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Ascend Wilderness Experience had an AWEsome 2021 summer providing safe and inspiring experiences in wilderness and local natural recreation areas.

In our 2021 summer backpacking season, Ascend scheduled 24 days in nature with youth and adults, amounting to 270 user days in wilderness, 182 of them with youth aged 6-18. For day hikers as young as 6, Ascend led three activity focused day hikes on the East Weaver Creek Trail in the Weaver Basin Trail System.  Hikers followed clues to make discoveries about their surroundings and made fun stops along the route to do activities such as watercolor painting.

For young people ages 8 and up, Ascend facilitated four youth day hikes into the Trinity Alps Wilderness.  Youth adventured to stunning lake destinations while participating in educational and confidence-building exercises. Ascend’s Trinity Alps day hike destinations included Big and Little Boulder Lakes, Stoddard Lake and Tangle Blue.

This year, Ascend formed it’s first ever teen crew to undertake trail work in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, in collaboration with local Forest Service officials.  Seven teens ranging in age from 14-17 participated in a trail work experience trip that included resume building skills for seven days of hiking and stewardship.  The group backpacked into Poison Canyon, with pack mules transporting tools and food supplies, to set up a base camp at Lilypad Lake. 

The crew day hiked from the lake to various work sites throughout the trip, using hand tools such as shovels, pulaskis, and crosscut saws under the direction of Forest Service Wilderness Trails Crew Leader, Erik Rademacher, to repair the tread on several miles of trail in the Poison Canyon Basin.

New to Ascend’s programming in 2021, adults were invited to participate in some of the day hikes in June and July.  Ascend organized three all-ages hikes into the Trinity Alps Wilderness that featured stewardship activities such as trimming brush encroaching on trails and removing logs lying across trails. Participants ranged in age from 7 to 72 and every hiker assisted in stewardship activities.

Ascend also hosted its much requested all-adult stewardship trip.  For years community members have asked us to organize more hikes for adults and we are thrilled to report it was a huge success.  Also working in the Poison Canyon Basin trail system, this group logged out approximately 70 fallen logs and gave much needed attention to about 16 miles of this trail system.  We are happy to report the Lilypad Lake and Thumb Rock trails are in good condition again, barring any after effects from the River Complex.  Special thanks to this hardworking team!

We know the end of this season has been hard for everyone in our rural communities, but it is more important than ever to continue our work of fostering connections between local people and our environment. Community donations are vital to our continued growth and ability to offer quality programs to you and your family that support our shared community. You can donate by going to our main page and clicking the yellow “donate” link.

Your participation and commitment to Ascend means the world to us and we are honored by your support. Your tax deductible donation means that we can continue providing valuable services to improve outdoor experiences in our community. Just this year we were able to:

• Monitor 70 miles of trails
• Provide 270 user days in the wilderness with participants
• Spend more than 1700 hours of volunteer hours doing stewardship on our local trails.

We couldn’t have done it without you!  THANK YOU!

Get outside with Ascend this summer! Ascend is offering a variety of day and overnight trips for all ages. Ascend provides everything necessary for your trip, including food, gear and guides. All programs are offered at no cost to participants but donations help ensure the future of Ascend programs. Click on the blue links below for more information about each trip and how to sign up.

Teen 7-Day Wilderness Stewardship Experience– THIS TRIP IS CURRENTLY FULL- IF YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM AFTER 5/15 YOU WILL BE ADDED TO OUR WAITLIST. A skills and resume building adventure that combines backpacking with volunteer stewardship up Poison Canyon near Lilypad Lake in the Trinity Alps – Open to youth 14-18, Wednesday, July 7th – Tuesday, July 13th      

Youth Day Hikes on the Weaver Basin Trail– A combination of hiking and fun stops, art projects, and activities along East Weaver Creek in Weaverville- Open to participants 6-11 years old, July 6th, 8th, and 14th, 10 am – 2 pm

Youth Day Hikes in the Trinity Alps– Day trips into the Trinity Alps – Open to participants 8-18 years old, July 16th, 19th, 21st and 23rd

5-day Adult Stewardship Trip – THIS TRIP IS CURRENTLY FULL- IF YOU SUBMIT THIS FORM AFTER 5/15 YOU WILL BE ADDED TO OUR WAITLIST. A stewardship backpack trip focused on trail maintenance up Poison Canyon in the Trinity Alps – Open to adults, Sunday, June 13th – Thursday, June 17th  

Stoddard Lake Multigenerational Stewardship Day Hike – A day of hiking and stewardship along the Stoddard Lake Trail in Trinity Alps, – Saturday, June 19th

Boulder Lake Multigenerational Stewardship Day Trips – Full day outings to Big Boulder Lake in the Trinity Alps that will involve stewardship activities and day hiking – Open to adults and families, June 24th and 26th

Ascend is committed to safety, in 2021 that means following COVID-19 protocols.

Please email [email protected] or call (530) 739-1177 to let us know which experiences interest you!

