Goannas: The Goannnas had an amazing week filled with great hikes and honoring of multiple students. The Goannas successfully hiked to the top of Indian Peak this week. After taking in the beautiful views, the students conducted a ceremony honoring two students with their trail names, Gliding Iguana and Guiding Defender. Once we settled into our therapy site for the week, two of the students prepared to go on peak. The group was able to facilitate a beautiful goodbye ceremony for Unbreakable Engine and as the week ended the group welcomed in a new student. There were so many moments of joy and achievement as the Goannas thrived this past week!
Brumbies: The Brumbies had an incredible week. The group rallied together to focus there energy on relationship dynamics in the group and were also able to showcase how they have become more efficient as hikers. The group enjoyed the emerging summer wildlife, catching glimpses of the wonders of the desert flowers and desert life. Near the end of the week the group pushed themselves and peaked a mountain. The group spent time at their therapy site honoring one another with tokens signifying the growth that the Brumbies have seen in each other and one Brumby received his trail name, Enduring Rattle Snake.
Ulurus: Ulurus had an exciting week exploring some unique sites and working hard on their therapy assignments. We started the week with a day hike up a small peak in Raul canyon which was challenging, but very rewarding when we reached the top and had a great view of the area below. The group really stepped up their packing process during the expedition portion of the week, getting to sites very quickly and having a lot of time to work on skills. The group was also very open in gatherings and they were able to relate to one another and help guide one another through their struggles. Overall, it was a great week both therapeutically and logistically. The Ulurus had a lot of fun while remaining both efficient and engaged in their therapy.
Lorikeets: This week amongst the Lorikeets, we hiked to 3 new camp sites; our final site ending up a beautiful canyon heading towards Indian Peak. Together, everyone got to celebrate in honoring one staff and three students with new tokens. Another exciting ceremony this week was in collaboration to honor a fellow “Keet” with their new trail name, “Young Roots”. Although there were some challenging moments during our hikes, the strength and compassionate nature of each individual worked together to pull through such moments with graceful ease. Overall, the sum of the new realizations, deeper understandings, and willingness to see others perspectives/needs brought forth an incredible experience of growth within the group. It was yet another successful and good week.
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Here’s What’s Happening in 1st Camp @ outBACK
Students showed up for their first week at outBACK to work on their backpacks, spoons, and fire making skills. The group took walks around the site to talk about the desert ecosystems and to show the students the mountains they may summit during their time with us at outBACK. Most of our time was spent enjoying the spring weather, hanging out in the shade, working on first camp books, and recipes of all the delicious meals that could be created with the ingredients within their food bags.
