Outdoor Leadership Series
Our Outdoor Leadership Series offers University Scholars a variety of ways to develop their leadership skills, challenge themselves and gain confidence with the new and unknown. All trips offered through our Series feature small groups and are led by experienced guides. Group discussion and individual reflection play an important role in each experience. From hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains to kayaking the Outer Banks, from exploring the depths of Roberts Cave to hang gliding at Kitty Hawk, our students can participate in a wide range of trips that stretch their curiosity, communication, and courage. To see pictures from our recent trips, visit our Scholars Scrapbook page.

The events associated with the Outdoor Leadership Series are directed at the following three objectives:

• To give students a venue to explore their curiosity of the natural world
• To foster students' confidence with the uncomfortable and unfamiliar
• To cultivate students' understanding of themselves and their capacity for compassion in relating to others

Upcoming OLS Trips:

1) Saguaro National Park and Mexican Border Wilderness and Service Learning Experience
Friday, March 12-Saturday, March 20, 2010
Application is due Wednesday, December 2nd by 5:00pm
Applicants will be notified by Friday, December 4th by 5:00pm
Cost: $800
Trip Overview: This trip will include both a wilderness experience in the 8000 ft. mountains of Saguaro National Park, and a service learning experience in the border region of southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. We will be backpacking in the Rincon Mountains Wilderness area for 4 days, then spending 4 days in the region south of Tuscon, AZ with governmental and non-profit organizations on both sides of the border learning about economic, historical, legal, and practical aspects of border and immigration issues, which will include service in a variety of contexts. We will fly in and out of either Phoenix or Tucson, Arizona, and a valid U.S. Passport is required. No previous experience is necessary, renting high quality backpacking gear inexpensively from NC State will be discussed with participants. The trip will cost $800, and arrangements for payment of $400 non-refundable deposit will be made upon acceptance, with the balance due by Monday, January 11, 2010. There will be three mandatory pre-trip meetings scheduled with participants. Click here for more information and an application.

Previous OLS Trips:

1) Fall Break Black Mountain Crest Wilderness and Service Learning Experience
October 7 - 11, 2009
We left on October 7th and headed to the Bowlen's Creek trailhead near the beginning of the Black Mountain Crest. The climate, vegetation and views of the Black Mountain Range are some of the most diverse and beautiful found in the Southern Appalachian Mountains (and the trip included walking over Mt. Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi). The only way to access the vast majority of this region is by foot, and so we backpacked Wednesday through Saturday, and returned to the town of Black Mountain on Saturday. We then spent Saturday and Sunday volunteering at the Veteran's Rehabilitation Quarters, serving homeless veterans.

2) Sea Kayaking North Carolina's Core Banks
September 18 - 20 and 25 - 27, 2009
Just south of Ocracoke Island and the Outer Banks of North Carolina are a remote chain of barrier islands called Core Banks. As part of Cape Lookout National Seashore, there are no bridges to or developed roads on these islands. Because boating is the only way to access these islands, they are a wilderness setting in terms of vegetation, animal life, exposure to the elements and land usage history. We left Friday and drove to Harker’s Island, loaded our gear into boats and embarked that evening. We paddled most of the day on both Saturday and Sunday, and returned to NCSU Sunday night.

3) Mountains to Sea Trail/Wilson Creek Wilderness Backpack (See photos here!)
April 3 - 5, 2009
North Carolina's Mountains to Sea Trail runs over 1000 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey's Ridge on the Outer Banks. 10 of us backpacked through one particularly beautiful (and water filled) section of this trail from Ripshin Ridge near Linville Gorge to Beacon Heights at the base of Grandfather Mountain. An introduction to wilderness travel for adventurous students in the unique Wilson Creek watershed, this trip was filled with opportunities to get to know other University Scholars, personal reflection, sensible challenges, and laughter.

"I was challenged physically through many miles of hiking! I also developed myself further as a person and as a leader. I constantly found myself stepping in at times to help others. I was surprised by the friendships that were made on this trip. Everyone became very close, and I really liked that."
- Pasha Whitmire, first year Textile Engineering major

4) Mexican/U.S. Border Wilderness and Service Learning Experience (See photos here!)
February 27 - March 8, 2009
This trip integrated a 4-day wilderness experience in the 8000 ft. mountains of Saguaro National Park with a 5-day service learning experience in the border region of southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. 10 University Scholars backpacked in the Rincon Mountains: understanding the nature of the desert, how they responded to it and getting the know each other; then spent 5 days with governmental and non-profit organizations on both sides of the border learning about economic, historical, legal, and practical aspects of border and immigration issues, including service in a variety of contexts.

"Backpacking first (before service-learning) did a couple of things: 1) Everyone got to know each other and that made things easier/more open during the 2nd half of the trip. 2) We could relate to the desert (and migrants) and its affects on the body. 3) The terrain drastically changed, as did the opinions we heard, places we went, and languages that we spoke. 4) It didn’t matter what we looked like, what we ate, or where we slept, because we had just lived in the desert for 4 days. 5) We all couldn’t walk afterwards, and we joked about it."
- Kenzie Mcbride, third year Civil Engineering major

If you have questions about the OLS trips, please feel free to contact Bengt at 513-0704 or bengt_carlson@ncsu.edu.