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.

We woke up this morning and the Easter bunny had come to visit, hiding treats all over Deer Hill. In the office, staff room, and even in the garden. (Thanks to our lovely spring interns Corey, Elise and Britt for that!) Depending on where you are, some of you may have been gardening for weeks, or months, already, but our night-time temperatures have only just mellowed enough to allow planting outside. Yes, we do need a greenhouse. The beds are ready to go and we have some seeds in, as you can see. Leader and Deer Hill daughter Emily Capelin has been  been busy out there, and today is working on the compost bins. Emily was very excited to see these indicators of healthy development – the “champions of the soil”. Yes, she found worms, tons of them. This batch should be ready in another year.

Spring Cleaning

We’re glad to be taking part in the local e-cycling event in nearby Cortez, CO, today. For a small charge per item, the local council disposes of consumer and small business electronics, along with some other items. This was an opportunity for us to clear out a HUGE pile of old junk that we have hoarded over the last 15 years or so. 12 CPUs, scanners or fax machines, 8 monitors, numerous computer mice, keyboards and cords, a pile of printer cartridges, rechargeable batteries etc etc. Now, if only the Ford F-250 we were transporting them in were a hybrid!

Teen participants on our Southwest Journey 2010 adventure relax together as the sun goes down on the final campsite on their 87-mile Green River trip. Gray Canyon of the Green River, Utah.

This is a guest post from Cecil Goodman, a Deer Hill alum and long time leader. Enjoy her reflections on the river expedition and what it means to Deer Hill programs.

Over the past seven years as a field instructor with Deer Hill, I have boated close to 50 river trips with their participants. The Dolores, the Green, the Colorado, and the San Juan – the famous rivers of the Southwest desert and mountain country.  After all these miles, what does the river mean to me? I think I am most aware of the river as a mechanism of transport.  Most obviously, we use these wide, desert waterways as a means of moving students and copious amounts of gear (coolers of food, lanterns, tents, tables, buckets, dry bags and dry boxes, tons of cookies) somewhere between 30 and 90 miles through the arid swaths of sand and the bright, hot red rock canyons of Utah and Colorado.  We float, paddle, and we row through some rapids, for sure, but we also move slowly along these corridors observing the Desert Big Horn sheep, the native Datura, the invasive tamarisk, yucca, past side canyons of clear pools and water bugs.  Geologically too we move across millions of years, passing through several layers of smooth sandstone to the limestone: striking evidence of the inland sea that draped itself over the Colorado Plateau millions of years ago.

On a smaller scale, we pass through more recent human history: the remains of kivas, dwellings, and rock art of the Ancestral Puebloans, the complex civilization that populated the canyons and mesas of the Colorado Plateau from 500 to 1350 A.D. including the great houses of Chaco Canyon and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde. We see the hard-earned inscriptions of the Mormon settlers in the canyon walls, remains of their trading posts, and even the steps they carved for their horses as they dragged wagons over and across the steep sandstone walls.

Even more important than the actual transportation of bodies through the desert environment or the virtual transportation across millions of years, is the transformation we undergo as a group.  The river portion that begins many Deer Hill courses is our first section working as group in the wilderness.  It is the beginning of facing challenges together, of cooking for each other, of playing together, the development of roles within the group, and the start of sharing feelings and ideas with new people who will eventually become like a second family.  I have been lucky enough to watch scores of Deer Hill groups go through this same process, and it is one of my favorite times on any program.  The new friends that people make as they cook the whole group dinner or the new talents discovered in a game of “ammo can tug of war.”  Or the courage and strength found canoeing through a rapid or jumping off a (safe I promise) cliff into the pool of a side canyon.

The river is a slower, easier place to start than the mountains.  There are beaches to lie and play on, and it rarely rains.  It is warm, there is water, and your boats carry your gear. The river gives us all the opportunity to make new friends and to learn new skills, but most importantly, the river is an accessible metaphor for all of us.  It teaches us to be humble, when to speed up or slow down, how to navigate obstacles, and to go with the flow.  It is the perfect place to begin a journey of challenge and inspiration. That’s what we try to create for each participant on their Deer Hill course.

Cecil

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

Service Leadership teen summer camp. Mudding bread ovens in Zuni is dirty work but fun.

Activities: Inflatable Kayaking, Mountain Biking, Hiking, Campcraft, Leadership Workshops and Initiatives.

Community Service: Cross-cultural service projects in Navajo and Zuni; Conservation service project with the US Forest Service (80 total certified service hours)

Locations: Deer Hill Basecamp, CO; Animas River, CO; Northern Navajo Nation, NM; Chuska Mountains, NM; Zuni Pueblo, NM; Lizard Head Wilderness, CO.

Trip Highlights

• Getting to know your leaders and group while inflatable kayaking the exciting class 3 rapids of the Animas River.
• Working alongside an inspirational Navajo elder and a group of young Navajo teens to improve a mountain bike trail system for an Indian Health Service Wellness Program.
• Working with Zuni elders in their cornfields, and learning about their traditional way of life and fascinating mythology as you help them with their labor.
• Breathing in the cleanest air in the USA as you explore the unbelievable beauty of the Lizard Head Wilderness, near Telluride, while helping to preserve it for others.
• Learning about your leadership style while taking responsibility for your group and the completion of the project as Leader of the Day.

“My most meaningful experience was working the corn fields in Zuni. I loved how the family cooked food for us and brought us to their table. ” Zack, Marietta, GA, Service Leadership Alum

“The time we spent in the mountains, climbing Centennial Peak and doing solos, was a very fun and important experience, a great end to an amazing trip. The sense of accomplishment after ascending the peak was incredible.” James, Newton, MA, Service Leadership Alum

“One evening Patricia came out to sit around the fire with the group and share stories about her life and role as a medicine person. One of the examples she gave of traditional techniques was of using hot coals to draw out “bad things” from someone with health problems. Patricia explained that one of the side effects of this was that she inadvertently draws out heat from all fires, especially fires used for cooking. We had been cooking a Pineapple Upside Down Cake in our dutch oven throughout the evening, with charcoal scattered around the base and on the lid. Needless to say, when we checked the cake after Patricia left, it wasn’t close to cooking through!”

Thanks to the leaders Rachel Landis and Lexi Tuddenham for this story.

Learn more about Deer Hill’s custom-designed class trips for schools.

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

This featured photo is community service-themed. In the past few years community service has become a buzzword in the world of teen summer camps and travel programs, and that’s great. At Deer Hill, community service for teens has been an integral part of our mission and values for two decades. We might even humbly suggest that we were some of the innovators of experiential learning through service projects and cultural immersion.

This photograph, taken by Deer Hill Founder Doug Capelin in 1990, shows an early Deer Hill group working with Navajo teenagers to construct a water catchment dam, on the property of the Halwood family near Chinle, Arizona. The project was a collaboration between Deer Hill, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Future Farmers of America. The dam created a low-impact way of storing rain water for wildlife as well as livestock and crops, and continues to help to sustain the traditional ranching lifeway of a Navajo family. The Halwoods have planted a fruit orchard and cornfields below the dam that have thrived over the years. In addition to the fun and memories that were created as these young people from very different cultures worked together, something of lasting value remains as a legacy of their labor.