Pindaris: The Pindari centered their week around rebuilding group culture and focusing on the four pillars that represent them. We held a ceremony honoring each member with tokens that represented each of the pillars as a challenge to help bring them together and strengthen the culture. Hiking was a major success this week with the group completing four strong hikes while seeing wild horses along the way! The group welcomed some new members this week as well, and are excited for them to join the group. The group also focused on building safe spaces to be more vulnerable and have intentional gatherings. Overall, the group came together through fun and determination to redefine what it means to be a Pindari.
Lorikeets: This week the Lorikeets showed great resilience recuperating after the previous week of difficult weather. The Lorikeets started the week with a talent show and a goodbye gathering to celebrate Interstellar Geode leaving their group. They were able to continue to integrate fun throughout the week by continuing their talent show acts, singing together, choreographing dances, and writing creative stories to share with each other. The Lorikeets hiked strong, hiking a total of 8 miles this week. They were also empowered by every single member of their group busting a coal and two members blowing into flames on Sunday night. The Lorikeets wrapped up the week with a token ceremony to honor three of their group members with vital fire, seeker, and a resilience token.
Goannas: The Goannas had a rewarding and challenging week. The group began the week with difficult weather – snow, wind, and a lot of mud. However, the boys were able to work together to make their camp storm proof and enjoy a meaningful gathering. The group worked very hard on hikes, hiking around 10 miles over the week, and making very good time. The Goannas did an excellent job at supporting each other emotionally and physically throughout the week – participating in gatherings and encouraging one another to practice vulnerability, and inspiring each other to keep persevering through the difficult weather on the hikes. The group built several beautiful Borra grounds and gave out seven tokens and two trail names (Knowledgeable Owl, and Rambunctious Cowboy), honoring each other’s therapeutic, emotional, and personal growth. The group worked through multiple disagreements and was able to participate in conflict resolution to strengthen their bonds and improve the group’s overall culture and communication. The Goannas had a wonderful winter week in the desert, and are set up for success in the coming days.
Ulurus: The Uluru had a challenging week of adapting to changes as they happened. On the first hike of the week, nearly half the group left to go on Peak Experience. The remaining Uluru set intentions for the week in sharing leadership and setting the tone for new members that would be joining in the future. The group welcomed some new members and crushed the hike on Friday, which allowed the group to be set up for success by early afternoon with ample time to do skills and work on Ngarnas. Busting culture blossomed throughout the week as older members were determined to lock in their skills in firemaking and the new members were curious about the skill. The week was marked by hard work, personal growth, moments of group singing, and building up a culture together.
Check Out What’s Happening in 1st Camp @ outBACK
All of the new students did a great job being part of the first camp. Everyone was excited to start working on their packs and spoons. We had great gatherings each night where the students were vulnerable and opened up with the staff and the guides. We stuck to the theme of the week really well and talked about family a lot in gatherings. We sent every students off with a spoon and straps for their new Juniper backpacks. We ended the week with the a beautiful view of Deseret and the rest of the Sheep Rock Mts.
Peak Week Updates:
We enjoyed suprising four Ulurus when we rolled up on Thursday and said, “Get in the adventure van we’re going on peak!” They were emotional and sad to leave the group, but excited to go on peak! After a night in the field, we got up the next morning and had a ceremony to truly prepare them for the adventure that lay before them. 5 hours later in St. George it started to rain and get a little cold, but after some snacks and games everyone was in a great mood. The next morning, we woke up to beautiful sunshine and all decided to go climbing. After some introductory climbs the boys jumped onto some more difficult routes. Though it was hard, the boys pushed through it and had a great time succeeding in reaching the top.
After putting in the effort, they all had a lot more fun than they expected. The next day we explored Snow Canyon, a state park near St. George. We then had a swell time playing soccer, playing games among the sand dunes, and relaxing. Day two of climbing was a blast! Everyone climbed more than once and really took advantage of the beautiful day. The last day outside of our field we went on a beautiful hike in a canyon that had waterfalls, and little pools of water, despite being dry all summer. We hung out near a couple of the waterfalls and were treated to a beautiful view and even petroglyphs in a nearby cave. Everyone in the group was honored with a token that was unique to them during the week along with the peak patch! Overall the group had an amazing week. They created a space for everyone for to be open and honest while expressing themselves. They were very grateful to have had their peak experience.
