If you can't bring the mountain to the city, bring kids to the mountain

With Inner City Outings you can help give nature experiences to kids who wouldn't otherwise have them

The Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco boasts some spectacular views, but most tourists and even residents of other parts of the city do not venture here. With the former Navy shipyard (a federal Superfund site), the notoriously polluting PG&E power plant, and another state Superfund site - all in this one neighborhood, its lower-income residents must contend with a high crime rate, gang warfare, and alarming cancer and asthma rates.

Thurgood Marshall High School lies just above this urban blight, drawing a rich ethnic mix of students from local neighborhoods. Despite the lack of even basic resources that plagues so many schools in low-income areas, for the past nine years many students have participated in outdoor adventures that rival the exploits of many Sierra Club members. Trips have ranged from a four-day backpacking trip in the Ventana Wilderness to a snow-camping adventure near Lake Tahoe.

How do these students enjoy such adventures when most other Bayview/Hunters Point residents rarely venture outside of their own neighborhood? They are participants in Inner City Outings (ICO), the Sierra Club's highly-esteemed program founded to give inner-city youth the outdoor opportunities that most of us take for granted. A core group of dedicated volunteers lead hiking, car-camping, backpacking and river-rafting excursions to a plethora of local destinations. Founded more than 30 years ago by a band of outdoor enthusiasts concerned that inner-city youth did not have the opportunity to take advantage of the Bay Area's ample outdoor resources, the program now sports chapters across the country and exposes thousands of youth to the wonders of the outdoors each year. "Most of the kids who go backpacking for the first time complain to no end and seem completely horrified by the experience. But they come back time and time again to participate in the trips. Go figure!" said Patrick Colgan, a spirited and youthful Irishman in his 60s who has led hundreds of trips over the past 30 years and still leads 4 - 5 Thurgood Marshall High School trips each year.

ICO leaders work with a variety of school groups and community organizations; some participate in just one yearly rafting or backpacking trip, while others go on several outings throughout the year. Teri Hudson, for example, has organized five trips this year for East Oakland's Sobrante Elementary School, ranging from a day hike at Muir Woods to a camping trip at Del Valle Regional Park.

Teri describes one recent trip. "On May 8, nine fourth- and fifth-grade students and eight ICO volunteers migrated from sunny East Oakland, across the Bay and over the Coast Range, to a fogged-in Pillar Point. Our mission was to take advantage of an extreme low tide to explore the usually hidden wonders of the ocean floor. After a short walk from the parking lot, we were able to gaze upon acres and acres of exposed tide pools brimming with marine life. Enchanted, the children (and adults) began to explore. Close to shore we saw anemones and mussel worms, while a trek closer to the crashing waves allowed us to see sea stars and sea urchins - critters who are normally underwater. Some children ventured up onto mussel- and barnacle-encrusted rocks to peer down into pools of surging water to see a veritable underwater garden. The biodiversity was amazing! A single rock the size of my head could easily contain 10 types of seaweed, two or three species of snails, and maybe even a barnacle or two!

"It was too much fun to see the anemones, starfish, and crabs," said 12-year-old Jonathan.

It was wonderful to have so many adults on this trip. Four of the volunteers were new to ICO, and this was their first outing. ICO volunteer Jenn Pironis shared knowledge from years as a docent for the Año Nuevo Marine Reserve. Other volunteers brought books on tide pools.

Eventually hunger overtook our budding marine biologists, and we headed back to the beach for lunch. By the time lunch was over, the tide was coming in, and so the children (and adults!) happily turned to frisbees and the sand for amusement. A giant sea creature eventually emerged out of the sand as a result. As the tide rose higher, several students ventured fully-clothed into the foot-high wavelets washing over the rocky plateau, laughing and shouting with glee. "If you don't like to get wet, don't come to this place!" 10-year-old Damion exclaimed. Then he added, "My favorite part was when we found the fish head and made the sea monster."

When asked how she was feeling, Victoria (age 10) said, "I feel happy because I got wet and I saw animals. I'm sandy now."

Fourth-grader Antoinette summed it up in one line: "I feel cold, wet, and fabulous!"

Such adventures are not only fun, but they also provide an alternative to customary weekend activities, which usually consist of hours and hours of television watching and video games. Perhaps more important, they offer these youth an introduction into environmental issues and create potential Sierra Club members. Research studies have shown that outdoor experiences are an essential component in gaining an appreciation for the natural world, and consequently an environmental perspective. In one survey taken of 256 environmentalists, for instance, more than 60% cited their childhood outdoor experiences as a primary reason why they became interested in environmental issues. With so many inner-city youth having little access to the natural world, ICO efforts are essential to the Sierra Club's mission.

Interested in volunteering? You can help out on many levels, from leading trips, to simply driving kids to and from outings, to writing grants proposals. Leadership-training workshops are offered once per year, and monthly social gatherings help create a sense of community among volunteers. "This is a fantastic group of individuals. I enjoy leading the trips, but interacting with ICO volunteers is a huge plus as well," commented Monte Meyers, chair of the ICO Backpacking Section.

For more information, visit the ICO website at: www.sierraclub.org/ico/sfbaychapter

For more information about ICO's Backpacking Section, contact Sven Thesen at (415) 401-6746 or:

The section will also be holding an introductory meeting on Tue., Aug. 3, at 7 pm at Sierra Club Headquarters, 85 Second St. in San Francisco.

For information about ICO's River Rafting Section, contact Delton Johnson at: or (510) 910-1053.

Susan Silber