My weekend at summer camp: Wyoming Becoming an Outdoors Woman 2025

The last (and only) time I attended a summer camp was for Girl Scouts in 1992… my last memory is of the leech-filled lake at the Chimney Park Boy Scout Camp that victimized those who dared enter it, along with horrendous smelling vault toilets. Needless to say, I was overdue for some fonder summer camp memories. Enter the 2025 Wyoming rendition of Becoming an Outdoors Woman weekend!

Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) is a national nonprofit educational outreach program that offers outdoors skills workshops in 38 states and 6 Canadian provinces. Hosted by Wyoming Game & Fish, it is a long weekend experience designed primarily for women 18 years and older. The Wyoming weekend is affordable at $150, which includes all course materials, lodging, and meals (many other states are $300-500+ for their events!). The venue is the Whiskey Mountain Conservation Camp (WMCC) outside of Dubois, nestled against the stunning Wind River Mountains.

BOW Weekend is especially for you if:

• you have never tried these activities and want the opportunity to learn;
• you are a beginner looking to improve your skills; you are familiar with some outdoor activities, but would like to try your hand at new challenges;
• you are looking for the camaraderie of like-minded individuals.

I had applied and was accepted in 2024, but a work commitment popped up that stopped me from attending. I was excited to be accepted in 2025! Though I think I am a very outdoorsy woman already, and grew up in a remote mountain town (so familiar with hunting and living around carnivores), I knew this was an opportunity to broaden my horizons and to add some new skills to my repertoire. I quickly completed my registration, and chose Basic Fly Fishing, Basic Water Sports, Map & Compass, and Outdoor Survival for my courses.

WMCC is a five and a half hour drive from Cheyenne, so I took the opportunity to camp outside of Lander in Sinks Canyon State Park the night before BOW would start. This was a great opportunity for me to try out some new backpacking gear (especially my new tent and sleep system!), though it poured rain all evening and throughout the night.

BOW began at lunch on Friday, June 6th, so I had a chill morning packing away a soggy tent (okay, I threw it on the floorboard of my car!) and acquiring coffee in Lander before finishing out the ninety minute drive. Another gal and I were the first ones to arrive, which I liked as I had my choice of bunks in the cabin!

After a hearty lunch of ham and Swiss sliders (I have to say, the food was FANTASTIC during the weekend!), my cabinmate, Shauna, and I headed to our first class, Basic Fly Fishing. Now I must admit, I find fishing incredibly boring (at least it is when you are watching someone do it) and have never fished in my life… so what better way to push my comfort zone, right? Though no actual fishing occurred in this class, we learned how to assemble fly rods, and tie on leader, tippet, and flies. Then we were able to practice casting. Overall, I enjoyed learning about fly fishing and coming to the realization it is not nearly the complicated elitest thing some in my life have made it seem! I probably still will never fish, but at least I can tie some pretty sweet knots now!

After a great roast beef dinner (I will say, if you are vegetarian or vegan the meals could be a challenge…), we headed out for a casual evening hike to West Torrey Creek Falls. I had’t seen this waterfall during spring runoff, so it was a way to spend an evening!

My Saturday morning started off with Basic Water Sports. I have an intense fear of water, but after kayaking the Black Canyon of the Colorado in 2022, I have been itching to get back in a kayak. Luckily we started the day in kayaks on nearby Trail Lake, and I was instantly comfortable, despite the small white caps forming from time to time on the lake from the insane wind.

Sadly, what came next was not pleasing, and that was forced canoeing. I get if I was a kiddo at summer camp pushing me to try new things, but as a middle-aged adult woman who is pretty set in her fear, I was not pleased to get in a canoe, especially with someone I did not know (and therefore did not inherently trust). While I never ended up in the water, it was a stressful thirty minutes I could’ve gone without experiencing. (No photos because I was terrified.)

To wrap up the day was something that surprised me, and it was my strong desire to get on a stand up paddle board! I have always sworn I would never ever never NEVER get on a SUP, but I eagerly climbed on one! While I kneeled most of the time, I did manage to stand up, and ended up with thinking “I should buy one of these…” (After I saw the price of them, I decided I would not be buying one, but did find some rental locations!)

After a great chicken Caesar salad lunch, it was time for my Map & Compass course. I knew is a weak area in my skillset, and I was eager to learn how to use a proper compass (meaning more than pointing my iPhone’s compass to magnetic north). We started out in a classroom session with some pre-quizzes (100% for me.. apparently I know the anatomy of a compass quite well!), before heading outside to practice setting headings. We returned inside to learn some more concepts, and then briefly cover types of maps and how to read topographic lines (I aced this worksheet as well!). We wrapped up with exploring some orienteering courses and practicing our new skills.

One of Saturday night’s optional programs was Large Carnivore Awareness, which I eagerly signed up for. With multiple backcountry permits secured in grizzly country this summer, I jumped at the chance to increase my knowledge of recreating around Wyoming’s carnivores. We were able to pass around examples of bear scat and some taxidermy grizzly paws (eek!), and learn about various types of bear behavior. The class wrapped up with me derailing the evening by mentioning the words “bear can” (whew, there was a strong opinion on on horribly heavy the are and because CDT thru-hikers don’t use them, neither does that person…) before we headed outside to spray inert bear spray. I learned very importantly that you aim down with the spray, as no bear is running at you on their hind legs!! (But that makes for a funny mental image, right?)

I woke up Sunday morning not feeling the best from poor sleep and at a conundrum. After talking to some woman about what they learned in the outdoor survival course which I was suppose to have Sunday morning, I decided to head out early from camp to hike Lake Louise on my own and get a jump start on the long drive home. This was 100% worth it, as the hike energized me and just made my soul happy. Getting home at a reasonable hour was an extra perk!

Overall, I enjoyed my weekend at BOW, and the new friends I made! I learned some new skills, and added to my knowledge set to keep myself safe in bear country. And I got to kayak again, and enjoy a SUP! The food was amazing, and the “rustic cabins” were great and not what I’d call rustic 🙂

However, BOW was a one-and-done for me. The course options do not change much year-to-year, and I took the courses I were interested in (other options included firearms, archery, photography, geocaching, wildlife viewing, beginning hiking and backpacking, and more advanced options of fly fishing and water sports). I simply just do not know what other courses I would do, as they are either areas I am completely not interested in or am very experienced in.

I definitely think BOW is an amazing opportunity for beginners, or maybe those who have not had opportunities to experience certain things and explore skills in a safe, friendly environment. One of my new friends expressed that she loved learning more about fly fishing and archery without her partner there just doing everything for her, and I love this, and feel like that is a big perk to the camp! The Wyoming offering is very cheap compared to many other states’ programs, which is a huge advantage as well (there were several out-of-state attendees!). If you are interested in the various course topics, I highly recommend applying when applications open each spring!

My next “camp” experience? Hopefully a Wilderness First Responder course in 2026!