Once again, we’re back in Boise! We just finished our NOLS course on the Green River, near Vernal, Utah. We spent 18 days exploring Desolation and Ladore Canyons in rafts, kayak, and canoes. This was the professional instructors’ course, designed for folks with more than five years working in the outdoor education industry. The purpose of the course is to train new NOLS leaders and to bring new teaching ideas into the NOLS system.
In the canyons, it was very HOT, and dry, as to be expected in the desert. The Green is the main tributary to the Colorado (which carves out the Grand Canyon). Famously, Major Powell rowed oak boats down the Green after the Civil War. We saw lots of cool wildlife; bears, big horned sheep, whiptail lizards, and heard tons of coyotes. We paddled with three crazy Canadians who kept us laughing, the head of Outward Bound Costa Rica, and two other instructors for NOLS. The oar framed rafts we used were 18-feet long and had to weigh a ton (literally).
We are back in Boise working on raising money for our scholarship initiative to help everyone have access to our programs. We’re hoping to raise at least $1500, which would help us support a Chilean student on one of our expeditions and provide partial scholarships for US students. Please check out the Scholarship Initiative section of this website for more information. We are preparing for our ‘Motorcycles to Mexico’ trip and are collecting school supplies for rural villages we run into on our journey. If you would like to donate supplies please contact us at info@AlzarSchool.com
