The exercises were only two of many hands-on outdoors experiences the students from nearby schools would try during their 48-hour stay at the Larch Outdoor Education Program held at Camp Paxson. Now in its fifth year, the program is run by the nonprofit Camp Paxson Preservation Project, which holds a long-term lease on the historic camp from the U.S. Forest Service.

The program is designed for students in fifth, sixth and seventh grades but can be adapted for other ages. Earlier this week, students in those grades from Potomac School, Paxson Elementary and Missoula International School filled the rustic camp, which the Civilian Conservation Corps built in 1939 and ’40 on the west side of where the Clearwater River flows into Seeley Lake.