Leadership in Wyoming

Four hailstorms in one afternoon, elevation changes in the thousands of feet, miles of hiking for six days over rugged and isolated terrain, epic vistas, rain and lightning, and no Wi-Fi.

It was the perfect setting for the annual Wyoming Wilderness and Leadership Retreat.

With only a map and compass as their guide and everything needed to survive filling their backpacks, the eight Jesuit students and Jesuit teacher/chaperone Patrick Phelan had the experience of a lifetime July 20-28 in the Wind River Range of the Rocky Mountains.

Training with COR Expeditions near Lander, Wyo., included things such as learning how to set up camp, purify water, rock climb, and safety from lightning. Then the students – Connor Caruso '25, Joshua Rice '27, Cade Holland '26, Tyler Widlacki '26, Charlie Iler '26, Marshall Urquhart '26, Christian Lennerth '27, and Pete McCauley '27 – set off into the Wind River Range, trusting in each other and their faith in God, rotating as Leaders of the Day, developing as young men, and returning to Tampa, transformed.

The hiking varied from 3 to 7 miles daily. Rivers and lakes, rock walls and jagged terrain, hail, rain, and lightning, wildlife, including multiple moose encounters, and ascents to elevations of nearly 14,000 feet provided daily challenges. The evenings offered time for reflection, with individual prayer and collective sharing on faith and life and brotherhood.

Jesuit has connected with COR Expeditions (Catholic Outdoor Renewal) and their Outdoor Leadership Program for nearly a decade, with COR representatives coming to Florida and coordinating experiential leadership retreats for Jesuit students. Since 2019, a Jesuit contingent has traveled to Wyoming for the week-long experience in the rugged and isolated Wind River Range, which stretches across the western end of the nation's least-populated state – Wyoming – south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. 

On the first day they received all their gear, layers of clothing, learned about trail etiquette, what to do about bears, etc. The next morning they began their week of trekking through the Rocky Mountains, carrying everything in 50-pound backpacks – food, stoves, tents, snowshoes, clothes, etc. After the COR guides demonstrated how to lead the group, they turned it over to the students, with different pair of students serving as group leaders each day and responsible for all aspects: waking people up, breaking down the site, navigating, delegating, and reviewing the map for risk assessment of things such as rivers and snow.

For many more photos, visit the Facebook page Jesuit High School of Tampa.