Eva’s Window into Youth Leadership Adventures
After months pitching Youth Leadership Adventures (YLA) trips to classrooms of stoic students, sending countless emails and texts,and watching our enrollment numbers tick up, students rolled into Newhalem Creek Campground on a hot, buggy day in early July. As the 15-person van emptied out quietly I snuck around to the drivers side and greeted Neal, our Youth Leadership Manager, with an excited smile. Students were finally here!
It was the second trip of the summer, but the first where I got to see students start and finish their trip. At this point, halfway through my first year at the Institute, I had spent months learning about YLA, getting excited about YLA, and talking about YLA to just about anyone who would listen. Our application spreadsheet had been living in my head from all of the organizing and tracking of students and paperwork. Now, our team would finally get to see all of the planning come to life. 
I hoped to provide a friendly face for those who had met me in person, or at least a familiar name for the many students I’d had conversations with over email when I camped with groups on the first and last night of their trip. While instructors led the way, I was an extra set of hands around camp, helping students set up tents and pack backpacks, often for the first time.
This summer, I reflected on the first time I had put on a backpacking pack, around the same age as our YLA students. I had just turned fifteen, and walked laps around our living room, full of excitement and nerves about our trip the next day. You have to learn a whole new way to carry yourself, balancing the extra weight on your hips while trekking up or downhill.
On that first backpacking trip—a quick overnight to Snow Lake—I fell in love! I loved the views, the peace, and the routines of backpacking. A warm cup of tea at camp after a hard day of hiking remains one of my favorite things. That experience, and many since, are a large part of why I ended up at North Cascades Institute, hoping to provide a welcoming step in young peoples’ journeys into the outdoors.
In pursuit of that goal, I was fortunate to be a part of our students’ trips this year. Beyond cooking pasta dinner for night one or allowing instructors a well-deserved break on night seven, my role this summer offered a view of our students’ experiences in a way I hadn’t expected. I really got to see their transformation from start to finish. When groups returned from a week in the backcountry, their dynamics shifted and they had changed in ways big and small.
Quiet and reluctant to join in on our silly games initially, without fail each group returned with inside jokes and nicknames I couldn’t hope to make sense of. One student dubbed his instructors “podcast” and “bootcamp.” He insisted both were positive nicknames and distinctly different from one another. Their new camaraderie reflected our instructors’ talent in building community, as well as the value in undertaking new experiences with peers, even if they start out as strangers.
The sunsets on Ross Lake, sunrises from Park Butte, and saying goodnight to Mount Baker every night from Baker Lake left lasting impressions on our students. They were going home not only with a new sense of connection to the North Cascades, but to their environments close to home. Students shared about the local spaces they hope to protect in the future—parks, rivers, and beaches are gaining new stewards!
One student loved fishing on the Skagit before his trip. He asked if he could bring his rod, and promised to research the fishing regulations on Ross Lake. After the trip, he shared how experiencing the headwaters of the Skagit and sharing his passion with his group mates deepened his connection to the river. 
Students ended their trips with an encouraging sense of their own capability. A student who had never backpacked before wrote, “The feeling of accomplishment of what I’ve done here will forever live through me.” Students who had watched tent demonstrations with furrowed brows set up camp with ease. After cycling through camp jobs, some had a favorite and they jumped to share their new expertise with visitors. Many took to cooking on Whisperlite stoves, and were excited to play a part in their last dinner together. Others wrote of how they had discovered new strengths in themselves as leaders that they hadn’t considered before.
Connecting with staff at the Institute, US Forest Service, and National Parks Service during their service days provided a view into careers students didn’t know existed before. They had questions about jobs for me and partnering staff, both silly and serious, from “so how much time do you spend outside?” (quite a bit, in the summer) to “are you the one who chooses the menu?” (not really, but I promise it’s decent!). I know that these students could fill my role someday, and I think they are closer to believing it now too.
As we wrap up summer 2024 and start planning for 2025, I carry these memories with me. The image of a van full of friends, no longer strangers, pulling away from Newhalem fills me with excitement for our next season and all of the growth that we will get to play a part in.