Maine to Florida Fall Semester - Intercept

Questions? Call 1 (888) 75 NCOBS for more infomation.

Course Description

This is a 50-day wilderness expedition for young adults struggling with risky behaviors and seeking direction and motivation to enter adulthood. This course is expedition-based. Students will depart the base camp on the first or second day of the course and not return for two or three weeks at a time.

Intercept

Outward Bound was one of the first wilderness adventure programs in the world. Intercept is a special program within Outward Bound. Intercept is designed to serve teens and their families and help them address behaviors like low motivation, lack of follow-through, unhealthy risk-taking, defiance, or poor school performance. Courses are presented as metaphors for the transition from teenage to adulthood and designed to help students connect their desire for more freedom with the reality that they must take on additional responsibility. Courses are highly structured with explicit wilderness, communication, and leadership skills progressions as well as time on course devoted to learning about how to access academic or career-oriented opportunities back home. The Urban/Service Expedition provides a great opportunity to participate in a community at work and understand how to be part of living and learning in whatever situation your future holds.

Please click to view details on Who Intercept is For?

 Course Area

You will spend the first three weeks of your course backpacking in the mountains of western Maine and northern New Hampshire. These spruce-fir and hardwood forests are home to hundreds of species of birds as well as moose, deer and black bear.

 Midway through the course you will board a plane and travel as a group from Portland, Maine to Orlando, Florida where you will depart on your river expedition on the Oklawaha River for an extended flatwater canoe trip. Paddling around the perimeter of Ocala National Forest you may encounter alligators, monkeys, and many exotic birds. 

Then you will be transported to Everglades National Park in southern Florida where you will paddle through the Ten Thousand Islands, Shark River, and Whitewater Bay.  The Everglades are a vast, remarkable and multi-dimensional wilderness comprised of pine lands, marsh, mangrove islands and the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Course Description

Your course focuses on wilderness expedition skills. In the mountains, you will learn map reading, cooking, how to pack and adjust your pack, foot care, hydration, knots, and most importantly leadership and teamwork. During your backpacking expedition you will complete a 3-day Solo and spend a day rock climbing on one of this area’s many granite cliffs. You will learn to use climbing equipment, tie knots, climb and belay each other, while instructors provide overall supervision of the site.

 Wrap up your time in Maine with a three-day out-of-the-wilderness seminar packed with community service and workshops about school and career options will further inform plans for the future. 

 In Florida you will canoe on lakes and rivers, learning paddle strokes, navigation and the technique to “portage” your canoe (carrying the boat over obstacles and land).

 Near the end of course, if you and your group have demonstrated the necessary leadership, team problem solving and wilderness living skills, you may be given the opportunity to travel without your instructors participating in the routine decision making. Most groups also participate in a Final Challenge event, usually a run that will highlight the physical strength you have achieved on course.

To apply for this course, click the Enroll button. In addition to the course tuition, there is an additional $125 non-refundable application fee and a $125 in-course transportation fee also required. 

A Voluntary Commitment

Outward Bound does not expect students to be highly motivated to embark on an Intercept program. We are not, however, an incarceration program. We require that all students agree to participate and require that they follow our rules. Outward Bound works hard to encourage full participation from all individuals, so while we make every attempt to keep motivation high, if students are not willing to complete the program or are determined to leave course, we will not keep them against their will.