After our arrival in Denver, we will spend two days on the High Mountain Institute's campus. We'll stay in rustic cabins, get to know each other, and participate in a two-day leadership workshop led by experienced faculty members. We'll learn more about ourselves and start to explore what leadership means to us. In between these classes, we'll get ready for our upcoming trek through the Colorado backcountry.

We'll start our 11-day backpacking expedition through the heart of the Rockies by hiking along trails as we get used to the altitude and our packs. Each morning, the group will select two students to serve as the Leaders-of-the-Day. They'll get the opportunity to practice their leadership skills while guiding their hiking groups over rocky passes and under towering peaks. In the afternoons, after setting up camp in the shadow of Colorado's magnificent "Fourteeners," we'll meet as a group for a game, a class about leadership, or a discussion about the day before cooking a delicious pizza dinner on our backcountry stoves.