From Whittier to Valdez: Outdoor Leadership Capstone Expedition Tests Students at Sea

Every year, students in the Outdoor Leadership program at Prince William Sound College complete a capstone expedition designed to put their training into practice. This year’s capstone was a 14-day sea kayaking expedition from Whittier to Valdez through Prince William Sound. Students planned routes, organized food and gear, and led travel days alongside instructors Dr. Benjamin Rush and Carrie Abruzzo.

Student Sarah Dale described the trip as less about learning basic skills and more about applying them in real conditions after completing coursework in Alaska Backpacking, Wilderness First Responder, Beginning Sea Kayaking, and Intermediate Sea Kayaking. “It was hard things,” she said, “but I had an amazing trip.”

For many students, the challenge became as mental as it was physical. Student Franklin Westlake later reflected that while the expedition was not the hardest thing he had physically done, “the mental fatigue of keeping high morale for myself and the group in 14 days of rain was hard.”

The group traveled to Whittier by ferry in pouring rain, studying charts from the top deck and trying to picture where they would be two weeks later.

“We were just getting so excited,” Sarah said. “We can see that island. We can see Heather Island and Elf Point. We were trying to orient ourselves to where we’d be in two weeks.”

After arriving in Whittier, students unloaded kayaks and launched immediately, stopping briefly at Shotgun Cove before spending the first night at the State Marine Park in Squirrel Cove.

From there, they paddled to Surprise Cove, where an accidentally forgotten radio forced the group to turn around and spend an extra day in camp.

“We had to paddle back,” Sarah said. “But it was a really nice campground, so it was fine.”

The paddle to Surprise Cove also brought the expedition's first equipment problem when the rudder on one tandem kayak broke.

“We've got to learn stern ruddering and practice it in real time so we can navigate to a beach to fix it,” Sarah said.

The second evening in Surprise Cove, Sarah flipped her kayak during a skills class, soaking her gear and another paddler’s jacket. Instead of treating it as a failure, the group shifted from practicing strokes to practicing rescue techniques.

“A setback or mistake wasn’t a reason to give up,” she said. “It was a new opportunity.”

The route toward Esther Island included open-water crossings and ferry traffic moving through the sound. Once there, storms and difficult landing conditions slowed the expedition. Students hauled heavily loaded kayaks over steep, rocky shorelines while wearing rain-soaked clothing and gear.

Franklin’s journal from Esther Island captured the mood during the weather delay:

“Day 5, Esther Island: Stayed up late last night trying to boost morale. We are stormed in on the island for potentially another 3-4 days. 25-35kt winds, seas 4ft-7ft. The team is bummed. When we get out of here, we will have to pull some long days… but we will make it.”

During the delay, the group visited the Esther Island hatchery, where warm buildings, dry gear, beds, and snacks stood in sharp contrast to expedition life outside.

“Some people had a hard time walking through the warm hatchery and then going back to our cold, wet campsite,” Sarah said.

Students spent much of the storm waiting for breaks in the rain to dry gear under tarps and inside the outhouse.

“All our stuff just smelled,” Sarah laughed. “Everything reeked.”

After several days, the group finally caught a break in the forecast and paddled toward Ragged Point. Sarah led that section and described it as one of the biggest learning moments of the trip.

“I was really struggling with the navigation,” she said. “Everything looked like it should be on the chart, but it doesn’t show up unless it’s big enough.”

Misreading shoreline features led to corrections and some backtracking before camp was finally located. Looking back, Sarah said the experience helped her better orient herself and read charts more confidently.

As the trip continued, students completed a 17-mile paddle to Granite Beach, their longest day on the water. It also brought the first real stretch of sunshine after nearly constant rain.

“That was like a reset day,” Sarah said. “We laid everything out to dry, and everyone kind of came back.”

The route later slowed near Elf Point to accommodate tired and injured paddlers. Although the low-tide landing initially disappointed the group, the campsites deeper in the forest quickly changed everyone’s opinion.

“It just transformed,” Sarah said. “The forest was beautiful and mossy and sheltered.”

Wildlife encounters became one of the defining parts of the expedition. At Elf Point, Sarah finally reached one of her personal goals for the trip.

“An orca was circling an island for like 30 minutes,” she said. “That was my main goal of the trip, to see an orca.”

She also described whales surfacing close to the kayaks and sea lions trailing one of the tandem boats through the sound.

“Go faster,” she remembered joking after sea lions began following their kayak. “You’re the one who made them mad.”

Conditions became more difficult again near Point Freemantle and later in the Valdez Narrows, where wind, rough water, and boat traffic added pressure on an already tired group.

On day 12, while paddling toward Sawmill, the tandem kayak’s rudder system failed again when the wire snapped completely. This time, the group practiced stern ruddering in rougher seas and stronger winds before landing on a beach to repair the kayak.

“It was such a fun experience to watch,” Sarah said.

One tandem team member managed the crossing while another dealt with a shoulder injury, leaving only one paddler to power the kayak through cold rain and rough seas.

Franklin’s journal entry from the final days reflected the strange feeling of exhaustion mixed with not wanting the experience to end:

“Day 13, Sawmill a.m: I couldn’t sleep soundly last night. Due to the rising tide threatening the tents and racing thoughts, I was up throughout. I have the itch to keep going, and coming home is bittersweet. All night, I was having visions of hopping on my bike and riding far away, or spending months circumnavigating Lake Superior in a kayak. I am cold and tired, but I am not discouraged.”

The group spent its final night at the State Marine Park in Shoup Bay. Students cooked all their extra food together before the last paddle into Valdez the following day.

“We all knew what to do by then,” Sarah said. “Everybody had their role.”

The final miles into Valdez felt different because the shoreline was familiar.

“It didn’t feel real,” Sarah said. “We knew exactly where we were the whole time.”

When the expedition returned to Valdez, students unloaded kayaks, sorted gear, and cleaned equipment with the efficiency that comes from working together for two weeks in difficult conditions.

Reflecting on the journey, Sarah emphasized not only the physical challenge but the growth that came from it.

“We’re a team now,” she said.