Highlighting the range of outdoor experiences during this Spring Break Week, we move from yesterday’s adventurers, floating (mostly) serenely down the Green River in Utah, to today’s group of just under twenty students and instructors, white-water rafting (and kayaking) on the Owyhee River in Oregon.

Dr. Tom Zimmer, the College’s Assistant Professor of Leadership and Outdoor Education at the College, the Vice President of its Outdoor Formation program, and the Executive Director of its wilderness outreach program, COR Expeditions, takes particular interest in this trip each year. As the College’s most qualified (and experienced!) white-water rafting instructor, his presence on the trip is both a long-standing tradition and necessity in order to ensure the group’s safety and its adherence to proper planning and trip protocols.

The Owyhee river trip is always in great demand, so priority is given to seniors and juniors when the sign-up sheets are posted. And the river itself is unpredictable, which means that plans around the trip often change rapidly. This year, for example, the water levels were rising dramatically as the trip was approaching, so Dr. Zimmer shifted the trip’s departure from its original date (Saturday) to Friday, ensuring that the group would be on the river when the water was at an acceptable level.

The water level and student abilities can often have more subtle effects on the trip than the day of the trip’s departure, of course. Depending on these (and other) factors, there are certain rapids that may require the students to walk around them, while certified student (and staff) instructors navigate the group’s rafts and kayaks along the river. And portaging—moving the boats by land between two sections of the river—is always a possibility. “Enjoy sandy beaches, beautiful views, a canyon-rim hike, and hot springs,” says the trip sign-up sheet,” but remember: “While these river trips can be relaxing at times, participants must be prepared to work hard, often paddling against strong headwinds, and experiencing cold temperatures while on the river.” (Have no fear; wetsuits are available.)

Dr. Zimmer reports that this year’s trip was a fantastic one. “We ran 67 miles in five days,” he says. “There were two paddle rafts, one gear boat, a two-person mini raft and four kayakers. We vanquished a series of Class III and IV rapids; we stopped at three natural “on-the-river” hot springs along the way; we took three day-hikes up the canyon walls; there way volleyball, frisbee, spike ball, great food, fireside conversations, prayer, and popcorn!”

As with the other groups we’ve been following, the integration of the College’s academic and spiritual life into the week’s outdoor adventures was an active part of the trip’s planning and execution. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” William Wordsworth’s “Expostulation and Reply” and “The Tables Turned,” and W. H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues” were recited and discussed, as was the portion of Plutarch’s “Life of Alexander” which records Alexander and his army floating down the Indus River into the Indian Ocean. The group later raised the questions of “What are the political implications of the staging of Melville’s Moby Dick on the sea? In what way is the open ocean a fitting image for the American experiment? Is this analogy corroborated, refuted, or nuanced by the emphasis of the river in Twain’s Huck Finn?”

Kairos time included “reflecting on the death of ‘He’ from Auden’s Poem. Why does he say that ‘nothing now can ever come to any good?’ And how can we still fulfill our call to evangelize?” Later reflections asked participants to “discuss the experience of finding God in the natural world, and on the implications of technology on that experience,” as well as a conversation on a selection from the second chapter of St. Louis de Montfort “Secret of the Rosary.” And for the final reflection, Psalm 145:

I will extol thee, my God and King,
and bless thy name for ever and ever.
Every day I will bless thee,
and praise thy name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.

Gifts made through the form linked above will automatically be assigned to the Flash Campaign, and will appear in the Goal Meter at the top of our main Campaign page as it is updated each day. If you would prefer to make a gift over the phone, via check, or through another philanthropic vehicle (such as a gift of stock or a mutual fund transfer), please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at oia@wyomingcatholic.edu or by phone at (877) 332-2930, and the Advancement team will ensure your gift is assigned to the Spring Break campaign.