Picture what’s possible
For five summers, our Trailblazers have journeyed north to the Owakonze outpost in Ontario — paddling long stretches of still water, portaging canoes through pine forests, and learning to rely on one another in wild, quiet places. These transformative experiences have been made possible through our generous partners at Camping & Education Foundation, whose support has opened the door to remote wilderness for our teens.
Those trips have changed young people. They told us:
“I feel like I can do more in the outdoors.”
“I felt like I was able to open up with everyone better. I feel like our connections really grew.”
“I feel like my confidence grew dramatically.”
That growth — in courage, in connection, in self-belief — is the heart of our Trailblazer program.
And growth has a way of stirring something else: curiosity. After five years of canoeing and camping in remote southern Ontario, our Trailblazers told us they were ready for different terrain. New landscapes and ecosystems. A challenge that felt unfamiliar.
Adventure Crew has always grown by listening.
This July, eight students from our Trailblazer program and two staff will travel west to the 100 Elk Outdoor Center in Buena Vista, Colorado for our first-ever experience in the Rocky Mountains.
Over seven days, they will immerse themselves fully. Four days at basecamp will focus on leadership development, teamwork and personal growth through outdoor education programming. Then the group will step into the backcountry for a three-day, two-night mountain expedition, including summiting a 14,000-foot peak.
For many of these teens, it will be their first time seeing mountains.
Trailblazer is a rigorous program, earned through sustained participation and preparatory campouts that build advanced skills and self-reliance. These young people have spent years progressing through our Explorer, Discoverer and Pathfinder programs, and they are now learning wilderness skills, hiking with loaded packs, camping, and relying on each other for success. They’ve come to understand that resilience isn’t innate; it’s something you practice. One student captured that spirit after stretching themselves on a past expedition:
“I tried fish for the time on this trip after being a vegetarian for my whole life! I figured there would be no better situation to try such a thing. Here it was caught sustainably, I watched it filleted and cooked, and I knew it lived a full life and was fresh. I learned I don’t really like fish, but it was an eye-opening experience."
Trailblazer creates those moments — the kind where a young person says yes to something new because they’ve learned they are capable of more than they imagined.
And this learning is not only for students.
Our staff will participate fully in the programming, experiencing new approaches to facilitation, leadership development and team building. It is powerful, on-the-job professional development — learning alongside our teens, then bringing those insights home to strengthen programs here in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
“I can’t wait to visit 100 Elk and help facilitate this trip for our teens,” Explorer Program Manager Emma Wilson, one of our trip leaders (along with Lead Outdoor Specialist Lindsey Keller), shares. “It’s a really unique opportunity, one that I hope will inspire the Crew to greater heights when it comes to appreciating nature and bestowing the tools and best practices to continue going on more challenging adventures in the future. And make some lasting memories while they and their peers enjoy each others’ company in the great outdoors!”
This expedition is possible because of the generous supporters who gave at our October 2025 Summits & Horizons event. This investment honors our Crew teens’ big dreams. It responds to their desire to see more of the world. It says your horizons matter — and we will help you reach them.
This summer, our Trailblazers will stand on a 14,000-foot peak. But the true summit will be quieter: The moment a young person looks out across a vast mountain range and realizes they belong there. That they are capable. That the world is wide, and their future is wider still.
And that is a horizon worth expanding. Thank you for being a part of it.
Libby Hunter