NOLS Blog
When Everything Came Into Focus — Hiking Patagonia’s Torres del Paine O Circuit Alumni Trip
I first learned about the O Circuit in 2025, a year before I actually did it. My wife and I were in Patagonia on a Road Scholar trip. It started with a cruise through the Strait of Magellan and the Darwin Passage, followed by a few days in Torres del Paine National Park doing short…
Case Study: Heat Illness on an Early-Season Wildland Fire Assignment
Photo by Kirk Rasmussen The Setting You are working on a Type 2 initial attack handcrew in the ...
Rothberg-Birdwhistel Expedition Fund: Panchachuli III Peak Climb
Team selfie. In May 2025, Bharat Bhushan, Prerna Dangi, and I took on a challenge to climb Panchachuli ...
Case Study: Non-Freezing Cold Injury on a Canoe Trip
The Setting You are leading an early-season canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It’s mid-May, and while the days are mild, the water is still very cold. Travel involves frequent portaging and wading in and out of the canoe to load and unload gear. Despite good effort, everyone’s feet have been wet…
Lou Gordon: Three Decades of Influence
Louise “Lou” Gordon’s office in the Wilderness Medicine wing of NOLS Headquarters is tucked into the perpendicular intersection of two banks of offices, in the center of the activity but quiet and a little reserved. Like Lou herself.
After more than 30 years, the last 6 1/2 as NOLS Wilderness Medicine’s Wilderness EMT Supervisor, Lou is cleaning and packing up her office in preparation for her retirement. Her last day is May 1.
Climate Medicine: Where Climate Change and Healthcare Meet
Springtime has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. Trees and grasses are greening up, flowers are blooming, and birds have returned to greet the morning with song. As many of Earth’s residents head into boreal summer, they know to expect rising temperatures. But what does that heat mean for human health? What happens when infectious diseases…
Summer Travel Programs for Teens: Why Wilderness Expeditions Offer More Than a Passport Stamp
Most summer travel programs for teens promise adventure. A select few actually deliver it. There is a difference between traveling through a place and learning to move through it with skill and intention. That difference is worth understanding before you commit to any program, and before your teen boards a plane. This guide breaks down…
Staying Power
Shari Kearney didn’t just find a place at NOLS—as our longest serving female instructor, she has worked over 424 weeks in the field and influenced generations of students. Shari Kearney is checking on Three Peaks Ranch’s stable of horses, kept on pastures outside of Lander, Wyoming in the offseason. Each autumn, the horses—dozens of them—are…
Connection, Resilience, and Dal Bhat: Manaslu Circuit Alumni Trip 2025
In November 2025, five gentlemen, one lady, three guides, and three support staff met in Kathmandu in preparation for a two-week NOLS alumni trek on the Manaslu Circuit in Nepal. Although we were all strangers coming from different parts of the world, our shared excitement for setting foot in the Himalayas was palpable. During those…
Expedition Science on the Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro
The NOLS Tanzania Scientific Expedition is a unique opportunity to design and implement a scientific research study—and summit Mount Kilimanjaro!
Northern Absorption: Backpacking & Canoeing in the Yukon
Katie Raymond relives the unforgettable day when she paddled for 13 hours in stormy weather on her Yukon Backpacking and Whitewater Canoeing expedition.
How Winning the Iditarod on Foot Started with NOLS
I had no idea I was going to work toward this masterpiece of a race, where I’d blend skills I'd spent years working on for 1,000 miles in the winter with a sled. But now I look back and I see it all come together, and NOLS was the conduit, the peephole.
Creating Space: Why All-Women’s Expeditions Matter
In many ways, an all-women's course is just another NOLS course. But it's also something more.
How Outdoor Adventures Set Teens up for Life Success
Mistakes aren't fun. But they might be just what teens need to succeed! NOLS courses offer an opportunity to make mistakes productively and learn key leadership skills.
Stepping into Action: First Aid on the Appalachian Trail
NOLS grad Kimberly Blazzard unexpectedly put her wilderness medicine skills into practice on a solo trip on the Appalachian Trail.
NOLS Grad Wins Nonprofit Business Professional Award in Boone, North Carolina
NOLS semester grad Andy Hill received one of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2019 4 Under 40 awards in the nonprofit business professional category.
NOLS Wilderness Medicine Course Well-Received at UNC
In March 2019, NOLS Wilderness Medicine and Landmark Learning partnered to hold a Wilderness First Aid course at UNC-Greensboro.
New Zealand Semester Grad & Gap Year Student Excels at Oberlin College
After taking a NOLS Semester in New Zealand as part of her gap year, Claire Tiedemann headed off to Oberlin College, where she was recently recognized for her outstanding 2019 performance on the track and field team.
NOLS Advisory Council Member Recognized for Community Service
Retired Rear Admiral Gretchen Herbert, a NOLS grad and Advisory Council member, was recognized for her commitment to STEM advocacy and community service in Transylvania County, North Carolina, in April 2019.
National Geographic Recognizes NOLS Grad for “Biggest Free Solo of the Year”
National Geographic recognizes NOLS grad and WEMT Jim Reynolds for his unprecedented free solo climb up and down Patagonia’s Cerro Fitz Roy in March 2019.
