| Day Hikes Day hikes are a safe, easy way to gain the skills you will need to stay safe in the wild--all while learning about the natural and social history of the area. You will learn about the 10 Essentials, map and compass, trip planning, risk management, and staying found. Your Guide will lend you a kit with some of the Ten Essentials, and you will hike +/- 7 miles while learning about Olympic National Park. Trips do not leave every day, so Reserve Your Spot Today! |
Backpacking Backpacking sweeps the backpacker into the wild world of wilderness with all its grandeur and intensity. Backpackers can hike for almost as many days and almost as far as they want: for example, from Staircase in the southeast corner of the park to the Grand Valley in the northeast, from the Dosewallips in the east to Quinault in the west, or from Elwah in the north to Sol Duc in the west. Consider these routes for your ultimate wildnerness experience. Then Reserve Your Spot! |
| Leave No Trace (LNT) Trainings Leave No Trace is the national standard for outdoor recreation ethics from a conservation perspective. The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has established two main basic trainings in LNT: Awareness Workshops and Trainer Courses. Awareness Workshops last only a couple hours and offer little or no outdoor training. Trainer Courses are an intensive overnight experience with some backpacking. Reserve Your Spot for the course that's right for you. |
Scouting Guide and owner Jason Bausher is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor recipient, and is Wood Badge-trained. He can advise your troop about 50-miler hikes, the Leave No Trace Awareness Award, and merit badges such as Hiking, Backpacking, Camping, and Climbing. Jason can also serve as a liaison with the National Park Service to organize work parties or service projects in Olympic National Park. PLUS: Grays Harbor Boy Scouts receive FREE TRAININGS! Reserve Time for Your Program. |
| Service Tourism on the Olympic Peninsula will only last if we work to conserve the resource by doing trailwork, raising money for political action, and by teaching wildness to the generation to whom we hand over the earth. Sign Up Today to do or give what you can for the preservation of our children's earth. Where are your talents? Clearing trails? Educating National Park visitors about Leave No Trace ethics and practices? Raising money from friends, family, and business associates? Leading Boy or Girl Scouts? YOU CAN HELP!!! |
Mountain Seminars Do the mountains, rivers, and glaciers of Olympic National Park merely form one big playground, or is wilderness essential to our Being as embodied Beings in the world? Jason Bausher works on questions such as this in his environmental philosophy, and he shares his research in mountain seminars. He received his master's degree in theology from Yale University and is finishing an M.A. while in a doctoral program in philosophy. Check out a few of the seminars. Don't see your burning "big questions" being asked on this list? Email Olympic Mountain School for a custom program. |
A Commitment to Service
3 PRIORITIES:
BOY SCOUTS,
OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN RESCUE,
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
Olympic Mountain School was created to serve the people of the Olympic Peninsula, the Olympic Mountains, and the millions of travelers who visit the Olympic Peninsula every year. All three interests are threatened by insufficient funds and volunteer time for protecting the wild earth of the peninsula. We need your help in repairing this breach through your contribution of money and time for protecting the people and sense of place of the peninsula. You can do this in several ways:
BOY SCOUTS. We need adult leaders who will train our boys to become leaders of our country and protectors of our earth. Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs meet in many of the local towns, and you can become an Assistant Scoutmaster or Den Leader with one of these local groups.
- Please donate money to these local groups rather than Boy Scouts of America. We will use your money locally to meet the needs of the many needy Scouts who are deprived of the many advantages of big-city Scouting. Our local council has taken away our local scout office, thus forcing us to rely on the postal system for supply needs and eliminating our central meeting place. We need money for basic infrastructure such as tents, stoves, ropes, helmets, and other equipment. We are setting up a 501(c)3 organization so that your donation will be tax deductible.
OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN RESCUE (OMR). OMR is the mountaineering rescue group for the Olympic peninula, and all of their work is done by volunteers who pay their own way on their own time. OMR requires a new rescue truck to carry gear, personnel, and provide a base for rescue operations. The old truck currently used has been rebuilt multiple times and finally needs to be replaced. Your donations will help OMR get this truck to ensure reliable rescue transportation. OMR is a 501(c)3 organization endorsed and supported by the United Way. Remember: the hiker or climber OMR saves may be YOU!
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK . The National Park Conservation Association reports that Olympic National Park had unfunded needs of $6.1 million and $100 million in long-term investment needs in 2003. After seeing the unlikelihood of receiving funding for an educational outreach coordinator on the National Park Service payroll, Olympic Mountain School was started to meet some of these needs for education through the private sector. A percentage of all revenues earned by Olympic Mountain School in Olympic National Park is returned to the park through fees, and educating visitors to protect the wildness of wilderness allows more visitors to save Olympic while teaching others to do the same. While fees and education are helpful, we need more help. Here's what you can do:
- Trail Crew. Spend a day or more out in the Park trimming grass on trails, cutting downed trees, and leveling trails. Olympic Mountain School will contact Olympic National Park with your information to set the process in motion. We need your muscles!
- Education. Use your knowledge of Leave No Trace and wilderness living to educate other visitors. The Wilderness Information Center for Olympic National Park will provide you with literature for on-trail education.
- Donations to Advocacy Groups. Two groups are especially good at putting pressure on the Park Service to fulfill its 1916 Mission Statement and the 1964 Wilderness Act:
Another nonprofit group offers information about and experiences in the Park:
