Northwest Sea Kayaking & Backpacking
This sea kayaking and alpine backpacking course begins in the San Juan Islands — a maze of islands sculpted by currents, and a world-renowned paddling destination.
Northwest Sea Kayaking & Backpacking is an expedition through two of Washington’s most beautiful and diverse ecosystems: the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountains. You don’t need to have previous sea kayaking or mountain travel experience. We’ll teach you skills for wilderness travel—how to pack and what to wear, how to paddle kayaks and backpack, and how to navigate using a map and compass. The course cultivates skills around leadership, character development, service to others, and interpersonal development. From getting up early to hiking or paddling all day, wilderness travel is demanding. You don’t need any previous experience. Arriving physically prepared and excited for personal development will enhance your experience and allow you to take full advantage of the expedition.
UPCOMING COURSES
This course is closed for the season.
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JOIN WAITLIST
Once a course has reached capacity, three waitlist positions become available. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. A $500 deposit is required. This $500 deposit includes a $150 non-refundable application fee and a $350 tuition payment. The $350 tuition payment is refundable only if you cancel your waitlist application or if an open position does not become available. If a position does become available, the applicant will be applied to the open position and the Application and Cancellation Policies of the Regional Outward Bound School will be followed, including forfeiture of the $500 deposit if you cancel 90 days or less prior to the course start date.
Waitlist applicants are encouraged to complete all required admissions documents while awaiting an open position. Positions may become available up to two weeks prior to the course start date. Applicants may only apply to one course. We recommend applying to a course with open positions instead of a course that is accepting waitlist applications. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.
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When a course has reached maximum capacity, meaning all spots and the three waitlist spots are occupied, a course will read “Course Is Full.” This means applications are no longer being accepted.
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I will always remember hiking in the mountains of the Northwest Cascades and kayaking in the beautiful seas of the San Juan Islands, both because of the breathtaking views and the wonderful people I met. The Instructors taught me various skills from making a good camping tarp to widening my leadership and teamwork abilities.
Participants paddle from island to island and get acquainted with the fascinating natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest coast. Instructors teach students the technical skills, teamwork, and communication skills necessary to travel as a group in a working waterway. Students may also do a service project with a local land agency, hike to an island vista, or spend time combing the beach.
Students work together to explore the high mountain landscape of the North Cascades where they will learn the essentials of backcountry travel necessary to carry them into remote meadows and high mountain vistas. Activities include leadership and communication skill seminars, navigation with map and compass, Recreate Responsibly ethics, first aid, and backcountry cooking.
Since its inception, Outward Bound has both taught an ethic of service on courses and sent students into our local communities for service projects. Students may do impromptu trail service or campsite service in the Okanogan National Forest or Pasayten Wilderness. This might include breaking apart illegal fire rings or covering up social trails. Lastly and perhaps the most important of all, students learn that by offering compassion to each other and supporting the crew through their daily chores of putting up tarps and cooking and cleaning, service can be given freely and daily in small acts of kindness. Students see the impact of their actions firsthand, and develop an appreciation of service and desire to serve their communities back home.
In order for profound learning to take place, students spend time reflecting on their experience, and Solo is that opportunity. The Solo experience provides an important break from the rigors of the expedition and gives students the opportunity to reflect on their Outward Bound experience. With sufficient food and equipment, students will set up camp at sites of their own, using the wilderness skills learned during the first portions of the course. The amount of time students spend on Solo is based on course length, weather, student condition, age and Instructor preference. Solo campsites are chosen to offer as much solitude as possible (yet be within emergency whistle-signaling distance of other group members). Most students spend their Solo time journaling, drawing, reflecting, thinking and resting as they process lessons of the course to focus on their goals for the future. Instructors check on each participant at regular intervals, as safety is always a top priority.
San Juan Islands, Puget Sound, Washington
Nestled between Vancouver Island and the North Cascades, the San Juan Islands are a unique coastal cruising ground of sparkling water and mountain scenery. You'll encounter sandy and rocky beaches, shallow and deep harbors, placid and reef-studded bays. Sightings of harbor seals, porpoise and eagles are common as well as the rare glimpse of an Orca whale. The islands get less average rainfall than the surrounding area due to the rain-shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains. Summertime high temperatures are around 70 degrees Fahrenheit while lows could be in the 40s. These regions are the ancestral lands of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi), Klallam, Samish, Tulalip, W̱SÁNEĆ, Lekwungen/Songhees and Coast Salish nations.
The North Cascades, Washington
Known as the “American Alps,” the North Cascades offer glaciated mountains, alpine lakes and high alpine meadows for endless exploration. The North Cascades host the greatest concentration of glaciers outside of Alaska, and are full of high mountain meadows peppered with wildflowers. The Outward Bound course area hosts some of the most stunning alpine climbing and backpacking routes in the United States. These regions are the ancestral lands of the Syilx tmixʷ (Okanagan), Yakama, Nłeʔkepmx Tmíxʷ (Nlaka'pamux), Methow, np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ (Wenatchi), Coast Salish, Skagit, Tulalip, Entiat, Chelan, Skykomish and Nuxwsa'7aq (Nooksack) nations.
Course Stories
I will always remember hiking in the mountains of the Northwest Cascades and kayaking in the beautiful seas of the San Juan Islands, both because of the breathtaking views and the wonderful people I met. The Instructors taught me various skills from making a good camping tarp to widening my leadership and teamwork abilities.
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Getting Started
If you are ready to enroll on a course click the enroll button next to the course you wish to select or you can enroll over the phone by speaking with one of our Admissions Advisors (toll-free) at 866-467-7651.
To secure your spot on a course you must submit an enrollment form and $500 deposit that is applied toward the total cost of the course and includes a $150 non-refundable enrollment processing fee.