When you get to Baja you'll trade your hiking boots for sailboats and sea kayaks. Photo: TC Rammelkamp

The Sonoran Year will take you far from the classroom and place you right in the middle of your education.

When you return to campus you’ll have new skills, new motivation, and a year’s worth of college credit. The Sonoran Desert spans 120,000 square miles from the American Southwest to the tip of Baja California, Mexico. On your NOLS year you will explore both the desert and the sea.

You’ll sea kayak, sail, climb, cave, and hike in the unique Sonoran ecosystem, the most lush, diverse desert in North America, while also learning about the distinctive local cultures through Baja natural history.

Backpacking
Backpacking will be the thread that runs through your entire year. First you’ll explore the Gila Range in New Mexico, setting the foundation for your course, then in Mexico you’ll backpack and learn about the culture of the Mexican fishermen and rancheros. The end of your year will culminate in a student-led expedition—an opportunity for you to apply all of your accumulated knowledge and skills, independent of your instructors.

Rock Climbing
Cochise Stronghold is a beautiful remote climbing area in the Dragoon Mountains of Arizona that provides excellent opportunities to cover a comprehensive climbing curriculum, including moving on rock as well as rope and anchor systems.

Wilderness First Responder (WFR) 
Presented by the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS, this 80-hour certification designed for outdoor professionals will give you the tools to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in remote settings.

Enjoy the rare chance to discover an underground wilderness. Photo: Ashley Wise

Caving 
This section explores the extensive underground world near the famous Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico or the brilliant caves in southeastern Arizona. You’ll have a unique chance to marvel at an underground wilderness that is rarely visited.

Leadership Education and Development Seminar (LEADS) 
This closer look at the NOLS leadership curriculum is designed to explore in greater depth your own style of leadership and that of your coursemates.

Students paddle into the sunrise for another day exploring this unique coastline. Photo: Ashley Wise

Sea Kayaking 
Paddling the wild desert coastline of the Baja Peninsula includes hands-on expedition planning, interpreting tides and currents, reading weather conditions, and exploring the underwater world through snorkeling, free diving, and, potentially, spear fishing.

Coastal Sailing, Baja Natural History, and Whale-Watching 
While on our 22-foot Drascombe Longboat you’ll work toward mastering the mechanics of sailing this open boat, including sail and line handling, wind awareness, anchoring procedures, and capsize recovery. Then you will spend time with local naturalists, students, and fishermen observing endemic flora and fauna, global warming evidence, and the migration of gray whales.

Year in the Sonoran Duration: 135 days Age: 18 and Over (Average age: 20) Tuition: 2010-2011: $21,090 2011-2012: $21,750 Dates: October 5, 2010-March 16, 2011 (Holiday Break: Dec. 8, 2010-Jan. 6, 2011) Gila Backpacking, Rock Climbing, WFR, Caving, Leadership Seminar, Sea Kayaking, Sailing, Cultural Exchange, Student Expedition October 1, 2011-March 14, 2012 (Holiday Break: Dec. 5, 2010-Jan. 4, 2011) Gila Backpacking, Rock Climbing, WFR, Caving, Leadership Seminar, Sea Kayaking, Sailing, Cultural Exchange, Student Expedition College Credit: (Optional) 27 Semester Credit Hours 4 Hours Biology 2 Hours Environmental Ethics 4 Hours Leadership Techniques 8 Hours Skills Practicum 4 Hours Risk Assessment 2 Hours Expedition Planning 3 Hours WFR credit Course start/end: Tucson, Arizona / Mulege, BCS, Mexico Equipment Deposit: $750 Fly in/out: Tucson, Arizona / Loreto, BCS, Mexico Downloads: Course Description (pdf) Southwest Equipment List (pdf) Mexico Equipment List (pdf)

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