Denali

Other Courses: Baja | Spanish Immersion | Lake Clark

•	Course Overview
•	About Denali
•	Course Description
•	Course Schedule
•	General Info
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•	Tuition

Course Dates (2 classes taking place simultaneously)
Course I: June 6-14, 2010
Course II: June 21-29, 2010

Course I: June 4-12, 2011

Unable to attend the field course? Enroll in our curriculum only option.

Students enroll in 2010, and they receive and begin their independent study coursework at the start of the 2011 spring semester. After studying the provided material at home for a semester, the group will go to Denali for nine days. There in the field we apply all the concepts learned at home. We camp and hike in this beautiful park while learning about the ecology of Denali and gaining experience in outdoor leadership.

The field course starts at Byers Lake Campground in Denali State Park, where the group meets. (Mile 147 of the Parks Highway) There students spend three days. During this time, students dive into leadership and teambuilding. They meet with park professionals. A 5 mile practice dayhike around the lake with backpacks on will help prepare for the backpacking trip. Students receive a safety orientation: bear and moose safety, hiking safety, first aid procedures, preventing common health problems such as dehydration, colds, sleep depravation, sun exposure, and hypothermia. Students also learn how to use the gear and equipment they depend on throughout the field course such as tents, cook stoves, etc. This is also a great opportunity to spend time getting to know everyone in the group while having fun together through teambuilding and other activities. They may even get the chance to kayak on Byers Lake.

After three days at Byers Lake, the group is ready for backpacking. They embark on the 6 day backpacking adventure that will cover 27 miles of Kesugi Ridge. This ridge hike will allow them to spend 6 days in the high alpine tundra with panoramic views of tundra, the Talkeetna Mountains and the Alaska Range. They will spend 6 days making their way north until they descend down the Little Coal Creek trail back to the Parks Highway (Mile 163.9) where the course ends.

Days on the trail are filled with hiking, field lessons, teambuilding, and taking advantage of every opportunity to learn while we have a great time. A couple of the days will be spent at the same camp spot to allow layover days for sore muscles and dayhikes exploring the ridge line.

As we go we incorporate presentations given by students and lessons given by instructors. For example, after breakfast, an instructor may lead a lesson about how to read clouds to predict weather. During a lunch break, a student may give a presentation on adaptations of mammals to cold temperatures. While on a hike we may do a teambuilding activity. Throughout the field course we also take advantage of teachable moments, which make this a dynamic, hands-on, real-life classroom. Such moments may include stopping to admire a peregrine falcon circling overhead, identifying some tracks, or coaching the student-leader to facilitate a group decision.

There are also many lessons built into the structure of the course. Each day, under the supervision of the instructors, two student leaders are responsible for our schedule, group decisions, group welfare, our route and more. We believe in empowering students with information and then giving them real-life opportunities to master leadership skills, outdoor skills and naturalist skills. Woven into the format of the course, we model and teach values such as teamwork, trust, honesty, integrity, respect, and friendship.

“The curriculum which tied so closely to all they would come to see and experience on the field is a big strength.”
- Parent, Denali '05, Lake Clark '05

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