The DHE Photo Competition Winner for 2011 was announced today on Facebook. Liana Ray wins a $50 iTunes gift card and a box of Deer Hill goodies for her beautiful, intimate and unusual picture of bighorn sheep on the Green River, Utah. Runners-up Josh Espy and Mollye Zahler win Deer Hill goodies to remind them of their trip. Many entrants sent us their best picture from a summer of outdoor adventure and community service with other teens. Thank you to everyone who sent in pictures – sorry we couldn’t include everyone!

Runner-up 1: Weminuche Wilderness of Colorado, by Josh Espy (Wilderness Leadership 2011)

Runner-up 2: Centennial Peak, by Mollye Zahler (Ancient Pathways 2011)

“Down in the canyon I grew a little, understood a little more, perceived even more, and in doing split the carapace of time and place I commonly wear. Split it, wriggled out of it, left it there, a stiff and empty shell to be blown away by a canyon wind. The new skin was extra sensitive, and so I perceived the canyon about me with new eyes, more sensitive touch, emotions closer to the surface, and I walked protective of this as yet unhardened integument.

And now I walk out, having experienced this shucking-off of everyday ways, to return to the everyday world.”

Ann Zwinger, from the essay “Lower Grand Gulch”, in the book Wind in the Rock. Photo by Deer Hill leader Julia Stifler, from Santa Fe Waldorf school’s 8th grade trip in May 2011.

Click on a picture to scroll through the full-size versions with titles.

Teen Community Service: Canyon Country 2010 in the process of building a shade arbor at a sustainable ranch in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Photo by the lovely Genevieve Uhl, Deer Hill leader.

Top 3 reasons we love this picture:

1. It’s fun

Community service has been part of Deer Hill’s teen adventure camps for 20 years for a reason. Sure, we’re working hard on our projects, but the activity, the challenge, the learning, the social aspects of the project, and the connection with native traditions make service “work” incredibly enjoyable.

2. The community service work these teenagers are doing is real

The Halwoods are longtime friends of Deer Hill, and members of their extended family have been hosting Deer Hill groups at their land in Canyon de Chelly for nearly 20 years! This shade arbor will provide shade for the hosts during the hot summer months, as they spend most of their lives outside.

3. It’s inspiring

It shows the beautiful backdrop of Canyon de Chelly and the surprisingly hospitable and lush landscape down on the canyon floor. Certainly one of our favorite places, and an inspiring place to spend a week camping and working with the land.

“The service section was the most meaningful part of the trip for me. I felt like we were really impacting our hosts lives and helping them. They also taught me so much in return, and really made us feel like we were part of their family. I’ll remember this experience for ever.” Sophia Janetty, Canyon Country 2010

In this shot from our 2010 Southwest Journey adventure summer camp, Evan and Edi hit the first wave in Joe Hutch Canyon rapid in their inflatable kayak. Probably the biggest test in the 85 or so miles of Desolation and Gray Canyons of the Green River, this class 3+ rapid was formed when a huge flash flood came down the side canyon. The debris left behind constricted the river, pushing it into a narrow channel on the left against a rock wall, and created quite a few good-sized waves and holes. Lateral waves from the left side rock wall add interest. There’s a nice scouting spot on river right from which to pick a line. We ran the rapid at a nice level somewhere between 4000-5000 cfs (cubic feet per second), and while we definitely got wet, it didn’t feel too pushy or scary! Everyone stayed in their boats.

Below is a sequence of the paddle raft hitting a large but friendly hole in the middle of the rapid, captained by Meaghan Johnson, an experienced class-4 guide. Participants on this awesome teen summer program took a charter flight over the Colorado Plateau to their put-in to begin this 7-day river rafting adventure. The 25-day trip also includes a cross-cultural community service project in the Hopi Nation, and rock climbing, mountain biking, and hiking in the mountains of southwest Colorado, near Telluride.

This photo, taken during Staff Training for our summer programs, shows some of the dramatic geology surrounding the San Juan River in Southeastern Utah. To begin the day’s leadership exercise, the group of new and returning field leaders hiked over this sandstone bulge and onto the rugged Mule’s Ear “diatreme” in the background. We were lucky to have a couple of geologists in the group who could decode the surrounding landscape for us. The diatreme is an area of vulcanic rock exposed as the softer sandstone around it erodes. Diatremes tend to bring up all kinds of interesting things from deep down in the earth, and standing on top we found tiny garnets scattered around. The Mule’s Ear for which the feature is named is the prominent “fin” of Navajo sandstone on the left of the shot. This was just the begin of a challenging 10-mile hike, during which we met a herd of feral donkeys, spotted some incredible Ancestral Puebloan ruins high up in the walls of Chinle Wash, and, deep in the canyon, saw a bear cub and its mother – an extremely rare (once in a lifetime) sight in this location.

A full report on a wonderful staff training is on the way, but suffice it to say that we are excited about this new generation of outdoor leaders that have joined Deer Hill.

In this photo, students from the Latin School of Chicago, make their way up Steer Gulch in Southeastern Utah. Backpacking into the scenic solitude of Cedar Mesa, an area of the Colorado plateau rich in Ancestral Puebloan ruins and beautiful rock formations, is a journey back into both human history and geologic time. The group, who chose to take on this challenging landscape as a class trip during their spring break, were led by Brett LeCompte, Bri Boertman, and Wendy McCreight. Steer Gulch was actually a second choice of location. Scouting the start of the planned Fish and Owl Canyon loop, Brett discovered that the unusually wet spring had left a lot of water in the canyon bottom. Still, Steer Gulch made for a fantastic alternate, and everyone had a great time on the trip:

I think this experience taught me about myself and about nature in a new and exciting way. I think that everyone should try a Deer Hill trip. – Latin School participant

The photo shows Deer Hill Founder and Owner Doug Capelin, and daughter Emily, digging in the vegetable garden at Deer Hill Basecamp. With the sun shining, birds chirping, and the winter snow melting away fast, you could hardly call it working! Mia and Lily, Basecamp Golden Retrievers, are in the background. Under Beverly Capelin’s supervision, we have started to plant greens and other veg, so that we can supplement our Basecamp meals with delicious, fresh organic produce.

For those of us in the office, the real work is kicking in, as we busily prepare to welcome groups from schools around the country this spring, and process applications for our summer programs. Most of our signature summer expeditions are close to filling, so if you’re thinking of signing up, now would be a good time to drop us a line or call the office.