Freshman participate in outdoor activities in their free time

Laying in their hammocks together around the Lakepointe pond, freshmen Emma Lee, Maddie Martin and Melia Davis relax outside with the trees rather than spending time together inside. Davis liked listening to music outside while hammocking

“My favorite part of hammocking is being able to relax and listen to music outside on a nice day,” Davis said.

Martin found the tools for hammocking at local stores. 

“The tools to go hammocking are really easy to get,” Martin said. “All you need is a hammock which you can get at Walmart for about $10 or $15 and an area that has a good amount of sturdy trees.”

Finding hammocking more appealing, Lee enjoyed the relaxing aspect of the activity. 

“I prefer hammocking because although geocaching is really fun, hammocking is more of a way to relax which makes it more enjoyable,” Lee said. “It is also something that we do more often since it is such an easy activity to set up.”

The girls also enjoyed geocaching, an activity similar to scavenger hunts; geocaching uses clues to find little trinkets in pods called geocaches. Geocaches were hidden all over, but the group preferred hunting for them in Shawnee Mission Park. Martin felt rewarded after finding a geocache.

“Geocaching is definitely a more involved activity that takes a lot of energy, but the adventure is a lot of fun,” Martin said. “Although sometimes the geocaches can be really hard to find, it makes it a lot more rewarding when we do find them.”

With an app that finds nearby geocaches, Lee easily got involved in the activity.

“My friends and I use an app for geocaching that provides locations of geocaches,” Lee said. “It gives us clues and maps to help you find where the geocache is hidden. The app makes it a lot easier to start geocaching because it finds geocaches that are hidden near your location.”

Overall, Davis appreciates both hammocking and geocaching for their differences.

“I don’t have any preference between the two,” Davis said. “I like geocaching for the adventure and thrill you experience when you are trying to find the geocache but I also like hammocking for the time to relax with friends and enjoy being outside.”