Telluride Mountain School

Earlier this fall, our group of 7th-grade TMS students led by Gary Stollar, Lizzie Edwards, and Ross Perrot departed on an expedition to Dark Canyon in Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. The Dark Canyon Wilderness is a designated wilderness area in the heart of Utah’s canyon country and is named for its high steep walls that narrow in the lower section so that they block the light in the morning and late afternoon. The roughly horseshoe-shaped wilderness is made up of the upper part of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Dark Canyon and two major tributaries, Woodenshoe Canyon and Peavine Canyon, in the Manti La-Sal National Forest. The Dark Canyon trip is an introductory backpacking trip for TMS middle school students. During the trip, students learned the basics of camp craft, meal planning, group gear packing, day-to-day itinerary planning, teamwork, geology, ecology, and the natural history of the surrounding area. Recognizing that this land is not only a protected national monument designated by our federal government but also land that is sacred to the Ute native Americans, TMS students and faculty were privileged and fortunate to spend four nights backpacking in the area and exploring the canyons. TMS students and faculty are grateful for the opportunity to explore Dark Canyon, foster a love for the outdoors, improve our outdoor skills, and bond as a class as we embark on the school year.  

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