What Happened in the Mountains
You’ve all been clamoring to find out what happened in the San Juans last summer. It’s public knowledge that our first camp took place at the end of July, but details have been fuzzy (unless you follow our Instagram or watched the 12 minute movie we made about it.) What exactly went on up there at 11,700 feet, working on projects and running around? Well, I’m not sure myself.
It was an experience I’ll never forget, but one which has been hard to categorize. In the likely event that you’re one of the three total people who will read this after receiving a link to it via our new newsletter, I’ll spare you the gory details. Instead, I’ll give you some photos and add a little context. Just enough to give you a taste and hopefully keep you coming back for more. Maybe you’ll even consider signing up for this summer’s camp. The applications happen to be open at this very moment.
Each morning dawned clear — blue skies, limitless potential. The land warmed throughout the morning, energy radiating upwards and coalescing into thunderstorms. By the afternoon or early evening, the impending clouds would erupt in crackling sheets of rain, thunder, and lightning across the valleys and ridgelines.
Our work followed the weather. Each day’s speaker would prime the group in the morning with questions to ponder during the run. How does carbon sequestration change across the different micro-ecosystems we’d run through? What could we learn from the mining history in the area? How do our social organizations impact the ways we interact with the world? Running, exploring, stomping along wet trails and jumping into lakes warmed up our minds through the morning hours.
As the afternoon storms dropped their lightning and rain we were tucked in safely back at the hut. What energy had we also accumulated during the morning that we could unleash? Instead of rain, we poured out ideas. Questions. Breakthroughs. Confessions. Sharing vulnerabilities, support, and encouragement.
As the afternoon stretched to evening the storms would tailor off and we'd follow suit, trading our work for dinner, conversation, a trip to the sauna or to the grass outside underneath the stars.
There's poetic beauty in the way a camp focused on nurturing environmental action and leaders felt so in tune with the surrounding environment. Here’s to many more years of being in tune and building connections.
