Adventure Alum: Katherine Wendeln is building a life outdoors

When we caught up with Adventure Crew alumna Katherine Wendeln early this summer, she was in Fairbanks gearing up (literally and figuratively) to spend the season leading backpacking and river trips across Alaska. It was her second summer working in America’s “Last Frontier.” She’s also spent one summer each doing outdoor work in New Mexico and Yellowstone.

Not bad, especially when you consider that the University of Montana student is only 20.

An “outdoorsy” animal lover

“I’ve always been super outdoorsy and always loved animals,” the Mason native said. 

At age 5, she became a vegetarian, telling her parents she didn't like eating animals.

“When my mom would mow the grass, I'd spend hours picking the caterpillars out of the grass so they wouldn’t get run over,” she recalled.

She’d also beg her parents to take her to the Zoo as often as possible. On one of those outings, she and her family were watching the elephants when a keeper told them about the Zoo Academy. It stuck in their minds until years later, when she was old enough to go. 

“It was a great match,” she said.

It was at the Zoo Academy where she learned about Adventure Crew. During her two years there, she attended as many adventures as she could and became an assistant club advisor. 

“I loved my time in Adventure Crew,” she said. 

Her favorite adventure? “All of them!” she said, but skiing, kayaking and orienteering particularly stand out.

Summertime = Outdoor time

Wendeln’s summer adventures in outdoor work started while she was still in high school: She worked in Yellowstone doing conservation and trail work during the summer between her junior and senior year. The next summer, after her 2019 graduation from the Zoo Academy, she worked as a ranger leading educational backpacking trips at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. 

“I got paid to hike and talk to people -- what could be better?” she said.

After her summer in New Mexico, she headed to the University of Montana, where she’s double majoring in ecology and environmental science. She’s also continuing her summer adventures: In 2020, she’d planned to lead backpacking adventures in Alaska as she’s doing this year, but COVID-19 derailed those plans. Instead, she went to work for Alaska State Parks as a backcountry ranger doing trail and conservation work on Shuyak Island. Its residents included plenty of Kodiak bears; offshore, she sighted humpback whales and orcas.

Humans, however, were more scarce. Only two other people were stationed on the island with her, and only a handful of visitors made the journey there that summer.

“They'd drop off food for us every couple of weeks with a float plane,” she said. “It was a crazy unique experience."

Beyond the wildlife and scenery, her summer memories also include seeing young people connect with nature in new ways -- not unlike what we see with our Crew. For example, during a pre-backpacking gear check with a group, one trekker had packed an electric rice cooker.

“This group had obviously not spent a lot of time in the woods,” she said.

But by the time they got back to base camp, some of the kids were telling her they wanted to do another trip -- a longer one, even.

“It was cool to see the transformation,” she said. “Experiences like that are so neat.”

She appreciates that Adventure Crew is offering such experiences for teens whose backgrounds differ from hers.

“There are so many cool outdoor activities, but accessibility to them in city populations is limited,” she said. “I think (Adventure Crew) is just an awesome program; it breaks down those barriers for a lot of students.” 

Though she’s still figuring out what she wants to do post-graduation, she’s leaning toward environmental education work. She hopes to do something hands-on and, after her backcountry experience, she knows she wants to work with both animals AND people.

“I’m excited to get people connected to nature, similar to what Adventure Crew is doing,” she said. “I want to show them all the things I’m super passionate about.

“I’m excited to see what’ll come next.”