Outdoor activities abound in autumn

Most students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln tend to stick to the treadmill or the pool during the scorching July days, but now that it's mid-October, the temperature is going down, and many students can now enjoy their exercise outdoors.

While several classes are offered indoors at the campus recreation center, more extensive activities are offered through the outdoor recreation program.

These classes include canoeing, kayaking, backpacking and climbing. All the classes are available to any UNL student, either for credit or non-credit.

Mel Sinnard, graduate assistant for outdoor recreation, said these classes can lead to trips as well.

"We offer shorter trips or longer expeditions," Sinnard said. "For fall break, we're planning a rock climbing trip and a backpacking trip."

The backpacking trip heads out to Indian Cave in the southeast corner of Nebraska, where students learn backpacking skills and get comfortable in the back country. The rock climbing trip travels to the Blue Mounds in Minnesota for the weekend.

Beth Hastings, a senior accounting major, said she participated in the rock climbing trip to Blue Mound when she was a freshman.

"My friend and I took the climbing wall class at the rec and always used it," Hastings said. "One of the instructors suggested we go on the trip, so we decided to go."

Participants put up their own tents, cooked food over the fire and went to the bluff to rock climb.

"It was tons of fun because I had never been climbing outside," Hastings said. "There's no rocks in Nebraska - it's all flat."

Since then, Hastings said she has gone to places in Colorado to rock climb with her friends.

Beside classes, trips and the bike rental and repair shop the outdoor recreation offers, challenge courses are another activity that's definitely getting word out, Sinnard said.

"The challenge courses are more about improving teamwork and building communication," she said. "They're more experiential based. We (the instructors) give them an activity, and it's their responsibility to complete it."

The challenge courses spend a full day concentrating on team-building and high-element activities, which includes any activity at least three feet off the ground, Sinnard said.

Sports teams, fraternities, sororities, student leadership groups and even summer camps for youth are some of the more common participants.

Sinnard, a graduate student majoring in leadership education, said she started out as a challenge course instructor.

"It's really rewarding to see a new group not know each other at all and leave a completely different group," Sinnard said. "It's amazing to watch the progression once those personal boundaries are broken. Seeing groups overcoming big staples and hurdles is a great part of the job."

But for those who are looking for exercise that's a little less challenging and more independent, the fall is the perfect time to test out trails, as the weather is cooling off and the bugs have stopped biting.

"No one really wants to bike when they're sweating up a storm in the summer," Hastings said. "So (now) I like to go out on trails or around lakes."

Although Nebraska might not be the premier place for rock-climbing, it offers several trails or parks close by for the unfamiliar runner or biker.

One such trail is Branched Oak Lake, just outside of Lincoln and four miles west of Raymond. While it offers activities like camping, fishing and boating, it's also a great place to run or bike. There are several trails to choose from, some designated more for nature-lovers who want to take an afternoon walk, while others are for the experienced hiker or mountain biker who wants to hit rugged trails.

Another site would be MoPac Trail, Lincoln's longest trail, which travels throughout the entire city. There's a concrete city portion that extends through businesses, neighborhoods and the University, but also gravel-paved roads that show the countryside.

"I've run or ridden my bike there a lot," Hastings said. "I've gone nine miles out and back, but it just keeps going forever, it seems."

Pioneers Park Nature Center, 3201 S. Coddington Ave., and Holmes Park and Lake, 70th and Normal Boulevard, both offer various outdoor activities, hiking trails and even picnic spots.

So whether students want to brave the great outdoors through a UNL trip (which still has open spots), enjoy a scenic jog or jump into a pile of leaves after an hour of raking, it's the perfect season to be active outside.

heatherprice@dailynebraskan.com