Like Ashley and Chris, I also went on a Pre-O trip.
I went to the Big Sur with 9 of my fellow first years, a second year, and 3 guides. I was encouraged to go on a Pre-O trip by my interviewer. She said it was a great way to make new friends and bond with them. After 22 miles of hiking (10 of which were on an absolutely brutal first day when we started in the middle of the day), Sykes Hot Springs, and a couple of swimming hole later, bond we did! It was great to share the experience with everyone and get to know their stories, what they wanted to do, their senses of humor, etc. We've even met up for drinks and for a BBQ after our trip. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Orientation tomorrow!
Like Ashley I'll let the pictures show you the rest of our story. Photo credits to Jacqueline Sutro!
Beach camping! Here's all the first years that came! We stayed at San Simeon State Park the first night. It may have been one of the best camp sites I have ever seen: near the beach, clean bathrooms, and you didn't need to worry about bears (unlike Yosemite).
An amazing sunset.
About to head out onto the trail!
Hiking along the Pine Ridge Trail
After our trip we went to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, which has an amazing view of a waterfall dropping into the ocean.
We also went to Elephant Seal Beach afterwards!
