COURSE OVERVIEW

Maine Appalachian Backpacking for Girls

Maine Appalachian Backpacking expeditions explore the Mountains of western Maine. This journey is an opportunity for those seeking a fresh challenge in a unique wilderness environment and a collaborative team setting. On this expedition, students learn to camp and travel simply, relying on each other and what they can carry with them.

In a phased teaching progression, instructors will introduce beginning, intermediate and advanced skills in navigation, group travel, woods craftsmanship, weather observation and campsite setup. Regular group discussions allow for reflection on each day’s progress, and ensure that leadership and responsibilities are shared so that every crew member is integral to planning the next day. 

On this course you will expedition through rugged mountains of western Maine and northern New Hampshire. You will depart the base camp on the first or second day of the course and not return until the end. You will carry what you need for as much as a week in your backpack and you will hike nearly every day. 

You do not need to have previous backpacking experience. We will teach you everything you need to know to travel comfortably, including how to pack a backpack, cook on a backpacking stove, set up a wilderness campsite, and navigate using a map and compass. In addition, weather permitting, you will either rock climb at one of the remote cliffs or complete our high ropes course.

Arriving physically fit will enhance your experience and ability to do well on the course and ultimately allow you to take full advantage of the expedition.

Through living and working closely together, students learn far more than wilderness travel skills. The habits learned and strengthened through a backpacking expedition will serve students for life, and for whatever challenge is next.

Course Skills

Backpacking

  • Proper fit and loading of packs 
  • Moving efficiently over rugged terrain 
  • River crossings
  • Distributing group gear fairly amongst the group
  • Group travel
  • Route Planning
  • Weather signs and forecasting

Expedition Skills

  • Emergency preparedness
  • Safety management and basic first aid
  • Campsite selection & Route finding
  • Shelter construction
  • Outdoor cooking
  • Conservation practices
  • Ropes and knots
  • Stove use and maintenance
  • Recreate Responsibly wilderness ethics
  • Nutrition and ration planning
  • Navigation using map/chart & compass

Group Dynamics

  • Leadership and decision making
  • Followership and expedition behavior
  • Communication & Conflict Resolution
  • Individual and group goal setting

Rock Climbing (weather dependent)

  • Belaying and rope handling 
  • System safety
  • Climbing technique 
  • Rappelling
Course Area

The mountains of western Maine and northern New Hampshire comprise the northern end of the Appalachian mountain range. Within this region, the White Mountain National Forest, the Appalachian Trail, the Carter-Mahoosuc Range, the Hundred-Mile Wilderness, the Grafton Loop Trail, Bigelow Preserve, and the Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness all offer classic backpacking terrain. These spruce-fir and hardwood forests are home to hundreds of species of birds as well as moose, deer, and black bear. Rushing waterfalls, clear twisting streams, and spectacular views from rocky summits reward backpackers ready for adventure.

Course Progression

The essential goal of any Outward Bound course is for the students to learn autonomy. Our expedition curriculum supports this happening in a progressive way.

During the first third of a course (a phase called “training expedition”), the instructors are very present in the group. They teach outdoor skills, the technical aspects of the activities and guide the students as they form a team.

In the middle third of the course (what we call the “main expedition”), the instructors take a step back so students may step forward. Students begin to teach what they’ve already learned to each other, and experiment with applying basic skills to bigger challenges. The instructors continue to coach and support as the students practice leadership roles. When the group meets a particular situation, environment or activity they haven’t learned about before, the instructors jump back in and teach. Each time this happens, the group reaches competency more quickly.

By the last third of the course (the “final expedition”), students are the stars of the show. They are applying what they know, leading each other, setting goals, and solving problems collaboratively. The instructors are close by and ready to step back in to prevent a safety issue from occurring but will let students find their own resiliency when they make mistakes, and ensure they feel the full spotlight of success when they meet their goals.

Course Activities
Backpacking

Your course focuses on wilderness expedition skills. In the mountains, you will learn map reading, cooking, how to load and adjust your pack, foot care, hydration, knots and, most importantly, leadership and teamwork. Backpacking is a great combination of team and individual elements. The mountains of Maine are rugged, wooded, and will at times be muddy and steep, making it necessary to “spot” and coach each other through difficult terrain. At times you will travel on wilderness footpaths, at others, you will navigate off-trail. From mountain peaks, if the weather cooperates, you will be rewarded with spectacular views. Living and traveling with just what you can carry on your back is a simple existence, in which small choices can make deceptively great differences. To live well in the outdoors, all crew members must share the chores that turn a camp into a home, including setting up tents and tarps, making a kitchen area, taking a turn fetching water, and cooking satisfying meals.

Rock Climbing

During your course you may spend a day rock climbing on one of this area’s many granite cliffs or on our ropes course at the Outward Bound basecamp. You will learn to use climbing equipment, tie knots, climb and belay each other, while instructors provide overall supervision of the site. Climbing gives you a chance to practice your balance, coordination, and flexibility as well as the group’s ability to trust and encourage each other.

Solo

The solo experience is a standard element of Outward Bound courses. With sufficient food and equipment, you will set up camp at a site on your own. The solo will last anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on the length of your course. Your solo site is chosen to offer as much solitude as possible, yet be within hearing distance of other group members. You will not travel during this time alone, and your instructors will check on you occasionally. The solitude and break from the fast pace of your expedition allows for rest and personal reflection, which is necessary to make the most of your experience.

Service

Service projects are often incorporated into Outward Bound courses through coordination with local land managers, conservation groups, government agencies or social service agencies. While in the wilderness, students are encouraged to practice service to the environment and their team by sharing responsibilities and following Recreate Responsibly ethics throughout the expedition.

Personal Challenge Event 

Our courses end with a Personal Challenge Event, an individual final physical push. These events might take the form of a running, rowing or swimming activity, or it may be a combination of the three.  This event is a chance to finish your Outward Bound Experience with a true personal challenge where you can own all of your decisions and efforts in contrast to the time you have spent operating within an expedition team.

Program Outcomes

On your HIOBS program, you will learn four important Outward Bound Core Values:

  • Compassion
  • Integrity
  • Excellence
  • Inclusion and Diversity

Some of the most important lessons you take home are learning about yourself and your community while acquiring backcountry skills and having an adventure. As you will be traveling through wild places on your expedition, you’ll also learn to protect and appreciate the unique, unspoiled environments through which you travel.

Middle School Courses 

Our courses for 13- to 14-year-olds are designed to introduce young teens to Outward Bound. Supportive instructors teach the skills of wilderness travel, and guide the formation of the group into an expedition team. As the students’ abilities grow, the instructors intentionally and progressively challenge them to take on more responsibilities, try out more leadership roles, and develop a heightened sense of self and purpose. Under the close supervision of caring instructors, students are permitted to share ideas, experiment, triumph…and sometimes fail. While safety is conscientiously maintained, students may feel moments of frustration, disappointment, cold, wet and tired. At such times, we coach young teens to review their choices, weigh the results, decide what changes to make, and try again. We find this teaches decision making, responsibility and resiliency, and ensures that the group knows that all successes are truly theirs! Students return readier to fully participate and positively engage at home, at school, on teams, and in their communities.

While students need to be physically fit and motivated to learn and work together, no previous travel or outdoor experience is necessary—all wilderness and leadership skills are taught from the beginning, taking into account younger teens’ shorter attention spans and need to really engage with a skill to understand it. Through more structured days, time to explore, and clear expectations, these courses are designed to show younger teens that there is so much in them than they know.