2 Week Expedition
11-12 • 13-14 • 15-17
This program is our tried and true wilderness adventure experience. Our Classic Expeditions are designed to inspire leadership and teamwork while introducing participants to every outdoor activity we have to offer along the way: hiking, canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, high-ropes challenges, low-ropes teambuilding initiatives, caving, zip-lining, and mountain biking*.
Though this 2-week expedition is packed with adventure, outdoor living and teamwork are the the core pathways to a fun and successful trip: setting up camp, sleeping in tents, cooking your meals over Whisper-lite camp stoves, bathing in creeks, using the "facili-trees" for the bathroom, and traveling from campsite to campsite under your own steam. These skills require initiative, meaningful communication, a great attitude, and respect for one another since each participant will arrive with a separate set of skills and background.
*mountain biking is reserved for our older age groups only
Upon arrival, participants will meet their leaders, play a few ice-breaker games, and then spend the rest of the afternoon getting outfitted with backpacking and camping equipment while being introduced to all the skills they’ll need for living in the outdoors for the next week. Skills include cooking in the outdoors, setting up tents, and Leave No Trace principles.
For the first two or three days, participants will move from campsite to campsite on our 500acre property as a way to practice proper campsite set-up/take-down while being close to Base Camp should any gear need to be adjusted or replaced. During the day, participants be work through team building initiatives to get to know one another while practicing communication and respect. Participants will then be introduced to knots and climbing skills on our climbing wall, bike skills and maintenance on our introductory trails, and paddle strokes and wet-exits for kayaking on our pond.
As the trip progresses, the group will leave our property by foot, bike, or boat into the surrounding national forest. They will spend the remainder of the trip moving from campsite to campsite in one of these manners (and an occasional van trip) while stopping to experience new adventure activities along the way. The group will rock climb at remote sites, cave in one of our many surrounding cave systems, backpack along scenic ridges, kayak/canoe nearby creeks and rivers, and maybe experience a natural water slide on a hot summer day.
As the week comes to a close, groups will return to Base Camp where they will join other groups completing their trips to compete in our WA’LYMPICS (WA's version of the Olympics), chow down on some much-deserved spaghetti, and share stories at WA's Closing Campfire.
OUTDOOR LIVING
Each week, participants will work to develop outdoor living skills such as:
efficient backpacking techniques
daily campsite set-up and breakdown
backcountry meal preparation and stove operation
risk management and backcountry safety procedures
Leave No Trace Principles
ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES
Every day, participants will experience adventure activities such as:
backpacking and day hikes
low-rope team building initiatives
high-rope challenge elements
rock climbing
caving
multi-day canoeing and kayaking adventures
mountain biking (15-17yo only)
zip lining
visit to a natural waterslide
LEADERSHIP skills
Throughout the week, participants will rotate through various leadership rolls that encourage our 4 leadership priniciples:
Work ethic
Attitude
Respect
Communication
““The program I did with WAEL was the best experience of my life... I learned about myself, made lasting friendships, worked hard and was challenged, and most of all, had fun. The rigorous activities were difficult at the time, but now I look back and smile at how great it was. I will never forget the program I did with WAEL.”
- Brooke Simone, age 14”