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Sidney students visit Grand Canyon, three states

 


Seventeen Sidney Central School District Students and two chaperones took a trip out west during spring break and visited several historic and educational locations.

The students, all in grades 9-12, traveled with chaperones Bryan and Carissa Neubert and landed in Las Vegas at about 11 a.m. on April 8. Despite traveling all night, the group started as soon as they landed, meeting an expert guide from Grand Classroom and visiting Red Rocks Conservation area. While there, the group stretched their legs by hiking and rock scrambling. They then boarded a bus for Kanab, Utah, where they would spend the next two nights.

The next day, the group visited Zion National Park, where they received a geology lesson and took a short hike near Checkerboard Mesa. They then descended into the picturesque Zion Valley, which was highlighted by a challenging five-mile round-trip hike. The hike had a 2,000-foot elevation change and took them to Scouts Lookout, where students were treated to a spectacular view of the 2,000-foot rock walls in all directions.

After a day in Zion, they traveled to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, where everybody took a turn sledding or snow (sand) boarding down the sand dunes.

The next day brought a 17-mile rafting trip down the Colorado River. The group boarded their raft at the base of the Glen Canyon Dam, and floated through the Glen Canyon and Marble Canyon areas. Along the way, the group was treated to geology lessons and petroglyph viewing. After dinner, students spend the evening stargazing at Lowell Observatory.

Day four was the highlight of the trip – a visit to the Grand Canyon. The group hiked on the South Kaibab Trail to 1-2 miles below the canyon rim to scenic locations, which included Oh-Ahh-Point and Cedar Ridge. Late in the evening, the group spent time at an indoor rock climbing gym in Flagstaff, Arizona.

On the final day, the students made a stop at Slide Rock State Park where they had a chance to slide down a natural water slide and jump into the frigid water of Oak Creek. Following the day there, the group returned to Las Vegas and had dinner on the famous strip and had the chance to see the famous Fountains of Bellagio performance before boarding a flight home.

See more photos from the trip below.