*** We are putting a pause on programming during Summer 2022, and look forward to hitting the trails with you in Summer 2023. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know about upcoming programming. ***
UPCOMING TRIPS
Womxn in the Wilderness
Something unique transpires when a group of womxn comes together to accomplish a shared goal. A past participant sums it up beautifully:
“It was very empowering to learn the ins-and-outs of backcountry horseback travel. I reminded myself that I can do hard things on my own—with no one's hands or muscles but mine. Another participant taught me to build a fire--something I'd never done before because the men I am around always beat me to it. Now that I think of it, this was my first time in the wilderness without a male present. Turns out we did just fine on our own; in fact I think I much prefer it! We ate better, slept better, read more poetry, and were more adventurous than I’ve experienced with any other group. Having to trust myself and my body, learning how to care for my mule, the outrageous beauty of the Big Horns, and the bravery and tenderness of the other women all collided into an experience I'll never forget.” -Sammi H., All Womxn Expedition 2019
We’ll set forth as spring hits the high country, bringing with it rushing melt-waters and alpine forget-me-nots. On this expedition, you will 1) Strengthen wilderness and horsemanship skills, 2) Build community and 3) Share plenty of laughter around the campfire while reflecting on what it means to travel through wild landscapes, exploring and articulating a sense of place. We hope you will leave this trip feeling empowered, inspired, and transformed.
Experience Level: We encourage participants to have a basic foundation with horsemanship and have experience applying riding fundamentals. Questions? Feel free to reach out.
Wilderness Arts Workshop with Visiting Artist Mark Ritchie
Invigorate your craft and find inspiration in the most beautiful classroom we know: Wyoming’s wilderness. With a backdrop of mountains, meadows, and mules, study alongside Wyoming-based artist Mark Ritchie. Ritchie’s practice moves between drawing and printmaking, and his work is informed by the shifting relationship between animal and human communities. Per the artist himself, “My work with horse imagery draws upon the interaction of horses with each other and an animal understanding that is possible between human and equine.These relationships both require trust, an awareness of self in a community, and most importantly an awareness of place.”
Participants will benefit from Ritchie’s keen eye, his considerable talent, and his generosity as a teacher. Our backcountry workshop will include daily hands-on instruction, time for independent artistic exploration, and space to deepen your connection to the wild world through community and craft. Join a cohort of creative individuals as we deepen our relationship to self, eachother, horses, and to the land upon which we will unroll our sleeping bags at night.
In addition to daily artistic practice, we will connect with our own animal-bodies and enjoy the beautiful area surrounding our basecamp— we will have many opportunities to go on trail-rides, hikes, and take many a chilly-river-dip to enliven our senses. We’ll see just how many snacks and art supplies we can fit in our saddlebags, and will stop along the trail when we hear the call (or whinny) of the muse.
Open to all experience levels.
Learn More (pdf)
Backcountry Writing Seminar with Visiting Artist James Galvin
Take your craft to wild places and hone your writing alongside one of the most established and incisive writers of the American West. Part seminar, part workshop, wholly adventure, riders on this trip will benefit from James Galvin’s experience as writer and rider as we move through the highcountry together. Galvin writes with a deep and rare care for people and place. A Wyoming-based writer, he is well-acquainted with the landscape and its relationship to art.
From the poet’s groundbreaking work The Meadow:
“The real world goes like this: ‘The Neversummer Mountains like a jumble of broken glass. Snowfields weep slowly down. Chambers lake, ringed by trees, gratefully catches the drip in its tin cup, and gives the mountains their own reflection in return. This is the real world, indifferent, unburdened.’”
We’ll have the good fortune to encounter that ‘real world’ together and write amongst mountains, rivers, meadows, and mules. Whether you are an emerging or established writer, this course will provide the space, support, and inspiration to deepen your craft.
James Galvin is the author of seven collections of poetry and two novels. Galvin has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He teaches at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, spending part of the year in Iowa City, Iowa, and the remainder in Tie Siding, Wyoming, where he grew up and still ranches.
Experience Level: We encourage participants to have a basic foundation with horsemanship and have experience applying riding fundamentals. Questions? Feel free to reach out to explore whether this is the right trip for you.
Rebuild,
Reimagine,
Rewild
Join us as we reconnect with each other and the wild world following this collective chapter of grief and isolation—newly appreciative of the necessity of coming together to share in joyful experiences.
Our current moment brings an invitation to recalibrate--to pause, take stock, sow gratitude, and to consider what we will carry with us when emerge from this chapter, and what we might leave behind. To do so, we might look towards the natural world for guidance—how can we channel the staying power of granite and embody the fluidity of streams? As Emerson reminds us, “for that guide to find us, we must be still, be quiet. Sit for a while by the river and take in and become its form.” How might we see with new eyes and take a stance that allows us to show up creatively to both the urgency and transformative possibility of this moment?
There is no better place to ground down in order to dream big than at the trunk of a tree alongside a meadow of grazing horses—who remind us to move with intention, to listen carefully, and perhaps most enduringly, that connection, empathy, and care always serve us. Together, we will rebuild and reimagine what our world and worlds look like as we reconnect in the wild.
We will encounter expansive pine forests, hanging alpine lakes, and roaring rivers. Expect to hone horsemanship and wilderness skills and develop a close relationship with your two- and four-legged companions. Throughout our trip we will engage a line of inquiry about the role each of us plays in imagining and creating a healthier ecological future. You bring the humor and curiosity; We’ll provide the horses and opinionated mules.
Experience Level: We encourage participants to have a basic foundation with horsemanship and have experience applying riding fundamentals. Questions? Feel free to reach out.
Design A Custom Trip
Tell us about your goals, group size, and proposed dates. From student groups to retreats, we can design a unique trip to meet your specific needs.