Several years ago while visiting Yellowstone National park, I could not help but notice that the place was packed with families experiencing one of the crown jewels of the National Park system. In 2008 there were 3,066,579 visitors. There was even bumper to bumper traffic waiting on the herds of bison and hoping to spot a grazing elk or a grizzly bear from the distance. Though it was impressive to see so many families getting out, I wondered how many made it more than 5-10 minutes from the car and what was preventing them from getting into the wild. There are a variety of things that prevent families from getting out safely and frequently, such as safety, time, preparedness, ability and knowledge. I want to offer several tips that can help get your family into the wild.

1. Half the battle is getting out the front door. Plan ahead, get it in your day planner, and don’t make excuses! All you need is a trail a little bit of curiosity, and adventurous spirit.

2. Family First. Be willing to play hooky from school every once and a while, it’s just one day. You only have to do something four times for your children to think that “we always did this as a family.” If your child is hesitant, let them bring a friend.

3. It’s go time. Getting everything together for an afternoon adventure takes an hour alone. Plan ahead by always having an “adventure pack” in the car and ready to go. In the pack, always have a water bottle, rain gear, and fleece or wool hat for each. Also include a flash light or head lamp, a mini-med kit (see below in “safety first”) and an extra warm layer like an emergency space blanket. Whether it’s an impromptu adventure or your weekly outing, you are ready to go!

4. Dress appropriately. Even though Patagonia is an environmentally conscious company, you do not need to outfit your family with the latest outdoor apparel before you head outside. Most likely you have everything you need in the house already. If you don’t a quick trip to Goodwill or the local thrift store can get you most of what you need. A $5 emergency poncho and a fleece hat goes a long way. Stay away from cotton garments because cotton will absorb moisture and dry slowly. Think of nylon, polyester and other synthetic blends. Most athletic apparel is made of these synthetic blends. It’s OK to carry an umbrella, even if your children think it’s weird.

5. Know before you go. Check the weather, route plan and emergency phone numbers so you know what you are getting into before you get there. Keep a weather website as your home page so you always have quick access to your local weather and keep maps and brochures on hand of the local parks and hiking areas so you always have the right resources on hand. Photocopy the sections that to stick in your pocket or backpack.

6. Use a lifeline. Before you venture too far into the wild, let someone know where you are going and when you plan to be back. Even if it is a short venture, it does not hurt to have someone that knows your plan. It only takes a rolled ankle or wrong turn to turn a stroll in the woods to an epic in the wilderness. Just pick one person that you can zip a quick e-mail to with the pertinent details.

7. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Plan the appropriate activity around the ability of your family as a whole. The whole point in getting out is to develop a love and care for creation, adventure and being outside. This is typically not the time “push the limits” to the extreme. This often leads to a negative experience in the outdoors. Know that the most fun thing you can do in the woods is around water and the most dangerous thing you can do in the woods is around water.

8. Safety first. You do not need a hi-tech med kit and extensive training to be prepared medically. Bring a zip lock bag with a variety of band-aids, gauze, athletic tape, a couple candy bars (for emergency calories) and hand sanitizer and you are set. This is all you need for most day outings that are relatively accessible to the general public. Take your cell phone with you for emergency, but put it away in your pack.

9. You love what you can name. Bring a field guide for the local flora and fauna, binoculars, and a magnifying glass. Take time to identify plants, animals, rocks and other discoveries. Learn the local edible plants and even collect the wild plants that are edible. Make a game out of your time by seeing who can name the most species or make the most discoveries.

10. Team Extreme. If you want to go team extreme, and take your family adventure to the next level, hire a guide. Guide services are professionals and though they are expensive, they are well worth the price of admission. Look for a guide with nationally recognized accreditation and certifications, such as the PCIA, AMGA, ACA, WEA, and LNT to name a few. Ask for more than a guided adventure. Look for guides that will teach the skills necessary for your family to do this on your own. Don’t forget to tip your guide! (One of my favorites is Black Mountain Expeditions)

For the past decade, experiential educator, author and speaker Sam Van Eman has taught in barns and board rooms, forests and canyons , classrooms and auditoriums. ” Sam works as a Staff Resource Specialist with the Coalition for Christian Outreach and enjoys partnering with his wife to raise two daughters.

Why after 10 years of professional trip leading, do I continue packing my sleeping bag and lacing up my boots to lead students I have never met into places they may have never gone before?

Because in the Backcountry, a student is likely to…

Exhale to squeeze through tiny tight spaces, or gasp at the wonder of wide open places. Consider the past and the good way to healing, or lie on the bottom and wish he had feeling. Think about dinner in 12 cold degrees or ward off the bugs but dream of Febreze. Frolic with friends in marvelous roots, or wade through the muck with only half-decent boots. Experiment with make shifted Indian cuisine, or cause you to wonder, was this an accident scene? Search for Spiritual signposts of reference, or delight in uncanny places of reverence.

Leading Trips in every condition with every kind of student has not only been deeply wonderful, but it has also made me acutely aware of one thing:
Suspending the normal reality for students by transporting them away from their daily comforts opens the doors for transformative learning to occur.

Suspending normal is as simple as replacing self-serving cafeteria lines and big tables in a clean environment with a bag of ingredients, a four inch stove and the forest floor. Add in a cold layer of snowflakes and a pinch of darkness, and voila! Mealtime is brand new, requiring interdependence. Suspending the normal means replacing the i-pod with silence, homework with play, and wrist watches with listening to the natural cycles of hunger and sleep. Furthermore, it means removing the distractions that keep many of them from dealing with the essential questions about life and faith.
This is the heart of it for me. Students frequently say that God is more easily found in nature than other places (even if they aren’t sure there IS a GOD), as through being outdoors were his living room where they feel comfortable sitting. For so many, their internal questions converge with the activities and experience and conversations on a trip and they begin to respond to Christ’s invitation, “Come, all who are thirsty….” What a privilege it is to watch them grapple with this first-hand.

Over the next several weeks, Black Mountain Expeditions is highlighting insights and perspectives about the wilderness experience and how it serves as a place for growth and transformative learning from several outdoor education professionals, participants from a course, and parents that have sent their children on courses. We invite your comments to these blog entry’s sharing why and how a wilderness experience has been transformative for you or your child’s growth and development.