This one week course is a unique Outward Bound adventure specifically designed for teens coping with the death of a loved one. You’ll be traveling along the famous Delaware River through the rugged and historic Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
By combining personal growth methodologies of Outward Bound, with a simple support model that honors the griever, we deliver an intensely profound healing experience relevant to the lives of people who are coping with the death of a loved one. Throughout the course there are evening discussions to review personal and group challenges encountered during the day and in life. Topics include grieving, leadership, independent decision-making, responsibility, and teamwork.
Course Description
Travel expedition-style with everything you need to travel comfortably packed in your canoe. "Expedition-style" means that you will leave our Philadelphia base camp on the first day of your course and not return to it until the end of the course. You will travel with all the food and equipment you need to conduct your expedition: stoves, tents, food, etc. Your crew might occasionally sleep at the same campsite twice, but generally you will be moving to a new campsite every night as you canoe down the river.
At some point on your expedition you will spend a day rock climbing on one of the granite cliffs that can be found in the Delaware Water Gap. After a site introduction, you will learn how to use a climbing harness and helmet, how to belay, how to climb, and how to rappel or lower off a climb. Students will all belay each other, while instructors provide overall supervision of the site.
As with all Outward Bound courses, an element of service may be included. Often our crews work in partnership with the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Rangers to provide meaningful service in restoring and maintaining the natural terrain for all who wish to enjoy it.
Course Area
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area encompasses 67,000 acres of mountain ridge, forest and floodplain on both sides of the Delaware River in the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. From the southern end of the park, you can view the S-shaped chasm of the Delaware Water Gap, where the river cuts a twisting path through 1,400-foot Kittatinny Ridge. Within the river watershed, you'll discover steep wooded-and-rock slopes, bountiful rhododendron, dark hallows, tinsel-like ravines and tumbling waterfalls.
Course Cost
Thanks to the generosity of the New York Life Foundation all Heroic Journey course tuitions have been reduced from the standard tuition of $1375 to $535. Additional scholarship is available based on financial need and scholarship availability. The primary focus of the New York Life Foundation continues to be on providing support for organizations that help young people through educational enhancement and childhood bereavement. Course tuitions listed do not include our application fee or transportation fee.
To apply for this course click the apply button next to the course dates that work for you. The non-refundable application fee of $125 is due at the time of application. For full fee schedule and process, click here. Course tuitions listed do not include our application fee or transportation fee.