YO recently received a generous donation that allows us to offer subsidized Spring Break trips this year. Whether you've always wanted to go on a YO trip but never had a free weekend or you're a seasoned veteran of the wilds of the Northeast, we've got trips for you to venture into the vast unknown for a week and explore the outdoors.

Appalachian Trail - New York Backpacking (March 4-10)
Traversing fourteen states, the A.T. is approx. 2,180 miles long. We will be tackling only a small, but nevertheless spectacular, bit of this. Come explore one of the most famous trails in America as we embark from the Appalachian Trail Metro-North Station (train route: NH-->NYC-->AT) for a week of hikes, views, camaraderie and general adventure. Backpackers of all experience levels are welcome! Trip dates: Sunday 3/4 - Saturday 3/10 (first week of Spring Break). Email chelsea.andreozzi@yale.edu with any questions.

Canoeing the Concord River (March 11-17)
Ride the wave of winter into spring on the Concord river in Massachusetts. Retrace Thoreau's wake in canoeing along the journey described in his first published work, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers." Take in the picturesque embankments and glide down the river, until the journey ends at the grinning mouth of the Atlantic. The trip will span from March 11th to March 17th, during the Concord's peak flow period. Possible trip to Walden Pond. Email patrick.cage@yale.edu with any questions.

Backpacking the Catskills (March 13-17)
A Catskill Odyssey: This trip will be a four day hike, tentatively set for the devil's path (a tough 25 mile rock scramble), but subject to change if there is snow come March. The hike is inspired by the Hudson River valley school of painters, the first artists to worship the vast proportions of the New World. Trail literature may include works by Emerson, Washington Irving aka Diedrich Knickerbocker, and James Fenimore Cooper (but, of course, will ultimately be up to each hiker's own discretion). Watercolors and sketchpads welcome, epic poetry committed to memory encouraged (the lorax counts). Email juliana.hanle@yale.edu with any questions.

Application (with lots of information and FAQs) is here! Submit yours by emailing it to springyo2012@gmail.com by Friday, February 10th. Also email if you've got any questions/comments/endless excitement.

Visit this page soon to see the trips we've got!