Dear loved ones of our Dragons group, As we finish our mid-course gathering, among the mountains, trees, and plains of Southwest Colorado, we each have a lot to look back on and consider. You, who have supported someone in our group, who maybe......Read More
Hello All! The group is packed and ready to go, excited for our journey into the backcountry, reconnecting to nature. We will respectfully enter into the Cedar Mesa canyons in the former Bear’s Ears National Monument area, an area both sacred......Read More
We spent a little over a week working with Borderlands Restoration Network, or BRN, a non-profit organization located in Patagonia, Arizona. The goal of BRN is to foster a restorative economy in the area through wildlife restoration, creating......Read More
Bring Water! The Grand Canyon is a desert, and even though it is only spring, the sun is hot and bright, and thus it is easy to become dehydrated. For a day hike, 3 liters of water is necessary, 4 is preferred. For 16 people, we brought 55 liters of water, and we still only had just enough to get out of the Canyon! The Colorado River is the perfect vessel to carry water through western North America and three distinct deserts: the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts. The dry air above these deserts draw in moisture from the Sea… Read More
After reflecting on our first trek through Big Bend State Park, and as our second trek on the Continental Divide Trail approaches, I think it is important to reflect on what I personally learned the first time around. They say that making mistakes......Read More
Greetings from Catalina State Park! Being surrounded by the beautiful mountains, mesquites and saguaros has given me a chance to reflect upon all that we’ve learned over the past week in Tucson. Our schedule has been packed with tons of passionate......Read More
What’s poppin! I have learned lots about myself throughout this super cool journey so far and I am excited to learn even more about the places I am camping in. Learning about the border from El Paso, New Mexico and Arizona has shaped my views......Read More
Our group was extremely fortunate to receive Covid-19 vaccinations yesterday in Laredo after Texas loosened restrictions and made them available to anyone over sixteen. It was great timing in particular because we will be concluding our time in......Read More
How does one find matzo in west Texas? The answer is, you don’t. While preparing to make 64 pieces of homemade matzo for our Passover Seder, the doorbell rang, and a small miracle arrived: five pounds of matzo that we had overnighted in a fit......Read More
I think I have to start this Yak by stating that today was the best day I have had in a very long time. The sole reason for this being that we got to visit a seed saving center called Native Seeds Search! I have been very interested in seed saving......Read More
1.Know yourself – Who’s shoulders are you standing on? Ask yourself, “what is my story?” If you know yourself, then you will know where you are going. In the Payahǖǖnadǖ, play among the large piles of boulders, follow your......Read More
Did You Know? by Josh 25 feet tall. 16 feet underground. Dirty, rusted metal. Barbed wire, but only on the United States side. Did you know? Did you know that red, beaten bottle caps litter the Borderlands between the United States and Mexico? Did......Read More
The wall, looming above me, steel metal plates leaving only a small gap. Barbed wire meticulously placed. To reduce fear. Fear. We see immigrants as inhuman and as statistics, but do we really know who they are? On March 27, Shelley, a professor......Read More
I set down my heavy box with a sigh. Next to it, sat rows and rows of other heaping crates, all full to the brim with shampoo, clothes, hair gel, deodorant, and other “essential items” waiting to be shipped to the ever-growing number of migrants......Read More
In almost all situations, a true challenge is all it takes to reveal what a team is really made of. It is only through the longest of nights, the hottest of days, and, in our case, the strongest of winds, that we are truly able to put a team to the......Read More
Our departure from the surreal hospitality from our hosts Marty, Ralph, his two sisters and our home in El Paso was difficult, yet exciting to begin the next leg of our journey. We met up with Angel Peña and a few of his friends who help him run a local nonprofit; Nuestra Tierra, which focuses on giving a platform for overlooked communities to voice their concerns on land conservation. We explored natural hot springs along the Gila river and took in his extensive knowledge on archaeology, even finding thousand year old ceramic shards within a fifteen minute walk of our… Read More
