We started summer in mid-May by making the long drive out to the Owyhee Canyonlands of Eastern Oregon. Nine of our intrepid alumni convened for a rugged week of lightning storms, rattlesnakes, and off-trail hiking in “Oregon’s Grand Canyon.” To describe The Owyhee as “remote” does not do justice to this region. Just a brief scrimshaw of two-track dirt roads cross what the Oregon Natural Desert Association describes as “the largest undeveloped natural area left unprotected in the lower 48.” When we heard that, we thought...The Future Wild!
“It’s like the surface of the moon,” exclaimed Miriam Simun, surveying the volcanic tuff soil near Succor Creek. The canyon dirt’s chemistry is so rare that two species of wildflowers grow nowhere else in the world. Our alumni trip gave us a chance to bring artists from over the years back into the fold, inviting them to build their backcountry skills, their relationship with wild places, and their investment in the Signal Fire community.
Participants: Merrilee Challiss, Suzanne Goldenberg, April Hale, Andrea Jacobs, Gracelee Lawrence, Alex Luboff, Crys Moore, Skye Mitchell, Tim Nickodemus, Miriam Simun.
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