Outdoor Club Information
The De Anza College Outdoor Club offers the widest range of activities of any club at De Anza. We camp, hike, backpack, kayak,go horseback riding, caving and surfing.
The club gives lessons or gets a good price for lessons from professional instructors.
We specialize in trips and events for beginners.
Almost all of our camping trips include people who have never been camping before; even the winter trips to Yosemite National Park camping with snow on the ground.
Information about De Anza College Outdoor Club events,
a calendar of adventures and
how to find us to sign up for events is at coming atractions
and see Basic information about the club
- The kayak lesson and practice paddling day trip at a nature reserve, (fifteen minutes from the De Anza campus), offered May and October, no experience needed, and the club provides all the equipment, inlcuding a lifejacket you must wear
- A trip between summer and fall quarters for part of or all of August to
Participants can stay for a shorter, longer or much longer trip
(that could include ten-national-parks-in-three-weeks
depending on the driving route people take).
You make your choice of camp, cabin or hotel room
Restaurant, cookout, picnic
The main club activity besides sightseeing is kayaking & canoeing for beginners or experienced. (We will teach you how to if you do not know how.)
You choose from among optional activities, such as hikes (with or without a Ranger Naturalist), backpacking, bike riding (with your bike that you bring or one that you rent) horseback riding with a professional trail guide, white water rafting, stargazing, swimming, go to a rodeo, concert or museum in town. See lots more info below,
The annual Yosemite National Park winter trip . . . the snow (or not) camp (or not),
YOU CHOOSE which activities you want to do:
night hikes,
early morning hikes,
long hikes to viewpoints above the valley or to the top one of the tallest waterfalls in the world,
Ranger nature walks,
ice skating,
snow sculpture building,
photo walk with a professional photographer, 9 a.m. Saturday
(which you need to sign up for in advance, used to be free but now they charge for
it),
photo tour of you create the route for,
of places to photograph iconic Yosemite landmarks
A short walk with a Ranger naturalist could be included in these plans during years they have them.
snowboarding/skiing (lessons and/or rentals),
Ranger Naturalist snowshoe walks . See lots more info below.
Try an edit-find function (hold down Ctrl or Command, depending on your computer,
then type the letter F) on your computer to ‘search’ this page.
There is a link to a free wilderness first aid textbook at: Wilderness first aid
Carpools are arranged among the students going on the trips, not by the club or the college. For info on how to get/give a ride go to carpool FAQs
Road trip advice and etiquette to improve the drive to your next adventure
(For fun), camping blunders
find the answer to the question, How many people can you fit in an eight person tent?
Snow or rain camp must haves is the list of equipment YOU MUST HAVE (followed by the list of things YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD) to go on the Outdoor Club annual Yosemite winter camping trip, or even on our summer trips.
Find a checklist of all of the gear (but without all the reasons and descriptions)
What if it storms so much on the annual winter camping trip to Yosemite valley that they close the road to the ski resort? We won’t be able to ski or take one of the long hikes. Will there be anything to do except hide in the car, play cards at the laundromat or go online at the Lodge? Things to do during a Yosemite Snow storm besides hiding in the your tent.t
Can menstruating women camp or backpack around bears? Yes!
At have more fun camping you can learn how to build campfires that don’t smoke too much, how to pack an ice chest, do dishes in camp and lots more.
Thunderstorm and lightning safety includes the answer to the question: Why can’t you swim during a lightning storm? A strike on a lake doesn’t kill all the fish in the lake.
Prepare for winter driving has a link to bad weather driving tips, tips for using tire chains, tricks for dealing with frozen car locks, how to prepare your vehicle for winter driving, a winter survival kit for your car, what to do if you get stranded, how to keep windows from fogging up and tips for driving in snow and ice.
How to not collide with a deer
Canoe over canoe rescue could also be called a kayak over kayak rescue
backpacking advice has these sections: Must bring for each large group (or perhaps for each couple or
person), Must bring backpacking for each person, Some (crazy?) people think these
are optional for backpacking, Backpacking luxuries(?), Do not bring these backpacking,
To keep down on weight backpacking, Don’t rush out and buy, BACKPACKING FOOD, Low-cook
backpacking foods, Yosemite National Park WILDERNESS PERMITS, Leave no trace camping
has these basic principles.
For our trips at higher altitude you will probably feel out of breath at first and may even get a headache and lose appetite. You can get more sunburned. At altitude
includes why your tent mate might seem to stop breathing.
