The Nature Wolves are Saint Paul’s hiking, paddling, and overnight camping club.

The club was started during last year’s Get Involved Day, when Mr. Frederick Escher, a Saint Paul’s religion teacher, wanted to establish a nature-focused group. While looking for potential members, Escher ran into two members in the Class of 2023, Evan Leaber and Davis Peltier, who were also looking to start an outdoors club.

“Recognizing this, we mutually decided to combine both clubs and focus on the same mission: to share our love of the outdoors with others,” explained Escher.

As the club enters its second year, I was intrigued by the Nature Wolves’ mission. The interest and passion for getting people to see the beauty of the outdoors was unique. It’s unlike any other club at Saint Paul’s. 

I thought that the best way to capture what the Nature Wolves aim to do was to attend one of their many weekend events.

The club decided to attend Fontainebleau State Park on Saturday morning, October 1, for a hike down one of its trails. I decided to join them and spend a day with the Nature Wolves.

I’ve never been a huge nature fan, let alone a morning person. But once I got out of bed and left for the park, I enjoyed breathing in the fresh, cool, October air. When I arrived, I saw about ten other students ready to hike.

Once we settled on a trail, we began our journey. We ran into several cool animals and creatures along the way, including spiders, salamanders, snakes, and beetles.

Overall, the hike was three hours, but the experience pleasantly surprised me, a non-nature goer. I had never felt so fulfilled on a hike.

It was very relaxing, and I highly recommend joining the Nature Wolves on one of their outdoor events.

When asking Saint Paul’s senior Davis Peltier about what the Nature Wolves aim to do, he stated “We want to provide students with an outlet to become more connected to the outdoors and to experience and appreciate nature to the fullest.”

Based on my experience, the Nature Wolves are doing just that.