Deer Hill’s staff development program is always a rewarding event. Usually the only moment when so many of our field staff are in the same place at the same time, this in-the-field training provides an opportunity for idea-sharing, skill-sharpening as well as the establishment of new friendships and the renewal …

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” …

John Heider’s adaptation of the Tao Te Ching adapts Lao Tzu’s writings relevant to the lives of anybody who finds themselves in the position of leader. Heider takes Tao ideas of “How Things Work” and finds lessons about issues central to leadership: ego, conflict, teaching, intervention, listening, creativity, success and …

Program Leader Emily Wilbert relaxes on the summit of Centennial Peak with her River and Mountain Adventure group in July 2009.
This is a guest post from Eli Shostak, Deer Hill’s Staff Manager:
As Staff Manager at Deer Hill, I spend a fair amount of time chatting with people who are …

An amusing anecdote from the leaders on a recent Deer Hill school custom program. The host for their service project with the Navajo, or Diné people, was Patricia, who plays the role of healer in her community close to Gallup, New Mexico.
“One evening Patricia came out to sit around the …

This gallery of photos is a guest post from Michael Barton, a Deer Hill field staff member since 2002, who was Program Leader on our Heart of the Rockies adventure summer camp program last year. The Heart of the Rockies features the Weminuche Wilderness, the largest Wilderness area in Colorado. …

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 …

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 …

Stanford chats with Matt Aranow and Mia Burkhalter, of the Ancient Pathways program 2009, while they take a break from Hogan building.

Caroline Goodman, a Program Leader with Deer Hill, wrote this piece about her community service project in the Navajo Nation in 2009 with the Ancient Pathways adventure summer camp …

Changing young people’s lives for the better.

Michael at home and happy in the Colorado mountains
1. Michael, how long have you been guiding?
I began taking my friends out adventuring biking in fourth grade. I have been guiding professionally for Deer Hill since 2001. I have also been ski guiding …

One of our best-loved leaders, Seth is a calm, focused presence on the river, at service, and in the mountains. When it’s time to relax and have fun though, he’ll admit that he’s often the center of attention. At 25, Seth has experience and maturity beyond his years.
How long …

Maria has been working with Deer Hill for six years. In this piece of writing, she contemplates what it is about working at Deer Hill that she finds inspiration from, and what it is that keeps her coming back.
Why I keep returning to Deer Hill
I thrive on showing students …