Junior history students head West

Photo by Jessica Uong

History students and history teacher Matt Torrens pose under the Delicate Arch in Moab, Utah, with three students from a neighboring high school.

Hearing the revving of the engine and feeling the breeze through his hair, junior Daniel Dols drives a jeep off-road during the week of April 7-13.

While some students chose to stay home for spring break and lounge in front of the TV with a soda in one hand and their cell phone in the other, 19 students — as well as a few parents and history teacher Matt Torrens — decided to add some excitement to their week off in a wild west adventure through Utah, where they visited Salt Lake City, Monticello and Moab.

This trip is offered every other year and is organized by Torrens.

“My favorite part of the trip was definitely the jeeping," Dols said. "It was amazing! I got to drive, and we drove off-road for a good four hours.”

In addition to off-road driving, the students got to go rappelling — controlled descent down a rock face using a rope — mountain biking and hiking through some of Utah’s most popular locations.

Junior Matt Stark’s favorite hiking spot was along the Colorado River.

“You would just be climbing over rocks and walking over sandy trails, but then the ground drops away in front of you and your looking over a cliff hundreds of feet above certain death,” Stark said. “And for a few minutes you feel like you’re looking at a computer screen because your brain just can’t take in how beautiful and immense the sight is.”

The students also got to meet and befriend students from Monticello High School in Utah.

“They were really nice, so I hope that we can get them to come visit California next year so they can see Saratoga,” Dols said.

Since the trip was led by the history department, the students visited many historical sites such as the crash site of a B-52, million-year-old dinosaur tracks, thousand-year-old pintographs (mechanical apparatuses that create a geometric image), 400-year-old petroglyphs (rock engravings), a Japanese Relocation Camp and a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp.

Dols said he would recommend the Wild West trip to other students in 2016, especially if they are interested in adventuring, exploring and trying something new.

“The Wild West Trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’m glad I didn’t miss out on,” Stark said.