Since the weather is starting to heat up and the sun is starting to shine, many students have  begun to spend their time enjoying the outdoors.

Here in Ellensburg, students at CWU are seeing the sun again after a long winter and rainy early spring.

Due to the warm weather, most students at CWU take a trip to what they call “The Pond,”or Carey Lake, which is a lake and field area just a few minutes drive outside of campus. At the pond, you will catch a lot of students there who do all sorts of activities such as beach volleyball, tanning, throwing a football, barbecuing, and swimming.

Those who do not go to the pond often find themselves doing other activities around campus. Brock Gilbert, senior and Business Administration major, said that he usually just hangs out with friends and teammates of his outdoors.

“Me and [Matt Poquette and Gaige Ainsle] normally go golfing at Ellensburg Country Club sometimes. We sometimes get together and chill outside enjoying time with each other playing games and eating,” Gilbert said.

Camron McNeil, junior and Philosophy major, said that he just goes on walks and spends time with teammates or at the gym.

“Just walks really…I don’t do too much really outside, but if I do, I usually go to the gym or Ice’s house,” said McNeil. Isaiah “Ice” Banks is a senior sports management major at CWU.

On campus, OPR (Outside Pursuits & Rentals) has tons of equipment that is not only available to the students, but to the public as well. There are many rental equipment at OPR that is available to anyone who wants to go outside and enjoy their free time.

Senior Coordinator of Adventure Programs, Bradley Gasawski, spoke about what it is that people here in Ellensburg do outdoors. 

“I found that people do a lot of different things when they are in Ellensburg,” Gasawski said. “We get students that like to float down the Yakima River. We get students who like to go hiking and camping. We have students that come in and rent crampons and mountaineering axes to at least attempt to summit mountains like Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams.”

According to Gasawski, due to the weather changing, they have different types of equipment that align with each season of the year. 

“We have all the summer gear that folks would want camping and backpacking equipment, and we have a full campsite set up here that students can rent,” Gasawski said. “We have rafts, stand up paddleboards, inflatable kayaks and inner tubes for rivers and lakes.We probably have just about everything except bicycles and downhill skis and snowboards.”

According to Gasawski, he also likes to be outdoors himself. He said that he enjoys mountain biking and has always enjoyed riding bicycles as a kid.

“I remember the day I was learning to ride without training wheels and I got a few scars that day, but it was a lot of fun,” said Gasawski. “I rode my bike from Canada to Mexico from border to border…like a 2000 mile journey camp along the way, it was pretty awesome.”

According to Gasawski, it won’t be too long until this Ellensburg heat goes away, so it is best to get outside and enjoy the outdoors.