For some, Sunday morning is a time for sleeping in or enjoying a cup of coffee, but for Clara Avery, ’27, and Katalyn Denby, ’26, it’s a chance to put on their wetsuits and wade carefully into an underground stream.
Outing Club’s key staff leaders, including Avery and Denby, led students in the club’s advanced water caving trip on Sept. 21. The students had the opportunity to tread through a hidden, below-ground lake, investigate surprisingly large open caverns and army crawl their way through tricky spaces.
The Outing Club offers water caving trips with many different experience levels. Avery said this approach makes the club more accessible, with the goal of welcoming all students.
“I really like taking people on adventures that they’ve never been on before,” Avery said. “Seeing the way that people react to new experiences and getting to take them on those is really rewarding.”
The introduction to water caving trip, which occurred the weekend before on Sept. 13, allowed for beginners to test the waters.
Avery said some students on her introduction to water caving trip were hesitant at first but left excited about the experience.
For Avery, one of the most interesting parts of caving lies in the cave formations themselves and the science behind it all.
“When you go into caves, you can see a lot of the geologic processes that have happened,” Avery said. “Being able to see how high the water used to be and if it cut into the rocks or where there might have been a waterfall bringing water into the cave is just super cool.”
The water caving experience is one of the many unique trips the Outing Club offers to students.
Aiden Gray, ’27, a resident advisor in Gaines Hall, organized an outdoor adventure through the Outing Club for his hall, taking first-years caving at Island Ford.
“It had the best ratio of cool factor to affordability and practicality,” Gray said. “You learn a lot about yourself when you’re in a cave, so we were trying to start to introduce the ideas of leaving no trace, cave preservation, environmental preservation and leaving these things for the future generations.”
Adelaide Kessler, ’29, one of the participants on the excursion, said she found the experience valuable.
“I’m glad I did it because… my dad always said experiences, those are what you’ll take value in instead of material things,” Kessler said.
The Outing Club provides students with opportunities to go on trips where they can learn about the natural world and enjoy adventures outdoors.
“Any time outdoors is a good time outdoors,” Denby said.
