Natural Bridges trip kicking off Outdoor Programs’ year

The USU Outdoor Program has many opportunities for students to experience the outdoors in different ways. For incoming first-year students, there was a canoeing and backpacking trip called Natural Bridges that took place before Connections week.

Sophomore Katie Peterson was one of the leaders of the trip. 

“I actually went on Natural Bridges my freshman year,” she said. 

Peterson was nervous before going on the trip, specifically about making friends. However, because the people on the trip spent all their time together, she said making friends was built in to the trip.

“It was a really good experience for me because I was able to start to figure out how to talk to people more,” Peterson said. “I came away from that trip with a lot more confidence in myself.”

Peterson decided to apply for the trip leader position because of her positive experience on Natural Bridges last year. 

“There’s also something about being out in nature that I think allows us to connect with other people more easily,” she said.

The trip took the group to Labyrinth Canyon. 

“We do different hikes throughout the day,” Peterson said. “Sometimes we stop at little places of interest along the river.”

The Stokes Nature Center, an organization in Logan dedicated to furthering outdoor education, sent a naturalist on the trip with the USU students.

“She was there to teach us about the ecology and history of the area,” Peterson said.

First-year student Ellie Goins also attended the trip.

 “I feel like we just got to experience a lot of different things,” Goins said. “I loved just being out in nature the whole time.”

According to Goins, the trip consisted of lots of canoeing, playing hacky sack, learning how to set up a camp and do chores around it, hiking, learning how to connect with nature and tons of socializing. 

“We still have a group chat,” Goins said. “We all got to know each other pretty well.”

Although this session of Natural Bridges already ran its course, Peterson said there will be another trip over fall break for anyone who missed the first time around. 

Furthermore, there are plenty of other Outdoor Program trips open to all current USU students. 

“We have all of our upcoming trips listed on our website, op.usu.edu,” Peterson said. “We also have Instagram where we post all of our upcoming events.”

The upcoming fall events, which Peterson said happen almost every weekend, include mountain biking, backpacking, climbing, hiking, canoeing, rafting, kayaking and backcountry skiing. 

“We take all skill levels,” Peterson said. “We try to make them as low cost as possible to make them accessible to as many people as we can.”

For those on the fence about signing up for an outdoor program, Goins said it was good for people of all different levels and outdoor enjoyment. 

“I love being outside,” Goins said. “But one girl said she’s not an outdoorsy girl, and she ended up loving it.”

Goins said she would definitely sign up for a future trip. 

“Nature just lets me reconnect with myself and kind of wash away all the things that don’t matter,” Goins said. 

For more information on Outdoor Programs and how to sign up for a trip, visit op.usu.edu.