Welcome to our Camp: Idlewild Campground

September 22nd - September 24th, 2025

Perched atop the Strawberry Volcanic Fields bordering the Harvey Basin, Idlewild Campground provided a gentle terrain of Ponderosa Pines and perennial bunch grasses to inform a weekend of artistic practice and informative trips to the Bureau of Land Management Horse Corrals and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. 

Welcome to our Camp: Nez Perce Wallowa Homelands

September 19th - September 21st, 2025

Under the shadow of the distant Wallowas, Westies found themselves sprawled across the lawn of the Nez Perce Wallowa Homelands, Two beautiful sunsets, a day of brief rainstorms and a few subsequent rainbows were on the menu as we found rest, relaxation and increased perspectives in this place of great cultural history and importance. Qe'ci'yew'yew (Thank you) 

by Griffen Arnett

Welcome to our Camp: Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center

September 14th - September 19th, 2025

Gwen Trice welcomed students to the historic townsite of Maxville, OR— a  1920’s segregated logging town tucked into the hills of Wallowa County. Gwen is a historian, non-profit director, actor, salsa dancer, and descendant of black loggers who worked the land at Maxville. She herself has labored tirelessly to develop the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center to share the often overlooked histories of African-American, immigrant, and Indigenous people who inhabit the region.

Welcome to our Camp: Starvation Ridge

September 15th - September 17th, 2025

An iconic Westie Camp, Starvation Ridge lies on a historic travel route of the Nez Perce peoples, the original inhabitants of this land. With a shady grove of pines, the occasional cow patty, and views of the Wallowa and Seven Devils mountain ranges, this place helped inspire the original idea for Semester in the West.

by Claire Warncke

Welcome to our Camp: White Swan, WA

September 7th — September 11th, 2025

While on a walk one afternoon, as we rounded the corner away from Jill and David's house, Ashley and I noticed we had a follower– David's dog Sharptooth. We decided to turn around after playing with cattails in the wind and Sharptooth was still following. He walked us back to the property making sure we made it back, and David was there to greet us. Like Sharptooth, Jill and David provided for us throughout our whole visit. They let us use their pool, pick fruits and vegetables from their garden, and baked us cookies. We left White Swan melancholy and with the promise to return.

by Katharine Graham

Welcome to our Camp: Winthrop, WA

August 29th — September 7th 2025

Horses be neighin’

Sagebrush be swayin’

Smoke skies cloud our eyes

No sense we makin’.

Our speakers are crushin’

The food here is bussin’ 

The Methow with Ashley

Best place to be stayin’.

by Allee Garver

Welcome to our Camp: HJ Andrews Experimental Forest

August 25th — August 29th, 2025

HJAEF is an acronym that can stand for many things. Officially it is the name of the old growth forest we stayed in, the Horace Justin Andrews Experimental Forest. But unofficially to us westies, HJAEF stands for:

Hey there’s a bunch of cool trees

Jumping for joy there’s no yellow jackets here

And Lookout Creek is an amazing swim spot

Excellent moss

For real this is goated

By Jeremiah Harder

Welcome to our Camp: Zena Forest

August 23rd - August 25th, 2025

Zena Forest hosts 1300 acres of forested land. Ben Deumling, his mother Sarah Deumling and Ben’s children, Asa and Ezra toured the Westies around their property, the largest contiguous forest in the Willamette Valley. Oregon White Oak, Big Leaf Maple, Douglas Fir, and non-native Chestnut provided a delicate shade to our diverse learnings about forest ecology, forest management, the Oregon Private Forest Accord, and the narratives that weave them together.

Welcome to our Camp: Johnston Wilderness Campus

August 18th — August 23rd, 2025

Our very first (and eventually last) camp. Home of orientation week, Thanksgiving, and the final project grind.