Do you love adventure? Are you looking for more than an 11-day trail program? Do you enjoy personal empowerment? And most importantly, are you 13-17 years old and identify as a woman? If you answered “Yes!” to all of these questions, then this is your lucky summer, because Women’s Walkabout will be offered for the first time ever in 2016.
Walkabout is a 31-day program where campers spend up to 28 days on the trail. This extended time frame will allow us to explore areas that are too far from the CampU basin to visit in a single session. In addition to becoming more immersed in the wilderness, we will be able to form bonds and friendships that are strengthened by relying on each other as a group. During this time the walkabout leaders will facilitate a safe space for women to grow as outdoor leaders in an environment of support and empowerment.
Dates: July 13th – August 13th. 31 days, spanning Unalayee’s 2nd and 3rd sessions.
Rate: $4100 (Financial Assistance available)
Enrollment Deadline: May 15th, 2016. Space is strictly limited to eight campers, so sign up early! (Walkabout must reach a 5 camper enrollment to run).
Enrollment Limitations: Ages 13-17. Previous backpacking experience required.
Itinerary: The Pacific Crest Trail strings together the Trinity, Russian, and Marble Mountain Wildernesses. We’ll start in the Marbles and travel south through the Russians and Trinities, to arrive at the Unalayee Basin. We plan to spend time in each of these areas, traveling both on and off trails to remote lakes, valleys and mountain tops. We will have re-supply stops multiple times during the trip to stock up on food and fuel and keep our pack weights reasonable.
Program: It is important to us to be safe and have fun while empowering campers to practice self-reliance in the back country. That said, the program will include singing and swimming in lakes, playing instruments, navigation skills and map reading, watching sunsets, leadership training, being silly, knots and tarp-setting, fire-building, natural history; botany and bird-watching, journal writing, 24 hour solos, and back country baking.
Walkabout Leaders:
Rae will be coming to camp for the second time this summer. Last summer she lead an 11 day trail tribe. Before coming to camp, she took a course with the National Outdoor Leadership School and spent 77 days backpacking and mountaineering – learning how to guide and plan trips. She loves to play mandolin and bake cinnamon rolls on the trail, and it is quite possible that she will bring her heavy binoculars on walkabout so she can look at birds. Rae is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Ruthie has been coming Camp since she was 3. She has lead two 11-day trail programs at Unalayee and backpacks in the off season as well. Ruth is particularly proud of a 60 day winter backpacking trip she completed in the high desert of Bend, Oregon when she learned valuable skills such as bow drilling and starting fires with materials found in nature. She attended Herbology School after graduating high school and has a wealth of knowledge of local plants in the Trinities. Ruth has completed her lifeguard certification, EMT training course, Wilderness First aid, and is studying Women’s health as a midwifery student. She enjoys carving spoons, knitting, campfires, and traveling out of a backpack.
We would be happy to communicate with any prospective campers and parents about any questions, concerns, or feedback they might have. If you are interested in the program call our director Sarah at (650) 308-4453 or e-mail friends@gocampu.com.
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