By Ian Holmes

Young Nanaimo students conquer Mount Benson

Jun 19, 2018 | 5:04 PM

NANAIMO — A group of Nanaimo first grade students made quick work of the challenging trek up Mount Benson.

Fourteen students from a Mountain View Elementary class scaled the roughly 1,000-metre mountain on Friday, June 16.

Teacher Lisa Marshall was floored by how well her class fared on the hike from the Witchcraft Lake trailhead.

“I think sometimes we stop believing in kids and they can’t do some of these things. Just keep raising the bar, believe in them and they believe in themselves.”

Marshall said she took the six and seven-year-olds on five other strenuous, shorter hikes to prepare for the big day. She said they climbed about halfway up the mountain recently and conceded there were grumblings about whether going to the top was a good idea.

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“I was shocked, it took only two hours to get to the top, that was including a rest break and feeding the whiskey jacks,” Marshall said. “They impressed me the whole way, there wasn’t any complaining.”

Marshall feels it’s important to promote healthy habits to her young students, while also showing other teachers in the district hiking is an easy way to connect with the outdoors.

NanaimoNewsNOW visited Marshall’s class Tuesday to hear the young hikers’ thoughts on the adventure.

Students raved about the views, feeding birds, looking for insects and visiting the Mount Benson plane crash wreckage site.

“It was really cool to see colours from up above and see different trucks moving logs and different things that we never saw before, it was really fun,” Xander Seper said.

Alexis Bryce said she wants to go back to get another look at the view from the summit.

“It was really tiring. I was the first one in my family to do it, my mom only went halfway. It was really fun.”

Bryce said there has already been a family discussion about a hike to Benson’s summit.

Tali Thomson was quick to recall a salamander she spotted on the hike, a highlight for most of the class.

“I saw our school and I think I saw our house, where my sister goes riding,” Thomson said.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes