Big Bend Outward Bound Course
29 Nov - 6 Dec 2018
by Bob Naeger
My daughter Catherine and I did an Outward Bound course through the Voyageur Outward Bound School in the Big Bend recently. The course consisted of five days canoeing the Rio Grande from the Colorado Canyon put-in to the take-out downstream of Santa Elena Canyon. (~ 43 miles). This was followed by a half day rock climbing at a site in Colorado Canyon. The group consisted of nine students and three instructors with a fourth instructor joining us running Santa Elena Canyon and for the rock climbing. The Outward Bound trip style is minimalist; backpacking style meals, tarps rather than tents and no chairs or table.
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| Father-daughter duo |
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Family paddling pair |
Weather conditions were good on the trip. The temperature only dipped to freezing one night and we had sunny, clear days. The flow was low (~ 220 cfs) so we did a fair bit of dragging and lining boats.
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Long Distance view
of Chisos Mountains |
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First boat into Texas Gate
at Rock Slide rapid
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Getting ready to go
over the edge |
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Intrepid climber
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An unusual aspect of this trip was that it is conducted as a course rather than a guided trip. The instructors don’t assume any knowledge of canoeing or other outdoor skills. They teach as they go. Instruction started with how to seal up a dry bag and continued through paddle strokes, knots, reading rapids, setting up tarps, etc. I was impressed at the instructors’ ability to quickly get everyone up to speed on the required skills. Besides the physical skills, the course included some time each day for reflection/meditation. The proof of the teaching was in the results. No unplanned swims or other mishaps with a group with quite mixed experience.
Before the course I didn’t know much about the Outward Bound organization. Rather than being a guiding company they are really an educational organization with many different kinds of programs for youth, veterans and adults. Based on my experience I would recommend their adult trips to anyone in HCC, particularly if you are interested in doing something outside your skill/geography base. You can more information about the offerings of the Voyageur Outward Bound School at www.vobs.org.
“Album Cover” group photo. Should be the new standard for HCC group photos.
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| Group photo |
Thanks to the Voyageur Outward Bound School and Steve Leroi for allowing the use of their photos.
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The author, Bob Naeger |