When we drive up to the beach the parking lot is empty. It is also covered in about an inch of snow. Stepping out of the car a cold, unfriendly wind steals the curls of my hair out from under the fleece of my hat. Like some sort of intrepid artic explorers we trudge forward onto the expanse of icy snow.

As we posthole our way out onto the white plain, bits of snow swirl up around us, biting the exposed skin on our faces. The blanketed skeletons of trees and dune grasses fade behind us as we walk onto a strange new planet.

Emerging from nowhere, sandy rivers appear, winding alongside us as we walk, only to vanish again into the snowy fields. At points we walk on only a centimeter or so of crusted white, and at others we narrowly avoid plunging through a foot of snow into frigid water beneath. After an eternity of white, we look up and realize that the snow is fading into sand, and the roar of the wind is replaced by the unmistakable crashing of ocean waves.

The hard trek forgotten, suddenly we’re both smiling, laughing, and running towards the water, placing our hands into the frozen sand so that they can be enveloped by the oceans icy embrace. Behind us the sun is setting, casting a pink orange glow on the wasteland of white that we have just traversed. Illuminated in a frozen glow, we grin at each other, recognizing that we’ve found something magical.

This memory is just one recollection of a spectacular moment experienced outside in nature. I think it’s fair to say that any outdoor enthusiast can relate to their own experiences when they too felt they had discovered magic on earth. Many great writers have tried their very best to describe this phenomenon; what exactly is it about these places that touch us so deeply?

The first reason, I think, many become enthralled by nature is simply because of its impressive beauty. It is hard not to be awed by spectacular waterfalls and enormous redwood trees. This impressiveness can also invoke a sense of perspective.

Looking up at the rocky cliffs of a mountain or staring into the smokey expanse of the Milky Way, I feel incredibly small. Once set in the grand scheme of things, the petty trials of everyday life no longer seem so stressful. Of course, it’s not only the scenery that can offer us joy.

I find that hiking outside surrounded by green plants and chattering animals somehow always leaves me feeling more alive and awake then when I started. Who can really describe what it is about being outside that makes so many people smile?

What is important to note is that there is an intrinsic value to nature that is very hard to find in a city, especially one as large and populated as Los Angeles.  But just because students from big cities have likely never experienced this natural magic doesn’t mean that they aren’t looking.

At High Trails, we have a unique opportunity to help students find their own natural, magic spot outside. If we are able to show these students that there are beautiful places outside the city, that being outside is fun, and that they in fact are interconnected with all the creatures around them, then hopefully they will begin to understand.

As they begin to make this realization, they will see why it is important to protect these types of places and why it is important to take care of our world. Because magic isn’t just something from a story- it’s real, it’s all around us, and if no one protects it, one day it might just disappear.

 
At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com