In late May, 7th graders go out in groups of 9 -10 with two adult leaders and a Lakeside senior leader for a three-night, four-day expedition based wilderness experience. A variety of types of trips are offered each year including: coastal backpacking, desert backpacking, Cascade backpacking, and road biking. Students are introduced to small group and activity specific expedition skills. Throughout the trip, students are given opportunities to take on leadership roles and to practice group decision making. The 7th-grade site locations represent diverse ecosystems in Washington State; students learn about the geography and ecology of their outdoor site.

On these trips, students will be traveling “expedition style” which means that they will be traveling to different campsites most nights, carrying all of the equipment and food that they need, in backpacks. These trips are demanding in both organization and execution, but they are also richly rewarding in experience and satisfaction. In addition to the lessons derived from planning and making decisions about their trips, both as individuals and working in groups, students gain an opportunity to observe wildlife and weather in a unique and beautiful wilderness environment.

Trip Dates: Tuesday May 13 - Friday May 16, 2025

All groups will depart from school at 8:30am on Tuesday May 13. Students can take the bus to school on Tuesday.

All groups plan to be back at Lakeside in time for normal 3:25pm departure on Friday May 16.

Due to the complicated logistics of backpacking and managing 9 different student trips, it is NOT possible for students to come late or leave early from a trip. Please do not plan any doctor’s appointments, sports practices/games, or travel that will require a change in schedule.

There will be multiple preparation sessions that students will do in their trip groups during the school day to prepare for these trips. These sessions will take place between spring break and the trip departure dates and are built into the daily school schedule.

Tentative Locations for 2025, subject to change:

Ozette, Olympic Peninsula (backpacking) - 2 groups

Ross Lake North Cascades (Backpacking) - 1 group

North Olympic Coast (Backpacking) - 1 group

Baker Lake (backpacking) - 2 groups

South Olympic Coast (backpacking) - 1 group

Hoh rainforest (backpacking) - 1 group

Lopez Island (biking) - 1 group

Sleeping Accommodations and Student Preferences

Students are all surveyed before an outdoor trip to identify a number of preferences to help us choose sleeping arrangements for the trip. Students will sleep in 2-person, 3-person or 4-person tents with other students in their group. Lakeside’s teachers will assign students to tents based on their survey preferences and using our teacher knowledge to enhance community building and comfort amongst the group.As with all of our overnight programs, we will follow Lakeside School’s overnight accommodations policy in the family handbook, also listed below:

OVERNIGHT ACTIVITIES AND OFF-CAMPUS TRIPS - page 37 of family handbook

On overnight activities or off-campus trips, students will be able to request accommodations in a space that aligns with their gender identity or in a private space. All students will be asked to respect the privacy of their roommates if they have them. When changing clothes, all students are asked to use a bathroom with the door closed, rather than changing in a shared bedroom space. Students are also reminded that they should not touch other people or other people’s belongings without asking permission, and that they should be mindful that other students may have different personal physical space needs that should be respected.

Packing Lists

Please contact Greta Block or your student's trip leaders if you have any questions about the packing list! Watch this helpful video here all about packing for a backpacking trip and how to pack your backpack.

Backpacking packing list

Biking packing list

Forms and paperwork! The required forms for your student’s 7^th grade outdoor trip are now available in the Magnus Health Portal. Parents/guardians, please login to your student’s account and complete the following three forms by Wednesday April 2.

Activity Permission Form
Inherent Risk Acceptance Form
Outdoor Trip Health Form

7th grade Experiential Education Information Night recording, from 3/18/25: