When the pandemic hit, I was living in Minneapolis, MN and working as a corporate copywriter in the healthcare industry. I slowly realized that I needed a change. A year and a half later, my life could not be more different. I never thought I’d be working in the outdoor education industry with...
During the last day of the eight- to twelve-year-old camp, Outdoor Explores, we took the Campers to the Ice Caves nearby campus. Taking a large group of this age group into a pitch-black cave with slippery ice as flooring, meant we had to be absolutely positive that everyone had all the necessary...
This summer I truly feel like I’m the lucky one - I get to go to camp all summer long!After a very isolating past year filled with many uncertainties, I feel very grateful to be constantly surrounded and supported by a cohort of fantastic co-educators and campers. Getting to temporarily call Trout...
Although this is my second year serving as an AmeriCorps intern at Mt. Adams institute, this is my first experience working here at the camp, in-person with the campers and fellow counselors. I began my time with the program last summer, right in the middle of the pandemic. In-person summer camp...
Howdy! In late May, I packed up nearly all of my belongings and traveled 2,200 miles to the Pacific Northwest. Little did I know that I could flourish and challenge myself in this new environment to develop different strategies to help campers get a better glance at our big, beautiful, and...
Summer Camp 2021 is happening!! Day Camps for Summer 2021 will run Monday through Thursday 9am – 3pm. Check out the dates here! Cost per week: $325 | Shuttle Option: $50 | Scholarships Available Register Here! If the camp you are interested in is full, please sign up for the waiting list. If you...
I grew up just outside of Portland, Oregon. Despite living in one of the most beautiful and accessible places to nature, I didn't get into my hobbies of hiking, backpacking, and road tripping until I was a young adult. I decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail when I was 22, feeling like I needed...
Below are some important updates for Cascade Mountain School summer camps. First, the million dollar question . . .will summer camp happen this year? In these ever changing times, we unfortunately cannot provide a definitive answer just yet, BUT we can tell you how we plan to proceed: May 15th is...
Over two years ago, I sat in a Caffè Nero in Istanbul, Turkey, overlooking the Bosphorus Strait, writing my AmeriCorps application to work at Cascade Mountain School. I measured time by the number of barges that passed, shipping goods from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm. I...
Cascade Mountain School extends a huge thank you to all our community partners who support our programming year round by sharing their knowledge and practices, homes and trades, experiences and inspiration with our participants. YOU make our programming rich, deep, and grounded in the Columbia...
There is a certain personal power that possesses me and I believe it has propelled me through most of my bold, ill-advised, far-off and ultimately life-shaping experiences. That spirit goes along nicely with a sentiment from T.S. Eliot that I’ve come to own privately, “If you aren’t in over your...
In August, I was tagged in a Facebook post by Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center celebrating their 10th anniversary of summer backpacking trips. Through the expanse of social media, the program coordinator was commemorating the growth of the program and curious about where the original cohort of...
How goes it, folks? My name is Jeff. I grew up in Centralia, Washington. Though I truly bloomed more in the city of Tacoma later in life. I love camping and hiking. I fell in love with the great outdoors in my early teens when I camped in Cape Disappointment and...
I grew up moving around Oregon, starting out on the coast before spending most of my life in the Willamette Valley. Oregon’s diverse ecosystems, from oak savanna to old growth coastal forest, developed my passion for the outdoors, especially forests. Hiking is my...
Hello, my name is Carl, and I'm from Hillsboro, Oregon. I served in the Air Force for seven years, stationed in South Dakota and Okinawa, Japan. During that time, I developed a passion for activities like photography, hiking, camping, rock climbing, and especially fly...
My name is Delbert Henson. I was originally born in southern California but then moved to a small town called Yreka in northern California. I grew up in a large family playing football, basketball and running track. We were always an active family doing outside...
I grew up in Indianapolis a very active kid - playing sports and spending most of my time outside in our yard and neighborhood. I fell in love with public lands and the outdoors at large after high school when I started rock climbing. I bounced around for a while...
Deonza speaks to the scope of work she’s accomplished as a GIS Specialist at Tongass Misty Fjord’s Kechikan, Alaska Ranger Station.
VetsWork Intern Joesph Powell speaks to his time as an MAI intern working at the U.S. Forest Service.
Over the course of his internship Cooper Roberts learned a lot. Like…a lot, a lot. And he also helped to teach his supervisor some things along the way!
“We threw him in the deep end of a mid-career GIS analysis process…”
In her captivating short story, Sophia Mosbrucker recounts a thrilling night as a Refuge Technician during her MAI Land Stewards Internship. Amidst the stillness and starlight reflections, she learns the intricacies of frog calling and the excitement of wildlife tracking, all while overcoming her fear of the dark.
Meet Nate Jensen, one of our incredible AmeriCorps interns working with the Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN) in the beautiful West Eugene Wetlands! Since May, Nate has jumped into environmental education headfirst, teaching K-12 students about local ecosystems, creating curriculum, and getting his hands dirty with fieldwork.