Silence, stillness, and mystery; death and nature have always been intertwined, and Urban students felt this connection especially strongly as they hiked through the picturesque Yosemite Valley in California on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93.

Spending time in nature is not an uncommon way to deal with grief, and while students did not necessarily intend to participate in the trip on the anniversary, it nonetheless caused them to reflect.

“It was really great being out there. However, I felt really disconnected from the rest of the country” said Kyle Chong, Urban School junior. “(It was) the most solemn day in a century, arguably” added Chong.

-Hannah Sears, Managing editor, multimedia