Big Bend Desert Backpacking
Explore the Chihuahuan Desert, move across mountainous terrain, and travel through water-polished canyons on this backpacking expedition
This journey takes you to crags and peaks of the vast Mesa de Anguila, the Sierra Quemada, the Chisos or the Bofecillos Mountains, backpacking at altitudes between 1,000-2,000 feet. Working as a cohesive crew, you’ll hike both on and off trail, cross mountain passes, explore immense canyons and traverse a rugged desert where atmospheric clarity and wide-open spaces make distances deceiving and navigation challenging yet rewarding. Enjoy the wonders of nature as you cross smooth slabs of water-eroded rock and climb large boulder formations that overlook miles and miles of desert and open skies. Discover more about yourself and your abilities as you take on challenges in the company of your peers and world-class Instructors. Learn technical outdoor skills and hone important life skills in problem solving, perseverance, self-confidence and teamwork. At the end of each day, enjoy the satisfaction of a backcountry meal, the camaraderie of your team and well-earned sleep.
UPCOMING COURSES
Course # VRTB-2421
Age 16 - 18
Days 8
Cost $2,900
Dates 12/28/2024 - 1/4/2025
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This means a course has several open spots and is actively processing applications.
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This means there are three or fewer currently available spots left on a course. To secure your spot click Apply Now to begin an application!
JOIN WAITLIST
Once a course has reached capacity, three waitlist positions become available. To join a course’s waitlist, click “Join Waitlist” to begin the application process. A $500 deposit is required. This $500 deposit includes a $150 non-refundable application fee and a $350 tuition payment. The $350 tuition payment is refundable only if you cancel your waitlist application or if an open position does not become available. If a position does become available, the applicant will be applied to the open position and the Application and Cancellation Policies of the Regional Outward Bound School will be followed, including forfeiture of the $500 deposit if you cancel 90 days or less prior to the course start date.
Waitlist applicants are encouraged to complete all required admissions documents while awaiting an open position. Positions may become available up to two weeks prior to the course start date. Applicants may only apply to one course. We recommend applying to a course with open positions instead of a course that is accepting waitlist applications. If you have questions, please call 866-467-7651 to speak with one of our Admissions Advisors.
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I will tell people that it was simply amazing! I’ve learned not to give up during difficult times and that life won’t be easy at all sometimes.
Explore the Chihuahuan Desert, crossing mountainous terrain and traveling through water-polished canyons. The elevation is varied throughout this desert but remains mainly between 1,000-2,000 feet above sea level. The small group will hike both on and off trail, crossing mountain passes, exploring immense canyons and traversing a rugged desert where atmospheric clarity and wide-open spaces make distances deceiving and navigation challenging. While hiking, students will learn desert travel skills, such as strategies for water management and environmental preservation and the finer points of balance and foot placement on rough terrain.
During climbing days, students learn about general rock climbing equipment, safety and etiquette. Students have many opportunities to climb, belay and rappel while learning and employing safety systems that are compliant with national standards. The rock climbing sites provide a number of different route options including cracks, sheer faces and chimneys. Regardless of a student’s rock climbing background, they are sure to find a route that will encourage them to expand their comfort zone and accomplish their goals.
Service to the environment and to others is one of the core values of Outward Bound. Students are encouraged to practice service to the environment; leaving campsites cleaner than they found them and practicingRecreate Responsibly ethics. Designated service projects are coordinated with land managers, like the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service, to collaborate on land restoration projects. Other projects may be based in the local community. Students develop a value of service, seeing the impact of their actions firsthand, and transfer this desire to serve to their communities back home.
The Solo experience provides an important break from the rigors of the expedition and gives students the opportunity to reflect on their Outward Bound experience. With all the food, skills and supplies they need, students are given a secluded spot to reflect alone, and are monitored by staff throughout the experience to maintain safety. The duration of Solo depends on the course length and type, as well as the competency and preparedness of the student group.
Many students use this reflection time to make decisions about their future, journal and enjoy the beauty of their surroundings unencumbered by the constant external stimulation of modern life. Students find that Solo provokes profound and powerful learning in a short period of time and often becomes one of the most memorable parts of their Outward Bound experience.
Big Bend State and National Park, Texas
Along the U.S.-Mexico border in southwestern Texas, a powerful river and a mountainous desert unite in Texas’ Big Bend park system. The Texas course area is one of the most remote and geologically interesting in the U.S. The Rio Grande River carves a huge, sweeping bend where Big Bend National Park earns its name. This 750,000-square mile wilderness is the eighth largest national park in the lower 48 states and is a desert backpacking paradise. In this region, delicate desert flowers exist alongside fossilized trees millions of years old. Mountain passes give way to steep-walled canyons and cliffs. The land itself is awe-inspiring, with canyons towering 300 to 1,200 feet over the river. It is one of the last true desert regions in North America. Much of this rugged land has remained unchanged for centuries. Hundreds of species of birds and a healthy diversity of other animal and plant communities thrive within the splendid isolation of ancient limestone canyons, juniper and mesquite-covered mesas and coal-black night skies. These regions are the ancestral lands of the Jumanos, Yoli (Concho), Pescado, Mescalero Apache and Chiso nations.
Course Stories
I will tell people that it was simply amazing! I’ve learned not to give up during difficult times and that life won’t be easy at all sometimes.
Outward Bound and this trip allowed me to go places I have yet to go, see things I would have never had the same chance to see, and learn about myself as well as others. I was taught patience and positivity when no one else had it on a hard day, or when everyone else had it except for me on my hard day. Thank you VOBS for helping me become the person I am today.
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Getting Started
If you are ready to enroll on a course click the enroll button next to the course you wish to select or you can enroll over the phone by speaking with one of our Admissions Advisors (toll-free) at 866-467-7651.
To secure your spot on a course you must submit an enrollment form and $500 deposit that is applied toward the total cost of the course and includes a $150 non-refundable enrollment processing fee.