Since the dawn of time, young men have been drawn to the untamed wild, following an innate desire to explore and discover the illimitable wonders of creation.
Heights Frontiers, The Heights School’s outdoor program, pushes these same boundaries, leaving behind the confines of concrete and steel, to enter those remote and beautiful parts of the world untouched by modernity. No walls, no wheels, no electricity, no plumbing, these trips are full immersions into the backcountry. The wilderness reminds us how to be human and allows us to return to the front country fully alive and fully engaged with reality.
2026 Dates
New England High Peaks: June 28 – July 3, 2026 (entering grades 9 – 12)
Minnesota Boundary Waters: July 18 – July 24, 2026 (entering grades 7 – 9)
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness: Minnesota
Split into groups of seven boys and two staff members, we will spend 5 days (4 nights) in the backcountry, with the bookend evenings spent at our outfitter’s bunkhouse near town. Boys will attend the Saturday Vigil Mass in Ely before entering the backcountry on Sunday.
In the backcountry, we will enjoy family-style meals cooked over camp stoves and an open fire. There will be no bathroom or shower facilities for the duration of our expedition amidst the lakes and woods. The boys will be able to shower upon returning to town, before flying home (although by that point they may have embraced the grunge!). Each day, we will cover 5-7 miles, and several days will include portaging as we navigate treacherous white water or transition from one lake to the next. We will be using lightweight Kevlar canoes and never portaging more than 1 mile at a time.
This trip is limited to twenty-one boys.
- Age: Entering Grades 7-9
- Dates: Jul 18 – Jul 24, 2026
- Cost: $2150 plus transportation and covers all food, lodging, and group outfitting, except flights and airport meals
New England High Peaks: White Mountains Presidential Traverse and Maine’s Iconic Mount Katahdin
Accompanied by three staff members and a priest, we will spend two days completing the Presidential Traverse in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, including summitting the tallest mountain in the East, Mt. Washington, before driving further north to climb the tallest peak in Maine, and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, Mount Katahdin. While one of our hikes is a multi-day trek, this is not considered a backpacking trip, and multi-day packs are not required.
During our two-day hike of the Presidential Traverse, we will overnight at the Lake of the Clouds Hut, a European-style hostel run by the AMC, where we will be served a hot dinner and breakfast. We will then drive up to Northern Maine, where we will climb Mount Katahdin, a rugged 12-mile day hike that includes the infamous Knife Edge Trail, a 1.1-mile ridgeline with breathtaking and sweeping views.
This trip is limited to twelve students.
- Age: Entering Grades 9-12
- Dates: June 28 – Jul 3, 2026
- Cost: $1650 covers all food, lodging, and transportation costs. Boys will need to pack a sleeping bag/pad and a hiking day pack. We will coordinate tents for specific nights after the trip is filled.
DIRECTORS
Elias Naegele ’10
Ext. 146, enaegele@heights.edu
A native Virginian, a Heights lifer, and the third of five Naegele boys to graduate from The Heights, Elias first pursued his love for all things wild to Wyoming following his graduation from the University of Virginia. After a time spent guiding snowmobile and ATV trips in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), Elias returned eastward, where he taught lower school natural history and middle and upper school math at The Avalon School. Still scratching the interminable itch of the untrodden path, he trekked up the coast, serving as a founding faculty member at Sparhawk Academy. Yet while the ancient Appalachians were never far off, the craggy peaks of the west continued to call, and Elias returned west once again, where he met his beautiful wife and worked as an administrator at both the secondary school and collegiate level.
A certified Wilderness First Responder, Elias has been leading backcountry trips across the country, by paddle, foot, and motor both professionally and with friends since his high school days. If not readily available, he has likely ditched the pre-packaged life of suburbia for the open road on yet another adventure with his young family and trusty Irish Setter, Rosie.
Titus Willard ’13
Ext. 211, twillard@heights.edu
Fourth Grade teacher, Titus Willard, graduated from The Heights in 2013 and from the University of Dallas in 2017. During the Fall of 2014 he studied for a semester in Rome and toured several countries in Europe, visiting the Swiss Alps, Germany’s Black Forest region, and other idyllic frontiers.
An avid outdoorsman, Titus has tackled miles of the Appalachian Trail, a Summer of commercial fishing in the wild salmon fishery of Kodiak, Alaska, and over 900 miles of the Mississippi River by canoe from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. Titus has enjoyed teaching in the Valley for the past six years. Titus and his wife, Claire, live in Monrovia, Maryland with their four young daughters, Sophia, Katherine, Cecilia, and Bernadette.
Staff
Stefan Syski ’00
A certified Wilderness First Responder and Director of The Heights Mountaineers Club, Stefan Syski completed his first leg of the Appalachian Trail at age 6, a 3-day trek from Harper’s Ferry to Boonesboro with his dad. Hooked on backpacking ever since, Stefan joined the inaugural Heights Mountaineers trip in 1997 (to the Adirondacks) and completed every hike they did before he graduated in 2000. After joining The Heights faculty in 2010, Stefan has led the group on over two dozen hikes, as well as leading many other bikepacking, camping, skiing, rock-climbing, and pilgrimage trips for students.
Casey Kirk ’19
A 2019 graduate of The Heights and a 2023 graduate of Thomas Aquinas College in Northfield, Mass., Casey Kirk teaches 3rd grade in the Valley.
A certified Wilderness First Responder, he has completed a variety of outdoor trips, from exploring the American Southwest to navigating the beautiful rivers of New England.
Josue Zelaya
A retired police officer from the Montgomery County Police Department, Josue Zelaya teaches in the lower school at The Heights.
An adventurous soul since youth, Josue is the father of four current Heights students and one Heights alum, all of whom have enjoyed the excitement of the Valley since 3rd grade. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Paula, for 20 years.
Finn Mehigan ’13
After graduating from The Heights, Finn Mehigan earned his B.A. from the University of Virginia in Classics and Linguistics. He enjoys most everything Classical, as well as performing in various theatrical productions both comedic and otherwise, and taking spontaneous trips with his beloved wife.
A certified Wilderness First Responder and avid rock climber, Finn has completed outdoor trips across the country, though if you ask him, the favorite peak in his bag is undoubtedly Mt. Olympus in Greece. Finn is excited to be serving as a guide for the upper school trip to the Weminuche Wilderness.
Micah Willard
Husband to his sweetheart, Kathleen, and father of seven, Micah hails from Monrovia, Maryland. He is a former faculty member of the Heights, where his oldest son, Jack ’30, now attends. Micah now manages the Maryland branch of Roofsimple, a roofing and storm-damage restoration company. He has enjoyed camping, fishing, hunting, and outdoor activities from the time he was young, and he is excited to be returning as a guide on the Heights Frontiers trip to the Boundary Waters with his son Jack.
Anders Hurd
Husband to Lindsay Hurd and father of six—including Joseph Hurd ’29, a three-time attendee of the HF wilderness trip to the Boundary Waters—Anders and his family live in Hillsboro, Virginia, where he owns and operates Faber Custom Builders, a custom home-building construction company.
Anders has enjoyed wilderness adventure from the time he was a young boy, navigating and fishing some of the Canadian lakes right across the border from the BWCA, including an angling trip to Kishkutena, where he fished musky, walleye, and lake trout—all target species of the Boundary Waters. He has also explored the Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming on horseback.
Anders enjoys hunting and camping with his sons in Culpepper County, Virginia during his free time. He is excited to be joining the Heights Frontiers staff this summer as a Boundary Waters guide.