“It’s always good to do something with the people you care about.”
The person Mr. Brooks Nevrly cares about is fellow teacher and friend, Mr. Dominic Scheuring. Earlier this year, Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring went on an adventure to Wyoming. However, this wasn’t an average summer vacation, as their main goal for the trip was to climb the beautiful, 12,809 foot mountain, Middle Teton.
“I’ve lived in Illinois all my life,” says Mr. Nevrly. “As a kid I never had the experience of something as grand as a national park.”
Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring both found their love for nature and mountain climbing through trips with their families and friends. Now that they have been to multiple national parks and climbed many mountains, they’re always looking for a new challenge.
“I had been thinking about this mountain for probably two years and it matched up with our fitness and skill levels for climbing,” says Mr. Scheuring. “Mr. Neverly had been to all kinds of national parks, so we naturally started talking about Jackson, Wyoming.”
Jackson is where Grand Teton National Park is located, and it’s just south of Yellowstone National Park.
“It’s pretty otherworldly,” says Mr. Scheuring. “The park is basically the Matterhorn of the US.”
After a lot of talking and planning between Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring, they finally set out to climb on July 25th. They were ready to summit Middle Teton.
Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring had to wake up early so they could beat the heat and thunderstorms that would come during the afternoon. Soon after, the MC teachers packed up and headed towards the base of the mountain.
Before starting the climb, Mr. Scheuring and Mr. Nevrly checked to make sure they had all of their equipment. This included crampons, helmets, ropes, an ice axe, food, and about two to three liters of water each. After making sure they were prepared, the mountaineers began their hike up Middle Teton.
“We passed by someone that was afraid of lightning and thunder so we had to make sure she was okay before we started climbing up,” says Mr. Nevrly.
Even when Mr. Scheuring and Mr. Nevrly are 1,400 miles away from MC, they still show what it means to be a Man of Carmel.
After this, they began the climb. However, they were soon met with an intimidating sight.
“We started walking up and people behind us were walking really fast with less gear than us,” says Mr. Nevrly. “These people were climbing the Grand Teton.”
Grand Teton is roughly 1,000 feet taller than Middle Teton. Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring agreed that it would be much harder to climb.
“You need a lot more equipment for the Grand,” says Mr. Nevrly. “Seeing them go faster than us on a harder mountain was a little intimidating.”
After facing some adversity early on, they kept on powering through until they reached another rough patch.
“On the way up, Mr. Scheuring used this term ‘interminable boulder fields’ because there were these boulder fields that seemed to go on forever,” says Mr. Nevrly.
The rocky terrain of Western Wyoming might have sent a few people back to the base of the mountain, but not for our MC teachers. They braved these ‘interminable boulder fields’ and carried on with their hike.
“My favorite part of the trip was powering through,” says Mr. Nevrly.
At this point in the climb, Mr. Scheuring and Mr. Nevrly only had to make it through a few more boulder fields until they reached the saddle, which is the lowest point of a ridge between two peaks, and is where they would stop before advancing to Middle Teton’s peak.
“Visually seeing more and more of the top of the mountain yet not having it agree with your perception of reality is a little tough,” says Mr. Nevrly.
While climbing a mountain is of course a tough physical task, both Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring agreed that the mental part of it wore them down more than anything.
After taking a break at the saddle, Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring made the last push up onto the peak. They saw great sights of the national park and other mountains, and they recalled the weather being great so they could see very far out.
“Middle Teton is probably one of the most aesthetic peaks,” says Mr. Scheuring. “It sits at the base of a really beautiful canyon called Garnet Canyon.”
However, they did encounter a problem at the top.
“We were tired and slow,” says Mr. Scheuring. “We were an hour behind schedule which meant it was after noon and much hotter.”
Being atop such a beautiful mountain has its pros and cons. While the views are incredible, the height still definitely comes into play.
“It was really windy up there so we weren’t as sure of our legs as we wanted to be,” says Mr. Nevrly.
While the wind and other factors might have annoyed Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring, they were still able to take in the incredible views and capture a couple pictures while at the peak.
After enjoying the sights, the MC teachers started their hike down the mountain.
“Coming down, there’s this thought process that it will be easier than coming up,” says Mr. Nevrly. “At least for me, it wasn’t.”
While they may have been tired, Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring never forgot where they were during their hike.
“The hard part about hiking down is making sure you take in the vast scenery that’s around you,” says Mr. Nevrly.
After hiking through some more heat, they made it back to the “interminable boulder fields” while stopping for water at the saddle. They then made their way back to the base of the mountain, taking in beautiful sights of Wyoming along the way.
Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring have since passed down their knowledge of nature and mountain climbing to their students.
Mr. Scheuring has shown his students pictures of various national parks and mountains he’s been to and encourages them to take a break from social media and value the environment that’s around them every once in a while.
In Mr. Nevrly’s English 3 Excel class students read Into the Wild, a book about a young man who leaves everything behind to live in the Alaskan wilderness.
While most people go to the beach or an amusement park for their summer vacation, Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring instead find joy in braving the climb and exploring national parks all over the country. However, if there’s one thing they both agree on, it’s that these experiences are better when shared. Only time will tell what Mr. Nevrly and Mr. Scheuring have in store for next summer break.