A note on COVID 19: We are committed to safety in the backcountry and in 2021 that means adapting to COVID-19 protocols.  We are monitoring the most up to date standards and guidance.  We currently anticipate that in summer 2021, COVID-19 prevention practices such as monitoring for illness, hand sanitation, masking and social distancing will still be relevant and therefore a part of all Ascend trips.   We encourage youth, adults and families who already mingle and are part of the same ‘cohort’ to consider participating together in Ascend summer programs.

You still have time to make those end-of-the-year donations to Ascend Wilderness Experiences. We are looking forward to getting the youth back into the woods for 2021 after such a tumultuous and mysterious 2020.

Click on our “donate” button to the right. You can also send a check to Ascend at: PO Box 3263, Weaverville, CA 96093. Or visit our online fundraising page: https://fundly.com/giving-tuesday-2085

Thank you for your continued support.

Though we had to postpone our Mountain Prom this year, Ascend still needs your support! We wish we could be boogying down and dancing the night away, but since 2020 had other plans for us, we are announcing an online fundraiser for this holiday season.

As Thanksgiving comes our way, we hope you remember your favorite wilderness experience for this year’s Giving Tuesday. To donate, you can sponsor a youth hiker or simply give what you can at the link below between now and the end of the year. We look forward to achieving our goal of $5,000 (and partying together at next year’s prom).

Be a part of keeping our next generation grounded and changing the world….one backpacking trip at a time.

Donate Here

Join Ascend on the trail this summer by participating in our 2020 Summer Scavenger Hunt. We have come up with some fun hike itineraries that each include a Scavenger Hunt Challenge with a description of a special feature to be discovered during the hike. Take one of our hikes, take a photo of the special feature described and email it to [email protected] to receive a prize.

Ascend also encourages hikers to accept our Stewardship Challenge by collecting garbage on any hike you take. Post a photo of the trash you collected to our Facebook page and you’ll earn a chance to win a fabulous Trinity Alps Wilderness bandana.

Ascend Wilderness Experience has made the very difficult decision to cancel 2020 programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After considering guidance from public health officials, schools, youth organizations and community members we have concluded that, under the circumstances, canceling our summer backpack trips and day hikes is in the best interest of our organization and the youth and community we serve.  

Thank you to all the youth and families who applied to participate in our 2020 activities. Your enthusiasm and trust means so much to us.  We are going to use this time of decreased public activities to fine tune some of our internal operations and do some exciting future planning.

We will also still, from a distance, facilitate local youth getting outside this summer and so we will be inviting young people and their families to participate in series of social-distancing-friendly scavenger hunts, following clues to make discoveries on the trail.  Stay tuned for more information.

 Taking a hike is a great way to support mental and physical health.  Here are a few tips on social distancing while enjoying a hike. Hike locally and avoid popular locations. Do not congregate in trailhead parking lots. Take a hike during non-peak hours. Avoid touching any surfaces, such as handrails and benches that other hikers are likely to touch. Be prepared for facilities, such as restrooms and trash cans at trailheads, to be unavailable. Practice excellent hygiene and leave no trace. Avoid higher risk activities. Have a mask handy and wear it if you encounter another hiker on the trail.   Ascend wishes you happy, healthy hiking!

To apply for the 7-day Teen Stewardship Work Experience Trip, please also download and complete this page:

We look forward to announcing a new date for this event soon. Advance ticket holders may seek refunds where tickets were purchased or by contacting [email protected].

In this time of fundraising uncertainty, donations are gladly accepted by clicking the donate button on the right of the screen, or at P.O. Box 3263 Weaverville, CA 96093

Ascend Wilderness Experience is throwing the second annual Mountain Prom on the evening of Saturday, March 28 at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Weaverville to raise funds for 2020 summer backpack trips and day hikes for local youth. Mountain Prom is an all-ages community shindig that will feature a wide variety of entertainment for the whole family including live music, photo booth, mountain prom attire and décor, prizes, kids’ corner, delectable hors d’oeuvres and more.  

A new highlight of this year’s Mountain Prom will be a lip sync contest with competitors from the local community.  The winner of the contest will receive a certificate for an 8 hour patio boat rental generously donated by Trinity Lake Resorts and Marina.  The boat fits up to 12 people and the certificate is redeemable any day between May 1st and September 30^th, excluding holidays, and subject to availability.

This fun-loving contest of showmanship, with a fabulous grand prize, is open to individuals and groups.  Anyone interested in potentially participating in the lip sync contest at Mountain Prom on March 28 should email [email protected] with the names of performers that would be involved, the song that would be performed and a brief description of the general concept for the performance. 

Crowd pleasing tactics such as costumes, props, and choreography are highly recommended.  Songs and performances must also be family friendly.

Contest space is limited so prospective performers are encouraged to email in their submissions as soon as possible. Submissions are subject to review and are not automatically guaranteed a spot in the competition.  The final deadline for submissions is high noon on Wednesday, February 19. For more information please contact [email protected] or call (530) 739 1177.