The hiking trails at Devil’s Lake State Park, that last almost 30 miles, can range from easy to difficult and is the first trip that Outdoors Club took this Spring after officially becoming a club this past Fall. Juniors Joy Lin and Christina Moy started Outdoors Club together to encourage students to explore the outdoors more, according to Moy.

After having to miss what was supposed to be there first trip due to inclement weather in November, Lin and Moy plan to go on four to five more trips this Spring, according to Kelly O’Toole, social studies teacher and Outdoors Club sponsor. According to O’Toole, she already had a relationship with Lin when she decided to back the club, but that was not the only reason she decided to sponsor Outdoors Club.

“Joy knows that I’m like an outdoors type of person like I love hiking, so I think she kind of figured, ‘Hey me and Ms. O’Toole had a great relationship, and she likes hiking, let’s create this club,’” O’Toole said.

By starting this club both Lin and Moy are hoping to decrease the amount of time that people spend indoors.

“We wanted to get outdoors more with friends and to promote outdoor activities,” Moy said.

According to O’Toole, high school was different for her in the sense of clubs and she regrets not participating in a club like this herself, but said that she still found time to do it herself.

“I wish I would have [been in a club like this], you guys have so many great clubs here that I never had, but I did it personally,” O’Toole said. “Every time I would go on family vacations until today, we would hike.”

In general, O’Toole enjoys spending her time outdoors no matter what the reason is.

“I do a lot of [kayaking] because I live in the city,” O’Toole said. “So there is a river right in my backyard, so I try and do that in the summer.”

Both Lin and Moy are very excited for the their club as a whole but especially the preparation that is needed to get ready for these trips.

“I think I’m most excited for when we get to plan more outdoor activities other than hikes, it would be cool if we could go kayaking or even like a camping trip is something I would really look forward to,” Lin said.

According to Lin and O’Toole, Outdoors’ Club has about 20-30 members and they hope to keep on expanding their club. They encourage people to join if they want to just get outside and have fun.

“I think [this club] is for people who want to give it a try and do something with their friends that is different from a daily activity that we could do here,” Lin said.