Adventure Learning and The Call of The Wild

Published: April 13, 2021

God seems to prefer the wilderness as a place to connect with His people. Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist and Paul were all changed and empowered in the wild.

The wild is uncomfortable, explains Dustin Fenton 01, GCs director of leadership development and guide through the years on more than 40 student-backpacking expeditions.

In the wilderness, were highly attuned and sensitive to whats happening. Were better listeners and more willing to rely on God.

The best wilderness experiences leverage a sweet spot of learning that occurs somewhere between comfort and panic. Fenton strives to keep hikers in that learning zone, challenged, but calm and thinking clearly.

Most recently, he led students through 30 miles of Utahs Zion National Park, where they endured a good measure of tension in the thin mountain air, negotiating switchbacks, streams and rock formations. Rules prohibiting campfires kept the nights frigid.

On some level, I think were meant to encounter God in wild spaces, reflects Fenton, whether those spaces are metaphorical, like when a family member is sick and we dont know how to navigate that, or if its literally the wilderness.

He points to John Muir, champion of the Yosemite areas natural wonders, who spoke of days on the mountain as opening a thousand windows to show us God.

Fenton counts on those windows as he plans and prays over hiking adventures for students. He knows the wilderness will expose more than their vulnerabilities. If they earnestly seek God in the adventure, they will find Him.

Photos courtesy of Jakob Adam '00