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. In the winter, Michael runs his own guiding company out of Silverton, Colorado. Visit his website here:

Mountain Goat Ski Guides

“There are moments in life that are unforgettable. On Heart of the Rockies 2009 there were many of them. Experience gained while leading students through the fabled Weminuche Wilderness on Deer Hill courses has shaped my life. I see the students grow stronger and stand taller, and glow with a sense of accomplishment. This lets me know for sure that this is worthwhile work. As a leader of the Heart of the Rockies, I have partaken in such moments as cooking sizzling pizza bagels on a quartzite slab of stone. I have been held on my own two feet in the palm of a glacial valley and breathed the cleanest air in the world. We go to the wilderness because the elk still browse, the Indian paintbrush paints the sunset in the tundra, and the water was snow a day ago. A program like Heart of the Rockies, where we spend three weeks together on an outdoor adventure, is a voyage into camaraderie, challenge and beauty. Climbing mountains, doing the hard things with great reward, provides a lesson to all of us that we can do anything we put our mind to!

Check out the gallery! I have included comments on each shot. Why not leave your own impression?”