The Call of the Wild

“With about two-thirds of our state designated as public land, we’ve got millions of acres to explore, and we’re having a great time doing it,” says Joe Yuska, director of Lewis & Clark’s College Outdoors program. The program recently ranked among the country’s top 10 at colleges and universities of all sizes for the variety of trips available. While whitewater rafting and sea kayaking are the most popular outings, the program offers a taste of the unusual as well, such as clinics in igloo building and Northwest ancient forest ecology.

The program is so popular that 9 out of 10 Lewis & Clark students take at least one College Outdoors trip. For many, the first adventure is a pre-New Student Orientation trip, providing an introduction to the Pacific Northwest, to Lewis & Clark, and to new friends before school even begins. For some, the trips are just a great way to pass a weekend or spring break. For others, they’re a highlight of the college experience.

Kyle Miller came to Lewis & Clark from Moscow, Idaho, and couldn’t resist the call of the wild. During his first Breakaway Adventure to Waldo Lake in the Cascade Mountains, he spent a week kayaking on one of the purest lakes in the world. “The whole trip was amazing,” says Kyle. “Getting to meet other students in an environment where I was totally comfortable was really good for me.”

As soon as he got back to civilization, Kyle applied for a job with College Outdoors, and soon he was leading backpacking and sea kayaking trips himself. His experience helped him land a summer internship with Discovery Sea Kayaks in the San Juan Islands, an experience he describes, simply, as “awesome.”

But the most memorable experience so far was last fall, when he went back to Waldo Lake as a trip leader for new Lewis & Clark students. “The group wasn’t especially outdoorsy, so to be able to take them out in the wilderness and see them having a good time— that felt good,” says Kyle. “By the end of the trip they had really bonded as a group.”

Equipped for Adventure

A partial inventory of College Outdoors gear:

55 Backpacks
32 Head lamps
71 Wet suits
80 Life preservers
10 Whitewater rafts
26 Sea kayaks
44 Cross-country skis (pairs)
28 Snowshoes (pairs)
67 Sleeping bags
42 Tents
88 Rain jackets
6 Porta-Potties
9 Inflatable kayaks
18 Dry suits