Piecing the Puzzle Together.....

Today we visited Seneca Ridge Middle School in Sterling, Virginia. We were guest teachers for the Ranger Steve afterschool program, and did a Leave No Trace program for 6^th and 7^th graders focusing on the “Leave What You Find” principle. There were  22 students and two amazing teachers. The program started off discussing  what Leave No Trace meant to them, and ways they can lessen their impact on the environment. Afterwards we played a great game called “Stealing the WOW” which uses puzzles to illustrate sometimes not getting the whole story when pieces of the puzzle are missing, and then relating the puzzles to the environment. The students immediately saw the correlation, and  how we can have a lasting impact in the backcountry when things in the environment are disturbed or even taken, like artifacts, or carvings in trees, or picking flowers.  All the students really enjoyed the game, and understood the importance of leaving what you find. Afterwards we discussed alternatives to taking things in the environment, like taking picture, journaling, sketching, and even just having memories from beautiful things when we are in the outdoors. We had a great time with the students at Seneca Ridge, THANK YOU!

Now we are headed to West Virginia to the New River Rendezvous for an exciting weekend on educating the climbing community!

Happy Trails!

Alexis & Topher  

Ready to Run!!!

This weekend we traveled to beautiful Bellingham, Washington to be a part of the North Face Endurance Challenge. It was inspiring to see athletes from all over the country testing their mental and physical toughness out on the trail. It was equally inspiring that many of these athletes were interested in talking to us about Leave No Trace after spending hours running up and down the muddy trails in Bellingham. As fatigue settles in during a long trail run (some racers were on the trail for more than 12 hours) it can be easy to let some of the Leave No Trace principles slide. For this reason, it’s a good idea to have a Leave No Trace plan before you hit the trail. Here are some of the Leave No Trace strategies that athletes shared with us pre and post race:

1. Have a zippered pocket that is for trash only.
2. Stay on the trails and don’t cut switchbacks.
3. Be prepared to dispose of human waste properly.

Reno River Festival

I just enjoyed the 5th annual Reno River Festival – America’s premier whitewater event that takes place in the heart of downtown Reno at the Truckee River Whitewater Park at Wingfield May 9 – 11, 2008. It's known for attracting the world’s top whitewater athletes for an action-filled weekend. I wanted to thank the volunteers who helped at the event. Once again, thank you Karina, Tony, Allen, Justin, Jessica and Sean. The crowd enjoyed your enthusiasm and dedication. Hope to see you next year!

Cheers,

Tanya

Happy Mother's Day

We'd like to solute all the mother's on this day, Mother's Day, and to Mother Earth who without, none of this could be possible!

...The last few days were spent in the Western NY region. After visiting Niagara Falls we had the opportunity to run several workshops at Niagara County Community College, where they are in the midst of adding an outdoor recreation major.  

We headed east to the Rochester area where we ran an evening workshop at Eastern Mountain Sports, then tabled the next day. Now after spending some quality time with family we are hanging out in Ithaca, NY.  If you've never been there, it's gorges! 

Next we head to Sterling, VA for a youth after school program before the New River Rendezvous... 

Happy Mothers Day, 

Topher & Alexis 

You Betcha!

As we prepare to make our way back to the west coast, we spent the last few days exploring as much of the northern Midwest as possible. Some of the highlights were seeing hundreds of whitetail deer, a few bald eagles, and one very famous big, blue ox. While we must admit that we’ve occasionally been envious of all those sunny photos that Team West has been posting, we have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. Thanks to all our friends, both old and new, who helped make our visit most “Superior.”

River Education Days!!!

This week over one thousand 4th and 5th graders traveled to Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge to take part in River Education Days. During the two-day event Wisconsin students from the La Crosse area were introduced to river resources, water safety and Leave No Trace. We were thrilled to have such a great classroom in which to talk with kids about outdoor ethics. We often use hands-on activities to help us teach people about Leave No Trace; one of our favorite teaching tools is an activity called Watch Your Step. This activity, which comes straight out of our PEAK Pack, encourages kids to think about the plants, animals, and insects can all be living in a very small area. Kids discover that what appears to be a patch of grass or a dead log is actually a mini-ecosystem. At the end of the activity we were talking with the kids about all of the living things they had discovered and a tiny garter snake slithered into our outdoor classroom and stopped briefly at our whiteboard. It was a pretty exciting moment and was the perfect ending to our “Watch Your Step” discussion.

From Gila to Tahoe

We've been logging some serious miles this week.  First, we did a great backpack trip to the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.  We followed the Middle Fork of the Gila River through a winding, lush, high walled canyon and ended our four day hike at the Gila Cliff Dwellings.  Then it was back to the road as we headed out of New Mexico and into Arizona for a visit to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks and a quick visit to good old Flagstaff.  We continued through AZ and into Nevada over the Hoover Dam, past Vegas, past radioactive Yucca Mountain, a ghost town full of ghosts, and through hours of scenic Mojave Desert before we hit the Sierra and Lake Tahoe for a birthday celebration and a snowy hike in the Desolation Wilderness.  Whew. What a long week!  Now we've come full circle all ready and we're back in Reno, NV for the Reno River Festival.  Here are photos of our mini road trip/vacation.