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GRASS MOUNTAIN DAY
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Midland's annual Grass Mountain Day, 2009, was another in a long series of challenging and rewarding days. Temps in the low 70s, a nice cool breeze, and flowers galore--conditions, in other words, were perfect. Highlights included first ascents for a number of new Midland students, as well as a number of 5-11 year old faculty children who made the climb. Several students and faculty descended the mountain by alternate routes back to campus. Ahhhh, Spring!
Midland sits in the foothills of the San Rafael Mountains, part of the Los Padres National Forest. Our dominant physical feature is Grass Mountain, to the northeast, which rises to an elevation of 3,668 feet (Midland is at about 1,200 feet). In the spring, the face of Grass usually erupts with lupine and poppies, making it a wonderfully inviting destination. The trail follows Alamo Pintado Creek for a couple miles, then veers seemingly straight up, to the ridgeline, with nary a switchback, all the way to the peak. So though it's a short hike, climbing Grass Mountain is a difficult endeavor, and every hiker who reaches the summit has something to brag about. And also a descent that will have knees and quads screaming for the next couple days. On Grass Mountain Day, we take the day off from classes, assemble at 8 A.M. for announcements, and then send the seniors off to their checkpoints, enabling us to account for each hiker as they make their ways along the trail. Within three hours, every student has made it to the summit, and we have an assembly at the top of Grass Mountain. Students then return to campus by whichever route they desire, where a barbecue awaits them. |
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