How I Became an "Outdoorsy" Person

Hello everyone!!

The fifth week of classes has wrapped up and there are fun things I am looking forward to! Next week is fall break so I’ll be heading to the Oregon Canyonlands for a three-day backpacking and camping trip. I went to the Canyonlands a few weeks ago for a weekend College Outdoors (CO) trip and I am stoked to be going back to the desert. The fall weather is upon us which means it’s time for cozy sweaters, warm drinks and of course the rain.

I’m gonna throw it back right now to the weeks before school even started and talk about my New Student Trip (NST)  where I spent a week backpacking in the Cascade Mountain Range. Before heading out to Oregon I had done a three-day canoe trip in the BWCA (Boundary Waters)  in Minnesota senior year, but I had never really done any backpacking trips so this was all new to me. On my NST there were two other people from Minnesota so that was really awesome to have that immediate connection with them. When I arrived on campus the day of my NST I was soooo nervous but all the CO students were welcoming and helpful which made everything more chill. Looking back now, it seems like my NST happened ages ago.

We piled into this coach bus and headed for the mountains Wednesday afternoon. The ride there was filled with laughter and stories as we all got to know each other more. Since we were on a longer backpacking trip and moving greater distances we didn’t pack tents with us to sleep in. Instead, we had these things called bivy sacks (or just "bivys") which are like sleeping bag covering/shells. So you’re really just sleeping out in the open without much protection from wind, rain, and anything else. Backpacking was really hard at first. The packs felt like a million pounds on my back but as the days progressed I got more used to carrying my backpack and I found better, more efficient ways to pack gear and wear my pack. The second day of our trip was the hardest. We did about 6 miles mostly uphill and it was very hot that day too. But after that day the hiking got better and we cruised through the miles with ease.
 
One morning we hiked to the very top of Battle Ax mountain which was such a neat experience. I had never summited a mountain until then. It was surreal to have a 360-degree view of the landscape around you from such a high elevation. Some other interesting things that happened to us were: one night we thought there was a mountain lion watching us but it was actually just a deer, we got absolutely soaked one night because it just rained and rained and rained, we met a cute orange cat at the lodge site we walked through, and we all bonded so hard and became a very close-knit group of friends.

I could go on and on about my time in the mountains. I would 10/10 recommend to any incoming student that you should try to do a New Student Trip! They really are a great way to start college because you get to know other people in a non-school setting and go outside and experience nature. There are trips for all sorts of people: lodge trips, rafting, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, surfing, backpacking, research, and social justice trips. Before coming to Lewis & Clark I wouldn’t have considered myself super “outdoorsy” but I’ve caught the outdoor adventure bug and it’s all I want to do now - get outside and hike all over.

Thanks for reading & have a lovely day!
Sarah