During the Spring Semester of 2019, I spent 65 days on another Outward Bound course. Half of the course took place in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, where my group and I were dog sledding and cross country skiing. Halfway through our course we traveled to Texas, and for the final 30 days we went white water canoeing and backpacking in Big Bend National Park.
This entire trip was life changing in a way that I can’t even describe. After doing this course I feel prepared to take on life in a way that I never imagined before.
The first half of the course took place in northern Minnesota, at the Voyageur Outward Bound school in the middle of the Boundary Waters.
It was one of the coldest winters that part of the country had ever seen, and in the middle of our 17 day expedition, I caught myself just trying to get through it. The thing that I struggled with the most was staying present. The group was tense because we were all in survival mode. When we reached the end of our expedition, I was honestly relieved. However, that expedition taught me a lot about myself.
Surviving by myself on solo in the middle of polar temperatures was extremely empowering. Even though it was a little scary and there were lots of things that I had to figure out, I felt like a real adult when I finished my solo.
After our Minnesota expedition we had a week back at the Minnesota base camp getting our Wilderness First Aid certifications. This course was not only super interesting to me, but something that I could see myself using forever. We learned how to take notes in a way that would be helpful for doctors, how to make a quick and accurate diagnosis in a wilderness setting, and stabilize a patient who might not have access to medical care for a long time.
After Wilderness First Aid we did service for a couple who harvests ice in Ely (the town that the Voyageur Outward Bound school is in). At the end of the week we flew down to Texas.
The first 10 days of our Texas expedition were spent white water canoeing on the Rio Grande. It was hard to get used to being in Texas at first. In Minnesota there were constantly things to think about, like keeping warm, making sure the dogs were taken care of, and making sure camp was set up. However in Texas, there was significantly less to do. We would tie the canoes together, cook dinner, set up our tarps, go to bed, and that was it. There was a lot more time for exploration and reflection. White water canoeing was less scary than I thought it would be. We learned how to tilt with the current and the proper paddle strokes to use so that we wouldn’t tip, and we learned how to set up camp so that our supplies and canoes were safe. Learning about river safety was super interesting, and it was also a great way to transition from dog sledding because backpacking was, again, kind of a culture shock.
For the last part of our expedition we backpacked across Big Bend National Park. It was extremely empowering to be able to survive in the middle of the desert. At that point the instructors had stepped back more, and we were all traveling more independently. The only thing we needed to was set up a shade tarp. It was amazing to just sit in the middle of the desert and think about life for a while.
At the end of our backpacking expedition we made it to the Chisos mountains, and climbed the tallest mountain: Emory Peak. When we reached the top we could see all the way across the park to where we began.
Finishing this Outward Bound course is something that I will always regard as one of my biggest accomplishments. I feel as if I grew as a person in ways that I couldn’t have done any other way. Below are exerts and pictures from my journal and my instructor evaluation.
Entry from the travel day in between Texas and Minnesota:
“Tomorrow the second half of the expedition starts. It is seriously wild to think that 35 days ago I was just beginning this adventure. If I’m going to be honest, I don’t feel all that different. I just feel more me I guess.
I’m scared by how fast this is going by already. I know that I will learn what I’m supposed to learn from it, and that there is no way that I can come away from this experience without anything valuable to take away, but I kind of feel like I’m doing this wrong. This is the first time I’ve really done something like this all by myself.”
Entry from first day in Texas:
” Waking up this morning to the Moon and Venus and the beautiful sunrise made me feel empowered in a way I never have before.”
Entry from my last day in Texas:
“I made it. I’m so happy. I’m so sad. I feel like I’m on top of the world. I’m really proud of myself and I’m really excited to go home and apply everything I learned. This feeling of complete and utter fulfillment is hard to beat.”
Addison White's Big Picture Portfolio 