Fayette County’s 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club is giving many opportunities to high school aged students to do exciting things. Being in the club you can get the gear and the experience all in one, and you get to make friends and memories all within the club.
“The 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club is mostly free to any high school aged student in Fayette County, even homeschooled kids.” says Aleah Denny.
They go on fun trips including rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, disc golfing, zip lining, white water rafting, stand up paddle boarding, and in the winter, they go snowboarding and skiing.
They are funded by the Rim to River Race. The Rim to River Race is a 100-mile race that lasts about 24 hours. There is an entry fee to be able to race and those fees help pay our funds,” Denny added.
They do most of their trips with ACE, the only trips you would have to pay for yourself are the skiing and snowboarding trips, but donations have been given to help cover costs to those who cannot afford.
“It is an expensive sport. So, I tell the students that if they can pay for the trip, that I appreciate them paying, however, not to let that be a barrier. So, if they can’t pay for the trip, we use club money to help them out,” Denny said, “So, if they don’t have snowboard pants or ski pants, a ski jacket or goggles, I can outfit them with what they need.”
Denny had made a post on the club’s Facebook page asking for donated items for their winter place trips, and she got many donations from the community.
“I got an amazing community response, a lot of people gave me donated underlayers, ski pants, goggles, shirts, beanies with gloves, whatever you can think of so everybody has what they need.” Denny says.
Denny also works with the New River Ranch Children’s Home. She has some of the kids participating on trips with them; anywhere from four to ten kids per trip.
“It is really cool. You know, to get them out of the ranch doing something different, it is really fun, and we all love it.” said Denny.
Students in the club gave a really unique perspective about it. Syler Mayfield has been in the club since his first year of high school, and he is now in his junior year. He joined because he likes the activities they do, and he enjoys helping others that are struggling.
“I like the club because she gives us an opportunity to go out and do stuff we like for free; she also gives opportunities to other kids who don’t have the ability to go out on their own or like to stay home to go on these trips.” Mayfield said.
Kiersten Smith joined at the end of her freshman year and now is also in her junior year of high school. She wanted to join because she enjoys the outdoors and wanted to get more involved in outdoor activities.
You get to do a lot of fun things like meet new people and make friends, you get to learn how to do tons of new things and make new skills and hobbies, and you get the gear as well. Being in the club gets you outside and active all year round.
“With the club you get tons of new things that you usually wouldn’t get a chance to do, like I learned to snowboard through the program, and she got me a helmet there. So, I have a helmet of my own and I have a kayak and I have one for somebody else if they need one, and I have a couple of skirts. Like you get gear through it and the experience so it’s a win win.” Mayfield added.
“Some pros are getting to learn about the outdoors for nothing.” She added. “I like that the club is free, it gives all students in Fayette County an opportunity to get outside and enjoy the outdoors. If the club wasn’t free I wouldn’t be able to experience zip lining, rafting, skiing, rock climbing, ect.. I was able to become a raft guide over the summer because of the 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club and I had a lot of fun and met so many great people.” Smith stated.
There are a lot of benefits to the 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club but only one con to the club according to Syler Mayfield. Kiersten on the other hand does not think that there are any cons.
“I think the only con is it takes some of the calm away from work or schoolwork, but that’s really it, because you get to do fun stuff while you’re out, so you don’t really think about it.” Mayfield Said.
Everyone likes different things, especially when it comes to trips like these.
“After a mountain biking trip some of the students cannot wait to go again, it is their favorite trip ever, while others will never get on a bike ever again. Then some students excel at rock climbing, others are absolutely terrified.” says Denny.
You don’t always have to go on trips, if you like rock climbing and hiking but don’t like mountain biking trips then that’s okay! All you have to do is message or have one of your parents message the 4-H Outdoor Adventure Clubs Instagram or their Facebook page and sign the waiver for the trip you want to go on and have an extraordinary time.
Remaining spring trips schedule:
- Aerial Obstacle Course 4/26 4:00 PM
- Rock Climbing 5/11 4:00 PM
- Upper New River rafting 5/24 9:00 AM (upcoming 9th graders can attend)
- Stand Up Paddle Boarding 5/26 2:00 PM (upcoming 9th graders can attend)
You can get all of this information and more on their Facebook and Instagram page.
Facebook Page: 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club
Instagram Page: 4h_outdoor_adventure_club
(All photography provided by the 4-H Outdoor Adventure Club)