To end the semester on a fun note, students will travel to Mustang Island at the end of April to ride the waves of the Gulf and spend the night on the beach.
Outdoor Adventures provides the Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station community with access to the outdoors through various classes, programs and trips. In addition to indoor rock climbing at the Recreation Center, students can take a class on Mountain Biking or sign up for a hiking trip through different parts of Texas. On April 28, Outdoor Adventures will head to Mustang Island for their Sand and Surf Weekend. Mustang Island will be the last trip of the semester and there is still time for students who are interested in going to register. The group will leave Friday night and return to College Station Sunday afternoon.
Nick Whiting, recreation, parks and tourism science senior and trip leader for the upcoming Sand and Surf Weekend, has been apart of Outdoor Adventures since his freshman year and cannot wait to go to Mustang Island in a few weeks.
“The trip to Mustang Island is going to be a two-day, all-expenses included trip,” Whiting said. “We are going to be camping out on the beach, doing a little bit of surfing during the day, and we’re also going to be doing a little sightseeing around the Island.”
Director of Outdoor Adventures Jason Kurten said this new destination will be a great opportunity for students to experience the nature of the Lone Star State.
“Corpus Christi Bay is right there and there are some sea-kayak trails that you can level which gives you a calmer view of the Texas Coast,” Kurten said. “You get to see more wildlife, more birdlife … It is a lot more serene.”
Outdoor Adventures offers a variety of trips throughout the semester for students to sign up. Kurten encourages students, no matter what experience level, to travel to at least one destination that intrigues them.
“The outdoors is much like the people around us: it’s very diverse and it’s very different from our normal surroundings,” Kurten said. “Getting into the outdoors and learning new skills and meeting new people I think reinforces a lot of the core values that Texas A&M has. My advice to anyone at A&M is to just pick a trip that appeals to and just go on it and see what it can do.”
Of all his memorable moments with Outdoor Adventures, Kurten said his favorite trip was visiting the Big Bend National Park region of Texas.
“We usually plan one to two trips to Big Bend National Park to either hike and backpack or to paddle on the Rio Grande,” Kurten said. “In that case, we are camping out of canoes which is a really amazing experience. You are loading all of the stuff you need into canoes and for several days your paddling along the Rio Grande. One of the most beautiful places in Texas is the Big Bend region … It’s a really amazing trip.”
Biomedical sciences senior Gregory Schoonover loves the friendly atmosphere of Outdoor Adventures. Sharing his love for the outdoors with other Aggies is what he said believes makes this experience worthwhile.
“I joined the climbing team whenever I was a freshman and I started working here at Outdoor Adventures as a sophomore,” Schoonover said. “It’s been like a second family to me here in college. One of my favorite trips is the rock climbing trip that we offer which is a trip to Austin Texas and we typically take about 13 people and it’s just a really fun day, because you get to spend the entire day rock climbing. It’s a really open and inviting community.”
