In 10th grade, I took Advanced Placement Environmental Science (APES) and it truly changed my view on the environment. I have always loved being outside, but APES made me realize just how sensitive, perfect and beautiful nature is. APES grew and developed my passion for the environment, which is something I will forever be grateful for.

My APES class took a trip to the Pocono Environmental Education Center in 2018, I was excited to spend three days in a cabin adventuring in nature with my friends. The first day, prior to arriving at PEEC, we hiked Mount Tammany at the Delaware Water Gap. I have talked about this hike in a previous post, which can be viewed here.

Mount Tammany is a tough hike, but at the apex of the mountain, you get a beautiful view over the water. On this trip, we were hiking in the rain and it was quite chilly for may. While this made the hike a little less enjoyable, it was still worth the effort for that incredible view. A picture of me hiking up the mountain can be seen above.

After the Mount Tammany hike, we arrived at PEEC and got settled into our cabins. While we were there, we had an extra credit assignment to take pictures of different things as part of a scavenger hunt. The image above on the left is a selfie of my friends and I with the scavenger hunt item, a birdhouse. The image above on the right is evidence of a bear!

On day 2 of the tip, we went on a hike where we ate lunch at an absolutely stunning waterfall. My friend Auburn and I can be seen sitting on a log in front of the waterfall in the image above. After lunch, we spent time sifting through water samples looking for some water amphibians.

After lunch, we went kayaking on a beautiful lake. My friend Auburn and I really wanted to flip our kayaks, but decided not to because of the chilly weather. When kayaking, a family of beavers were swimming right next to us, working on constructing a dam. I have never been that close to a beaver before in my life!

We also had a bonfire on the first night and went on a short night hike. Hiking at night is so interesting, you truly become engulfed by the sounds of the night. We practiced some owl calls and even had an owl fly right over head!

This trip was very educational – we did a lot of research on amphibians, water studies, tree data collection and more, yet it never felt like school. It felt like a vacation for the weekend where I could just be with nature. This is such an important takeaway from this trip. Learning doesn’t always have to be a chore, it can fun. Also, nature provides so many opportunities and areas to learn something new. There truly is something for everyone in nature.

I highly recommend everyone looks into PEEC as a short getaway from everyday life. It isn’t too expensive and would be a great weekend trip with a couple friends. Writing this post has sparked an interest and I already have started texting my friend to plan a trip to visit here again.

PEEC offers numerous hikes, a basketball court, a large cafeteria building, kayaking, informative sessions, family camping weekends, bonfires and so much more. I am so excited to visit here again sometime soon. Below are a couple more pictures from the scavenger hunt.

This is a worm Millipede.

This is a red newt.