Thoughts from Winter 2021

There are places in the world that are still wild, meaning, remaining close their ancient state and less modified by human activity. In todays modernized landscape, it is harder and harder to find the time, or access to true wilderness. I think we lose something important when we do not periodically enter spaces of deep nature. In the wilderness, much of the brain’s frontal lobe (planning, thinking about the self) takes a rest, and attention and imagination expand. These kinds of experiences can be deeply restorative, and people tend to walk away feeling more generous, and better problem solvers (1). Spaces of deep nature, however, are not always far away. A two minute walk from the parking lot at Starvation Creek, and another four minute scramble up along the tumbling river, and a twenty second squeeze between two large boulders, and you stand beneath the base of Starvation Creek Falls. No power lines, ski-lifts, noise pollution or advertisements. No phone alerts, and no TV screens. Its simply the power of the waterfall, the boulders beside you and the sky above. That’s a space of deep nature that’s seven minutes tops from your car.

You have to know where - and when, to look for states of deep nature. With Treks for Kids, my promise is to safely guide kids to wild places. My belief is that these kinds of experiences are essential for well-rounded, healthy developing minds. Over the past year (a particularly challenging and unusual year for most), I was so inspired to see my hikers thrive in the wild - building their outdoor knowledge and capacity for communication, self-confidence and compassion. I’ve seen resilience, strong leadership, incisive questioning and gratitude on all of my treks, and I am super grateful to have been a part of these awesome adventures hikes. I’m excited for another year of Treks for Kids in the Pacific Northwest. We’ll see you on the trail!

(1):

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494413000893

• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/01/call-to-wild/

Fall 2020

It has been an awesome summer with plenty of exhilarating hikes to the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood National Forest, Silver Falls and the Coast! Highlights included an almost-definitely haunted shipwreck near Cape Disappointment, a birds’ nest at eye-level in an abandoned army barracks, the most epic Lightsaber battle I have ever seen above Latourell Falls, a Trekker finding a bobcat bone in Starvation Creek, and Blue (my dog and co-instructor), learning to swim strongly in Burnt Lake.

Other new destinations have included Dry Creek Falls, Zig-Zag Canyon and Sherrard Point on Larch Mountain. Taking all the necessary precautions during this pandemic has become integral to our hikers’ understanding of stewardship, as-in taking care of our health and the health of our fellow hikers with masks, sanitization and social-distancing on the trail. We’ve had a lot of new faces and some fantastic memories (including several memorable and hilarious quotes).

Going into September 2020, we are still hosting hikes throughout the week and weekend, (though on a slightly more limited basis). These hikes can be awesome incentives for kids to commit to their online, at-home curriculum. Self-discipline can be very difficult to achieve at home when there is a video-game system waiting to be played and a backyard waiting to be explored. A Trek to a hundred-foot waterfall, through a rainforest, or over a volcanic vista is the perfect way to blow-off steam at the end of these improvised school weeks.

Feel free to reach out with any questions regarding booking, COVID safety or otherwise!

A Note on COVID-19

Stopping the spread of COVID-19 requires taking social distancing seriously, closely following safety measures such as regular hand-washing and mask-wearing in social spaces, and staying regularly informed. As noted in the “Overview” section of this website, keeping small hiking groups (1-3 kids) is part of my effort to ensure safe hiking and to balance friendship building between hikers with their individual experiences in nature. It happens that, during this pandemic, small groups are also what is needed to stay healthy. Given the current circumstances, I will also honor any family’s request that their hiker(s) not be grouped with other hikers who are unknown to them. I will ask each family about their household’s symptom status before joining a hike. If there are COVID-19 symptoms present in the household (visit this link for a full list of symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html), I will ask that you wait to register until those symptoms have passed for at least two weeks. This is for your and other hikers’ safety. Furthermore, I include extra masks and hand sanitizer with my hiking essentials.

My thoughts and support go out to everyone during this difficult time. My hope is that in some small way this program can help communities - especially our kids - to remain strong, active and resilient. Spending time in nature while taking the aforementioned precautions remains an excellent way to keep stress levels low, attitudes high and immune systems up and running. Stay healthy and safe hiking!
- Winston, June 2020