Carter Warden, a fourth-grader at Iola Elementary School, admitted he was a little nervous to walk on the Lehigh Portland Trails on Monday morning. He’d never been on the trails before.
“I don’t like snakes or spiders,” he said.
It was just a little chilly — 50 degrees with winds of 13 mph — and unlikely a snake would want to venture out in that kind of weather, but Carter wasn’t reassured.
He was one of 41 IES students in second through fifth grade who qualified for an outdoor hiking adventure with physical education teachers Jason Bates and Chris Weide. 
To participate in the hike, students had to read at least 10 books from the school library about the U.S. National Parks. Students learned about Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, Acadia in Maine and volcanoes in Hawaii.
“It’s important for kids to know the world is not flat. It’s actually quite majestic,” librarian Tammy Prather, one of the hike organizers, said. “Kansas is beautiful and Kansas is very different, but many of our kids don’t even get beyond southeast Kansas.”
In fact, a poll of the 41 students found 29 of them had never hiked on the Lehigh Portland Trails system, which is right in their backyard and approved to become a state park.
Jett Cochran, a second-grader, said although he’s never hiked the Lehigh system he has walked other trails in places such as Pittsburg.
Elliot Sigg, a fourth-grader, said her family usually walks on the Prairie Spirit Trail closer to her home near Colony. She likes when they see deer on the trail.
But a few of the students were familiar with the trail. Emma Wilson said she and her cousins recently explored the trails — not just the larger “backbone” trail but the smaller, single track trails that twist and turn for miles.
“We had fun,” she said.
Xylia Goodner said she’s walked the trails with her family.
BATES LED the 45-minute walk, stopping a few times to talk to the students about the benefits and rules of hiking.
The group also stopped a few times to listen and watch. Along the way, they heard the chirping of a cardinal. They saw a red-bellied woodpecker take flight. They watched turtles sunning themselves on a log on Elm Creek.
Bates shared with them the seven rules of “Leave No Trace” hiking:
