For those of you who have been on a Deer Hill Expeditions (DHE) course before, are interested in facilitating similar experiences for others and are looking to gain the experience and education you need to work as an outdoor leader, we have an exciting new option for you. This summer, Deer Hill Expeditions will be offering a Field Apprentice Program exclusively to our alumni.

This program will provide an opportunity for our alumni to continue their development as outdoor leaders, build on what they learned during their DHE courses and gain experiences that are integral to working in the field. Apprentices will begin their experience by attending our annual 10-day Staff Training Trip. This trip combines leadership and technical skills education and evaluation with a thorough immersion in DHE’s philosophy. Apprentices will then be staffed on one of our summer courses and work as a member of the Instructor Team. They will be encouraged to contribute their skills and expertise to the adventure, while at the same time they will be coached and mentored by the instructors and learn alongside the participants. The apprenticeship will conclude with a performance evaluation, suggestions for next steps on the road towards working as an outdoor instructor and some professional guidance from our Staff Manager.

Interested? If so, please check out the formal position description here, review the qualifications and fill out an application. If you have further questions, please contact Eli Shostak at 970.533.7492. See you this summer!

View Field Apprentice Information and Application Form

This is a guest post from Allison Dobscha, from Portland, OR, who attended our Wilderness Leadership program this past summer. Thank you to Allison for putting her experience into such lovely words.

When people ask me what I did over the summer, my answer seems to change every time. I’m not quite sure how to put the experience into words, into the three sentence description they were expecting. “It was incredible,” I say sometimes, or “it was really hard, but totally worth it,” but it’s nearly impossible to express how meaningful the trip was to me. At home, I’m reminded of Wilderness Leadership every day. It takes different forms around my house. On my computer, it’s a folder of pictures, a slew of Facebook wall posts, a desktop background, and a rough draft of a college application essay. In my room it’s a giant map of the Weminuche Wilderness on my wall, our route marked with a red dotted line. In my closet it’s the brand new backpack I couldn’t resist buying once I returned, hoping it would motivate me to plan a trip of my own. It is constantly in my mind as a collection of thoughts, memories, sensations, and people I refuse to let go of. Here’s a sort of top ten:

1. Sitting on the counters in the Backcountry Pantry, discussing the “Message from Hopi Elders” with Doug. Taping this piece of handed-down wisdom into my journal, so I could read it every day in the wilderness.
2. Drinking in the most vast expanse of stars I have ever seen.
3. Enjoying a delicious, warm, gooey lemon bar at basecamp.
4. Light filtering through spaces between red rock, while I washed my face with the clear water of a sacred pool hidden in the canyons.
5. Leading my group through the high mountains, relying on my navigation skills to reach our campsite by the river.
6. Cooking macaroni on a flickering Whisperlite stove, turning around to face the mule deer that would follow us for the next few days.
7. “Circle” in the evening darkness: talking about what Place means,  and leaving pieces of our souls at Moon Lake.
8. Rez time, working on a hot roof for hours with our Hopi hosts, and wishing we could work for a few more.
9. Witnessing far away lightning on a gray horizon from the edge of the Hopi mesas.
10. Jumping fully clothed into the lake at Deer Hill Basecamp after 10 days in the desert without a shower. Sitting on the dock in the middle of the water, absorbing the perfectly blue sky and feeling ultimate freedom, ultimate peace.

I couldn’t pick one favorite moment, because the entire experience stands out in my mind as the most meaningful, enlightening, fun, and awe inspiring month I’ve ever had. I pushed myself every day, and ate huge meals to satisfy my extraordinary appetite. I felt so comfortable in my mountain sleeping bag, I didn’t miss my bed. I spent five and a half hours alone, learning about myself by an unnamed lake, now marked with a star on my topographical map of the Weminuche. I came home with a clearer mind, a stronger body, and a new family. I can’t imagine living without them, even now, being home for over a month. We hugged each other with pride and triumph after an intense and emotional round in the sweat lodge our last day before flying home.

I’m so glad I kept a journal. Rereading my entries, I am transported back. Looking at my pictures I’m amazed at how majestically beautiful my surroundings were every single moment on this trip. Wilderness Leadership was my third Deer Hill course, and probably my last (I’m too old to return next summer.) It’s hard to imagine a summer without Circle, a sweat lodge, and the most amazing people. Where else could I have learned to be comfortable and content covered in mosquito bites and desert dirt?

Alison “drops in” to Gravel Canyon, Utah, during the first section of the 2010 Wilderness Leadership adventure summer camp program

This poem I actually wrote during our one hour of alone time alongside the San Juan river on the trip! I thought it turned out pretty well. I was inspired by a lone leaf which was drifting through the air and I thought “what would it be like to be a leaf” so I came up with this.

Journey of a Leaf

Gently I float along; adrift in an endless sky.

I feel the open expanse surround me.

I’ve lost the connection with my home; my gentle creator,

Now I’m alone, with no power of will,

Just floating adrift.

As I feel the strength of the wind,

I emerge into another element.

This is soft and soothing, an embracing parent,

Carrying me slowly, along its watery flow,

Just floating softly.

As I begin to feel the water’s grace,

I wash up onto another element.

This is hard and reassuring,

I am no longer moving; instead I am still,

Just so still.

Finally I feel a gentle combining,

As of a merging of elements.

Silky water on one side,

Earthy ground on the other,

And flowing air above.

Blissful peace envelops me,

And I sleep.

Participants in the rally make a donation, and 100% of the proceeds will go towards funding scholarships for deserving teenagers who could otherwise not afford the cost of a program with Deer Hill Expeditions. If you cannot join in the rally, itself, consider sponsoring one of the other teams. If you are joining one of the rally teams, thank you! Your contribution will make a huge difference in the lives of these scholarship recipients. We are so grateful to Brad for planning this event, and excited that he feels so passionate about Deer Hill nearly a decade on from his experience with us.

The Deer Hill Foundation is a non-profit entity with 501c3 status. Your contribution is fully deductible for federal income tax purposes.

You can find out all the details about the rally, and see some beautiful images of the Southwest, by heading to the Deer Hill Rally website:

Christopher Hohman, of Santa Rosa, jumps into the Colorado River this summer

Something happened recently that gave all of us at Deer Hill a thrill of pride. Last week we received the results from the Summer Search Foundation’s survey of Deer Hill participants. Summer Search is a wonderful organization that seeks out talented young leaders from diverse backgrounds and places across the U.S., mentoring them throughout their teenage years. In partnership with the Deer Hill Foundation, Summer Search sends a number of participants for meaningful teen summer camp experiences with Deer Hill. Over the years these talented, motivated and fun students have contributed an immense amount to our programs.

The survey reveals an extremely high level of satisfaction amongst these participants with their Deer Hill program. Some highlights from the survey:

100% of students said that their leaders were knowledgeable

100% felt that the leaders communicated clear goals and expectations of the trip

95% felt that their leaders engaged and interacted well with the participants

100% felt supported by the leaders during the program

100% feel more confident to face new challenges after their program

100% said that to some degree they feel more comfortable with themselves

100% gained new skills that will help them in the future

100% said that during their trip they had the chance to lead their group

100%  felt proud of their performance on the trip

100%  were challenged during their program

100% had fun on their program

100% would recommend Deer Hill to others looking for a teen summer camp

We are ecstatic about these results because they show that everything we do to make our programs meaningful, challenging and fun is working for these participants. It shows that wilderness and community service programs like Deer Hill Expeditions truly have the potential to change the lives of young people.

Dear Deer Hill staff (Doug & Bev & family):

Almost 20 years after my experience with Deer Hill, it remains a shining light and inspiration for the work I do today. I am a documentary filmmaker and teach others the art of storytelling all around the world. I find myself speaking about how closely linked are the inner and outer landscapes of our lives and encounters. When the stories we tell are stories from the heart, they have the power to transform others. I have also found myself connecting with Native American communities in California and continue to participate in sweat lodge ceremonies, and to carry a respect for the earth with me. Quite literally, I feel and know her heartbeat to be my own. That sense of respect for her and for the spirits of the land- the rocks and water- and all life that dwells inside and outside of myself, was born through several rites of passage, one of them being Deer Hill. It has shaped me profoundly. So thank you to all past and future leaders and youth who keep the spirit of Deer Hill alive and well. We have you to thank for the strength and wisdom of our future generations.

Alison Fast

We checked out Alison’s website here. Turns out she has had a fascinating career in the media so far, using television production and other approaches to help and empower people in developing countries to tell their stories. She has worked with organizations like PBS, Barefoot Media, and NBC, and won a Peabody award for her documentary “For My Country? Young Latinos in the Military”. If you have an interest in media and advocacy, you might find Alison’s fun and creative site inspirational.

Sunset over the famous Shiprock,  seen from the Chuska Mountains in the northern Navajo Nation, with Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background. Photo: Richard Malcolm/DHE.

My name is Wendy Manus McCreight. I am a South Jersey girl who first came out to Deer Hill in high school as a participant in 1997 and again (for Wilderness Leadership) in 1998. These experiences inspired a career in outdoor education. Now I am back in the Four Corners with my husband, Colin, and I’m excited to be working at Deer Hill! (You can find out more about me and the other Admin staff at Deer Hill on our staff page). After Colin started working with the Indian Health Service last year, we moved to Shiprock, New Mexico, in the northern Navajo Nation. I’d like to share some of the impressions gathered so far with you.

On a hot July day, after driving for over a week from Boston in a loaded-down car, we finally arrived in the Navajo Nation. As we passed through the high desert towards our new home we could see several of the geological features called volcanic “plugs” towering above the desert floor, including the town’s namesake, Shiprock. The Shiprock is sacred to the Navajo, or Dineh, people. Traditional Dineh believe that their ancestors once lived up on the high rock before a cataclysm shattered it into its current form.

The center of the town of Shiprock is unassuming. There are several fast food restaurants, a small grocery store, fair grounds (including a rodeo venue) and a hardware store. Many food vendors line the side of the highway near town, selling mutton stew, “kneel-down” bread and locally grown fruits and vegetables. Our new hometown on “the Rez”, as locals call it, is home to about five thousand people, most of whom live in mobile homes or government-built housing. Our house is similarly basic, located close to the Indian Health Service hospital in Shiprock, but we settle in before long.

Our six months in Shiprock have included sand storms, freezing pipes, hot summer sun and consistently beautiful sunsets over the Shiprock. The pace of life here is certainly slower than Boston, since the Shiprock rush hour is no more than a crowded Post Office parking lot. In general, the community has been very welcoming. Most people who move to the area work either at the hospital or in the schools. Despite some policies to promote employment among Native Americans, the Navajo have very high unemployment rates (often above 25%), since there are few jobs available on the reservation. Some work in the oil and gas industries in Farmington, located 30 miles away, so there are more jobs here than on other, more remote parts of the Rez.

Though many Navajo struggle to find adequate employment, many people we have met are very resilient and positive in spite of the community’s struggles. Our new Navajo friends value their families and are trying to teach their children about traditional Navajo culture, even as daily life on the Rez becomes more Westernized. Many extended families still live together, with grandparents and aunts helping with raising children if parents aren’t able. There is a long tradition of military service among the Navajos which continues today. The Navajo Code Talkers, a group of Navajo soldiers who communicated in Navajo to avoid Japanese intelligence, were instrumental in the US winning World War II in the Pacific, and many Codetalkers originally came from the Shiprock area.

As we move forward with our life in Shiprock, we look forward to learning more about local artists. Native artists specialize in silver and turquoise jewelry, wood carvings, pottery and sand paintings. There was a large art fair during this holiday season at the Shiprock Chapter House (the local branch of the Navajo Nation government; there are Chapter Houses in most reservation towns), with many local artists selling their beautiful work. We also look forward to exploring more of the landscape around Shiprock. There is a large mesa north of town for hiking, and friends have hiked near the Shiprock itself, with dramatic ridgelines and views of the nearby Chuska Mountains to the west. This spring, we plan to explore the local flea market on Saturday mornings, with artisans and local cuisine. We will also be running the Shiprock Marathon in May, which starts in the mountains in Red Mesa and heads down into Shiprock. There are many stray dogs around town, which can make marathon training difficult, but we’re learning new strategies to avoid dog encounters. Most of all, we look forward to making more friends in the community and learning more about the beautiful traditions of the Shiprock area.

Deer Hill alumni and field leader Anna Taft works on intake for a medical clinic in Ecuador’s remote highlands with the Tandana Foundation

Anna Taft, an alumni and longtime Deer Hill leader on our adventure summer camps, wrote this piece about how her Deer Hill experiences shaped the development of a non-profit organization, The Tandana Foundation, which works with indigenous peoples in Ecuador and Mali.

“In 1993, as a shy, skinny 14-year-old, I first arrived at Deer Hill, full of nervousness and excitement.  Through my amazing experiences on that Multi-Environment course and my later Wilderness Leadership course, I gained a deep appreciation for the power of authentic leadership to craft an inspiring group culture, a love for the magic of Deer Hill’s Circle, and a soulful connection to wild places.  The growth that I experienced on those two courses motivated me to become a Deer Hill leader myself, which I did in 1999.  Through the summers at Deer Hill, I became more confident in my leadership ability, more aware of the power of simple cross-cultural friendships to teach us about what it means to be human, and even more appreciative of the wonderful lessons that emerge when groups are taken out of their comfort zones, set up with a safe and positive atmosphere for sharing, and then allowed to experience new things and reflect on those experiences. All of those lessons are essential to the work I’m doing today with The Tandana Foundation.

The Tandana Foundation is a non-profit organization I founded that offers cross-cultural volunteer opportunities, scholarships, and funding for small community projects in highland Ecuador and Mali’s Dogon Country.  Tandana coordinates service projects and volunteer vacations that offer visitors to Ecuador or Mali the unique opportunity to be guests rather than tourists, to form cross-cultural friendships, to experience a rich indigenous culture, and to make a difference in the lives of new friends.  These programs, focused on health care, education, or community infrastructure projects, are open to all willing volunteers. Our scholarship program allows rural Ecuadorian students to continue their secondary education as well as to participate in experiential education programs.  Our grants help villagers in Mali and Ecuador realize their dreams of improving their communities.

In fact, not only does Tandana share many Deer Hill values, but Tandana started off in close connection with Deer Hill.  When I developed a program for Deer Hill in Ecuador in 2005, I wanted to include young people from the community where we would be doing our service project in the group, so that they could travel to parts of their country they had never seen, have new experiences, and make friends with the North American kids in the group.  I raised money for scholarships for two indigenous Ecuadorian girls through the Deer Hill Foundation, beginning an on-going project that evolved into Tandana.

I’m also excited to have another Deer Hill alumna on board at Tandana.  Molly Klarman (Canyon Country ’00) has just signed on as our 2010 intern.  She will spend eight months in Ecuador, helping to coordinate our volunteer programs, following up with patients from our health care work, and teaching English to local students.  I’d love to have more Deer Hill folks get involved–maybe you’d like to join us on our Summer Volunteer Program to help teach and lead activities for our scholarship students, or bring basic health care to rural villagers with our Health Care Volunteer Vacation during spring break. Check out the opportunities at www.tandanafoundation.org“

River Trip for adult alumni, parents and friends – May 2010

Hello from Deer Hill! I would like to personally invite you to join us on our Green River trip next May. We are gathering a group of 15-20 friends of Deer Hill – adult alumni, parents, Foundation supporters and so on – to join us for a comfortable, relaxed, friendly and fun trip down one of the premier rivers in the U.S. Of all our trips next year, this is one I’m choosing to guide on. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with some good people. I’m also excited to fly to the put-in by chartered plane. This is a spectacular, and time-efficient, way to start the trip. Read on for the details, and feel free to get in touch with any questions.

Doug Capelin, Founder and Owner

The Green River, Utah

The Green River is the largest tributary of the Colorado River, winding its way across the otherworldly Colorado Plateau. Over millennia the river has carved a stunning gorge, deeper in places than the Grand Canyon. This is a unique journey through an unspoiled, rugged and remote land, considered to be one of the premier whitewater rafting trips in the U.S.

Running the Green is a real expedition: 6 days, 85 miles, over 60 rapids, huge landscapes, mysterious ancestral dwelling places and perfect beach campsites. Float through Desolation and Gray Canyons, whose forbidding names belie their wild beauty. Bighorn sheep, blue heron, cougar and black bear roam this land, once home to Uintah and Ouray Indians – not to mention outlaws looking for a place to hide.

Though this is a southwestern river, this is very different from the San Juan. The scale feels bigger, and the rapids are more significant. You’ll need warm clothing for cool evenings and rain gear, pants and top, for getting splashed in rapids. We have all of this gear at Deer Hill, and can bring any of this for you. You won’t need wetsuits and dry tops and that kind of radical gear, but the water is cold in May and when you get hit by a wave, it will be cold water.

We will be eating very well, with salmon on the outdoor grill, hot breakfasts, organic tea and coffee in the morning, and plenty of snacks. We’ll have campfires every night, with comfortable chairs for everyone.

The Details

Here are the basics… we’ll send out a Program Information Packet to you when you sign up, with all the information you need to prepare for this trip.

Dates: Saturday May 8th – Saturday May 15th

Itinerary and Travel Arrangements:

Day 1 (May 8th) – Meet in Grand Junction, Colorado on Saturday. Spend the night there – we’ll make a block booking in a local motel/hotel where the rates are reasonable. We’ll meet in the evening for orientation, gear and packing.

Day 2 – We catch our chartered flight (from Grand Junction, CO or Green River, UT) with Red Tail Aviation – a company Deer Hill has been working with for many years. Fly over the Colorado Plateau to our river put-in at Sand Wash, northeast of Duchesne, UT. This saves us a day of driving. Our guides will have the boats rigged and ready to go. After a safety talk, we’ll launch and start navigating down the river.

Days 2-7 – Float the largest tributary of the Colorado, enjoying the beauty and history of Desolation and Gray Canyons. The first couple days, the river is gentle, with a good current, but no real rapids. By day 3, this starts to change, and the action builds until we are rafting through big rapids in the last two days of the trip. No one will complain that all we did was float and look at the scenery. We’ll do that, too, for sure, but there are definitely quite a few rapids to get your attention.

Day 7 – Take out near Green River, UT. Our vehicles are waiting to drive us back to Grand Junction in the afternoon. You may be leaving straight away or, more likely, if you’re flying, spending that night in a hotel with most of the group, and heading out to the airport on Saturday morning.

Day 8 (May 15th) – After breakfast, we will return you to the airport in plenty of time for your flight.

Age limit: 18 and over

What’s included: The trip includes all food, snacks, and soft drinks, rafting equipment, group gear for cooking and camping (stoves, tents etc), and all ground transportation beginning in Grand Junction, CO.

What’s not included: Personal gear and clothing, transport to/from your hometown to Grand Junction, charter flight with Red Tail aviation ($130), cost of lodging and meals in Grand Junction, and alcoholic beverages. A “sleeping package” is available to rent (consisting of a comfortable paco pad, sleeping bag, and groundcloth) at a cost of $50 for the trip. We will also bring with us rental gear (fleece jackets, waterproofs etc etc) so if you need any other items you can rent them from us at a very reasonable price.

Cost: $1495. A $350 deposit is due to reserve your place on the trip – please send to Deer Hill Expeditions, PO Box 180, Mancos, CO 81328. With limited space, we expect this trip to sell out fairly quickly. Enrollment is on a “first-come, first served” basis.
We look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, Richard (Outreach Director), Jason (Program Director), or I will be happy to answer any of your questions. You can email richard@deerhillexpeditions.com, or call the office on 970-533-7492.

Doug Capelin
Founder and Owner
Deer Hill Expeditions

Naya Herman, of Acton, MA, checking out the “Poor Man’s Umbrella” in the Cloud Forest of Costa Rica

Below is a letter we received recently from Costa Rica Exploradores 09 camper Naya Herman. Having recently returned from a visit to Costa Rica to connect with the environments and activities our participants experience on this program, I am not at all surprised by her enthusiasm. (More info and photographs from our visit to come). This is an amazing “off-the-beaten path” adventure that, being a Deer Hill program, stays well away from the tourist hotspots and truly touches “the real Costa Rica”.

Naya writes:

“Hello! Let me just start out by saying: you guys rock. This summer I had positively the best experience of my life. From the moment I was united with the group – some of the best friends I have ever had – at Houston airport, my summer began.

From ants that are electric blue and poisonous, to handmade hammocks in El Copal, my trip could not have been better. There are endless memorable moments. One would be: lying peacefully under a beach almond tree in La Playa Grande, listening to the dark drifting waves hitting the shore, a few feet from our camp. Sure, there were some things we had to deal with: weather and bugs for example. But when surrounded by warm people and candles made out of sand and coconuts, nothing can penetrate that safe feeling of being right in the middle of where you are meant to be.

Another of my favorite moments was that first day of flying down the Rio Pacuare. I had never seen such a milky green water, and all I had to do was lift my eyes to the vines jumping out at me, and exotic birds hopping around the bank. Or, turn around and watch the happiest Costa Rican man I’ve ever seen as he guides us through the class 3 rapids.

While in Costa Rica, I was exposed to a culture that was all around very different from my own. I would most definitely use Buzzing, Colorful and Exploding to describe the city life in San Jose. I would choose Amiable, Generous, and Connected to describe the people of Costa Rica. In every house I walked into, I felt a relationship with these people, who looked me right in the eye when they spoke to me, or listened intently as I tried to remember all those verbs we studied in Spanish class.

I’ve been home for 48 days now, and there literally has not been one day that has gone by without me thinking about everything that I learned and gained from being in Costa. When I think of the things I’ve brought back, I picture the faces of people I hope to stay in touch with forever. I’ve got about a hundred vivid pictures that help bring me back to the places we stayed. I’ve got a sense of self-confidence and empowerment that I feel inside me whenever I remember all of the amazing challenges we faced… and ACCOMPLISHED! I have also got so much love towards everyone we had the pleasure to encounter and everyone that helped make my trip so unforgettable.

This summer, something very profound happened to me. I met a group of strangers who ended up becoming my companions on a journey of self-discovery, awakening, and challenges. I took so much from everything we experienced – with the reassurance that tomorrow, there is a new day waiting for you to live it to the fullest. . We were strong as individuals, and even stronger as a group. Thank you, Deer Hill Expeditions, for giving me three weeks that I will always remember. I found myself in the middle of nowhere.

Love, Naya Herman”