Quit being paranoid about sharks
Why you should wear a lifejacket Studies repeatedly tell us that 90% of people who drown while boating were not wearing a lifejacket. Even really good swimmers should wear one while boating. Participants in De Anza College Outdoor Club ocean kayaking, canoeing/kayaking in Grand Teton National Park or Yosemite or any other boating trip must wear a life jacket.
Cell phones in the wilderness, has advice on how/when to use a cell phone to contact 911 in the wilderness and a warning about interference between cell phones, iPods and avalanche beacons.
You can't always expect a helicopter rescue
Can a person who is prescribed an epi-pen risk going into the wilderness? and some sting prevention notes are at: Anaphylaxis quick facts
Bears has links to general info about bears, as well as practicalities of camping and backpacking around bears, (what to do if you see a bear, food storage including things that don't smell like food but look like a food container to a bear if it sees it through your car window and the bear might break in to your vehicle!! ) mostly geared towards De Anza College Outdoor Club trips around black bears in California.
Enhance a hike by reading:
The day hike gear section at the Camping equipment checklist
Hiking advice has hot weather hiking advice, hiking logistics and the answer to the question: When is the best time of day to cross a mountain stream?
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For the trip to Grand Teton National Park,
The main trip page has all the planned activities and links to other (not club sponsored) activities, such as mountain climbing, art galleries, white water rafting, trail rides, restaurants, rodeo, backpacking…
If you will be staying in a Colter Bay cabin, read details about the cabins and the logistics of sharing one.
If you want to get a better room, or even a suite with fabulous view, fireplace, fridge, etc, read more at: http://marydonahue.org/grand-tetons-hotels-cabins-lodging
Campers can take a look at a map of Colter Bay campground Grand Teton National park
Grand Tetons trip cost
has examples of
The cheap trip,
The not-so cheap trip,
The slightly more costly trip, but less driving time,
also known as the I-can’t-get-much-time-off-work trip,
and The Expensive Trip.
Restaurants in Grand Teton National Park with links to menus of ones in town. Just about every kind of food you might want.
Grizzlies are rare in Grand Teton national park, where we travel between summer and fall quarters, but growing in number. You will be lucky to even see one from a distance. Your safety in grizzly bear territory tells you what to do if you see a bear in the distance or a bear charges you and has info, including links to park videos about using Bear Pepper Sprays, which are not the same as your personal defense pepper spray. The page includes what might happen just before a bison charges.
Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park photos
Bike riding is not an official part of the Grand Teton National Park college trip. This page has rules, advice and suggested routes, links to maps, in and out of the park for mountain and road bikes. It includes statistics about cyclist encounters with grizzly bears.
What did we just see, and elk or a moose / a black bear or a grizzly? ( Elk are not just grown-up deer.) Rocky Mountain mammal size comparisons
Grand Tetons sightseeing
Grand Teton National Park weather
During a thunderstorm, don’t take a shower or use a sink, including washing dishes. Don’t talk on a land line phone. Don’t use your I pod. Don’t get zapped!
Whitewater rafting is not an official part of the trip, but often students rent a raft and professional guide together.
Cascade Canyon, Grand Teton National Park is one of the best hikes we have taken.
Trip transportation has flight info, driving distances and guesses at gas cost, previous trip examples, AND trip notes with where to find some mega-cheaper gas stations and ways to keep from driving the slow route through towns we need to go through by not taking the obvious freeway exit.
Grand Teton mountain range peak names
NASA aerial photo of the Grand Teton mountain range
Jackson Hole, Wyoming has a description of the main streets and how to find the Whole Foods, Albertson’s, REI, Target, Ace hardware, St John’s Medical Center, skate park, city parks with sand volleyball and/or tennis courts and more.
map of Jenny Lake campground and notes about the campsites
Signal Mountain campground map and notes
Rocky Mountain mammal size comparisons
Read about what may happen before a bison charges, including what people were doing before the bison charged
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For trips to Tuolumne Meadows
Tuolumne trip main page
directions for the drive from San Jose to Tuolumne Meadows via 120:
Pussypaws, Cow Parsnip, Coneflower, Penstemon, Phlox, Columbine, Monkeyflower, Sulphur Flower, Iris, Groundsel and Lupine Tuolumne trip wildflowers
World's greatest swimming hole
May Lake to Mount Hoffman is the main long hike we do