Impacting Young Lives Through Outward Bound

My summer has been spent leading wilderness trips for teenagers here in Central Oregon. There are many days when I look around me at the cliffs, the river, or the surrounding mountains and say, "wow... I can't believe this is my office!"

I am privileged to be able to take people out into the wilderness and see their jaws drop at the beauty around them. They experience challenges that will help them to develop their character and world view. We hope that they will have a better understanding of themselves and make a positive influence on the world around them when they return home. Here are some photos from the past month "in the field."

Students learn to belay each other (above) as they scale the rock cliffs and explore the beauty of Smith Rock State Park (below).

I instructed a 15 day River/Mountain adventure with 16-18 year old students in June.
We started with a week of white water rafting and other challenges on the Deschutes river.
After rafting 97 miles of the river, we stopped at the local nursing home to visit for a while (Outward Bound is big on community service), and then headed to the Mt. Jefferson wilderness area for a week of backpacking.

The snow was so deep that the trails were nowhere to be found...
...but we loved playing in and navigating through the snow-covered forests near Mt. Jefferson (below).Another reason that I love my job, is the people. Below are three of the many inspiring instructors I get to live and work with. As you can see, we are all a bit nutty, but it is a blessing to work with people who are full of vibrant creativity, compassion, and positive energy.

I will miss the Outward Bound community when I leave in two weeks. However, the great thing about a large family of transient adventure-seekers is that I am "bound" to run into at least one of them somewhere soon!