Preparing for Summer in the Backcountry

Ed. note: Youth Leadership Adventures started their first session last Thursday, June 19. But instructors have been zipping around the Environmental Learning Center for the past two weeks, working to ensure the program will run smoothly through mid-August.
By Carolyn Waters
The Youth Leadership Adventures staff have assembled at the Environmental Learning Center to prepare for a summer of backcountry courses. Here’s a sneak peek into what it takes to get everything in order, along with some interesting stats about our provisions.
Total number of Youth Leadership Adventure courses offered this summer: 11
Number of students who will participate in Youth Leadership Adventures this year: 107 (including two undergraduate interns and three graduate students)

Food is separated out for each course prior to packing in buckets.

Gallons of trail mix to be consumed during 2014 Youth Leadership Adventures: 85
Number of days one person could be well-fed with the food we’re packing: 1,344
Number of days one bear could be well-fed with the food we’re packing: 1 (just kidding!)
Greatest number of tents we will set up in one night this summer: 20
Number of raincoats available for students to borrow: 43

Graduate student and instructor Kaci Darsow inventories gloves for students to borrow.

Instructor Sabrina repairs a water filter hose.

Graduate student and instructor Annabel Connelly inventories hiking socks for students to borrow.

Empty buckets, ready to be filled with all of the summer’s food.

Sabrina, program instructor, counts backpack rain covers.

Aneka, program coordinator, and Sabrina, program instructor, consider massive quantities of trail mix.

Lead instructor, Matt, checks the gear spreadsheets.

All photos by author.
Carolyn Waters is a Youth Leadership Instructor. She is also a former graduate student and fulfilled many other roles for North Cascades Institute. Now, she is thrilled have returned to the peaks and valleys of the American Alps.