-trip to Hume Lake, where athletes enjoy a small excursion into civilization. Athletes can swim in the lake and purchase food from nearby restaurants.
In the evening, after a plentiful dinner, a team talk is held and campers listen in as wisdom is passed down from legendary runners such as former Cross Country coach Steve Boaz.
All of this is in preparation for one of the hardest things these athletes will ever do, The Hump, a four mile long race with almost three thousand feet of elevation gain, and ending at an elevation of almost ten thousand feet. The thin air and steep trail can make the race take over an hour for some.
The trail teaming with rocks, life, and complexity can be summed up in one word, pain. Runners’ legs and feet throb in pain. Mother nature tortures runners throughout the entirety of the trail. Yet a more powerful force, human persistence gets these athletes to the top.
It’s a painful hour-long trek to the top, but the extreme challenge is what makes this camp special.
After completing the hump, runners can continue to nearby lakes, swimming in ice-cold crystal clear water. This day will be an adventure consisting of over twelve miles of running for some, but it’s an unforgettable experience.
Runners smile at the top of the Watchtower in Sequoia National Park. Photo courtesy of junior Aidan Field.
To go to the camp, a student must be in Cross-Country, being present at summer practices, demonstrating that they’re passionate about running and capable of running on these difficult trails.
“We had to prove to the coaches that we were committed to the team, that we wanted to get better and that we could handle ourselves in the altitude for a week,” said Waterbury.
Students bring a weeks-worth of camping supplies, and have the opportunity of bringing their parents as well.
In previous years, other schools have joined SLOHS at this camp, and in the future, the program might expand again.
In a world where all the knowledge in the world is at anyone’s fingertips, and where luxuries are available left and right, these people choose to leave that all behind. They leave their air-conditioned bedrooms for something real.
Like night to day, campers are transported from trend-setting and culturally significant Californian Coast, to the Sierra Nevada. The weather is different, the scenery is different, and people are different.
Runners point to the sunrise on the top of Little Baldy. Photo courtesy of Andrew Abercromby.
Sequoia Running Camp takes students, alumni, and families into practically a new world. They leave civilization behind and enter a realm where fitness, community, and nature blend seamlessly into one.
