October 5, 2026
While hiking in Idaho’s Sawtooth Range as part of an expeditionary leadership course from July 13 to 23, 10 H-SC students displayed incredible leadership when faced with a surprising challenge.
Ten days of sweat, grit, and teamwork had carried a 10-student leadership expedition, part of Interdisciplinary Studies 270: Expeditionary Leadership (INDS 270), deep into Idaho’s Sawtooth Range. On the final afternoon, with the group just a quarter mile from Grandjean Campground, it seemed the expedition was coming to a successful close. With no warning, a gusty thunderstorm rolled through, the darkening sky punctuated by flashes of lightning, prompting the students to spread out along the trail to reduce the possibility of a group injury. Then came a sound in the distance—a deep, rushing roar, like a freight train. As they progressed along the trail, the distant treeline began disappearing as floodwaters surged the valley. Logs and boulders rushed past them as the muddy water rapidly consumed the very campsite they were trying to reach. With a dangerous situation in front of them, the group’s leadership and survival skills were being tested in real time.
“It was a crazy scenario,” says Gavin Yoder ’28. “I could see lightning striking the top of the ridge as we were walking closer to camp. At first, when I heard the noise in the distance, I thought it was a tornado. Then I saw five pine trees go horizontal, boulders rolling down the mountain, and other trees snapping—that image will be forever engraved in my head. The adrenaline kicked in, and we shifted into gear.”
With Director of the Wilson Center for Leadership in the Public Interest Vinton Bruton and James C. Wheat Jr. Chair in Leadership Hugo Rodriguez ’88 assessing the situation, the group dropped their packs and quickly made their way up the mountainside toward safer ground. Once they reached higher elevation, Bruton used a Garmin inReach device—a GPS communicator capable of sending text messages via satellite—to contact Boise County EMS. After evaluating the conditions, emergency responders instructed the group to remain in their elevated position and shelter there until the weather improved. The students quickly shifted into problem-solving mode, utilizing their developed leadership skills and working together to ration food, share water, set up tarps, and build a fire, making sure everyone had the resources needed to safely get through the night.
“I was incredibly proud of how the students responded,” Bruton says. “They immediately started doing everything they needed to do. The only difference was that we were doing it on a mountainside with a 45-degree slope.”
A few hours later, the storm finally subsided. Over the next couple of hours, the group encountered several passing hikers, offering them shelter and assistance. Eventually, a Boise County sheriff and the facilities director at Sawtooth Lodge made their way across the muddy valley and identified a passable route out. Later that evening, the group carefully navigated its way out of the flood zone and safely arrived at Sawtooth Lodge.
“During this time, my fellow students remained positive, even though we knew we would have to spend some time on the mountainside and work through it,” Gavin says. “We had a camp setup, but we quickly took it down so we could move through mud that was up to our knees. Earlier, we saw boulders the size of cars moving through the valley, but we kept pushing forward, and everyone stepped up.”
As in previous years, the expedition featured daily leadership scenarios and rotating student leadership roles, including leader, assistant leader, medic, and navigator. Although the group faced some challenges coming together early on, the students learned to work through their differences and operate as one team. That sense of teamwork, courage, and leadership proved especially important during the flash flood and in the hours that followed.
“Leadership is a practical and tacit skill,” Bruton says. “You have to be able to adjust your ideas to your team’s skillset, the mission you're trying to accomplish, and the situation around you. Additionally, there are going to be times when things don't go as planned, and you have to adapt and manage that situation—something the students did very well.”
The flash flood ultimately became a powerful demonstration of the expedition’s purpose. Designed to challenge students in an environment where leadership, communication, and adaptability are essential, the course gave them an opportunity to put those skills into practice when they mattered most.
“Throughout the trip, everyone had opportunities to practice leadership and see what worked and what didn’t work,” says Sam Schley ’28. “When we finally moved past our friction phase, our ability to work together and provide feedback improved. As a result, everyone became more effective in their roles as both leaders and followers. By the time the flash flood came around, we had only gotten better—we were a team, and we survived a natural disaster as one.”