Adventure Learning Trip Report: Capitol Reef National Park Trip

Our latest camping trip took us to Capitol Reef National Park in southern Utah. When most people think about the beautiful national parks in Utah, they usually think of the red-rock wonders of Zion, Arches and Bryce Canyon. Also a red-rock gallery, but a true oasis in the desert, Capitol Reef is home to century-old orchards and fertile soils, fed year round from the flows of the Fremont River running through the heart of the canyon. 

Capitol Reef is a geologic anomaly; an immense exposed fold in the earth’s surface called the Waterpocket Fold captures water from the high plateaus surrounding the low-lying desert giving the small canyon ample water despite the dry climate. 

Visiting Capitol Reef in October is about as good as it gets for nice weather and awesome scenery. The many Quaking Aspen and Cottonwood trees throughout the park wore their fall colors with pride, making for picturesque views from the edge of a cliff, or along the riverbed. 

Our first night was spent 30 miles into the backcountry of the park in Cathedral Valley. While the drive to the campground was slow and arduous because of the rough desert road, the campground itself was almost deserted except for two other campers. With no sizeable town or major light-source within 50 miles, the star-gazing was spectacular and offered one student his first views of a shooting star. Around 5:30 in the morning we were awakened by the yips and howls of a pack of coyotes near our campsite communicating with another pack farther off in the distance. With that pleasant awakening we began the day early and completed the circumnavigation of Cathedral Valley with stops at Gypsum Sinkhole, Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. 

After setting up camp at the Fruita campground, we hiked the Hickman Bridge trail and perused the petroglyph boardwalk learning about the people and cultures who originally settled the area. Our evening hike took us on top of the bluffs overlooking the Fremont River and the Grand Wash, both basked in a warm rose light from the setting sun projected through the high cirrus clouds. 

Our stroll back to camp took us directly through a herd of Mule Deer happily eating apples at the bases of the hundreds of apple trees in the orchard. Temperatures throughout our stay never exceeded 75º nor dipped below 40º at night making for perfect camping and exploring weather. 

Mike Bodrero, Adventure Learning Coordinator

The Path We Walk

Often in my work as a therapist I deal with individuals who are struggling with life circumstances that are challenging, to say the least.  In fact, at times it appears that life has truly dealt these individuals a “rotten hand” and however hard we may try, we cannot find any wrong doing on the client’s part that has brought about the turmoil they are facing.  Of course it makes it slightly more palatable when an individual can look at their situation and be somewhat accountable.  They can say, “Yeah, I get it, I kind of brought this on myself.”  Those tough circumstances, although still painful, are lessened somewhat because of an individual’s internal realization that they helped create their life situation.

Regardless, these circumstances and situations, whether self imposed or just the “luck of the draw”, cause tremendous difficulty for those I work with.  When searching for happiness amidst the turmoil I frequently ask myself, “how can this person be happy with this stuff going on in their lives?”  During these times a quote attributed to Martha Washington frequently comes to mind:

 

“I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” –Martha Washington

This quote provides a lot of comfort for me as well as for my clients.  I have also come to believe that the way we look at a situation has a great deal to do with how we feel about the situation. 

A family living close to me just lost their daughter.  She was four years old and died of Leukemia.  She spent much of her four years suffering through treatments and the tortures of the disease she was forced to bear.  Neither this young girl nor her family had done anything to “bring about” these circumstances.  Yet they were theirs to bear.  They frequently wrote in a blog they shared with those they knew.  In this blog they talked about the blessings in their lives, including the blessings that came as a result of suffering what they suffered.  Of course they would have liked to have their daughter live a full and healthy life, but they found a way to view the situation in a manner that helped them cope with the trauma and find peace and joy amidst terrible circumstances. 

Fear, sadness, and disappointment are a part of every person’s walk through life.  What I hope is that each of us can find a way to view the path we are called upon to walk in such a way as to learn from the experience and find some peace, and maybe even joy, in the walking.

Krys Oyler, LCSW

Logan River Academy: Surrounded by Adventure, Part 2

In part 1 of our Surrounded by Adventure series I tried to paint a portrait of the unrivaled access we have to recreation opportunities mere minutes from Logan River Academy. This installment will focus on the exciting and freeing world of road trips and the beautiful places we often explore when we can get away for a few days.

One of my favorite things about living in Cache Valley is that we get to thoroughly enjoy four separate seasons. Because of this, we tailor our explorations to chase the best possible weather to maximize our enjoyment of an experience. During the hot summer months we either go north or climb elevation. The alluring Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Sawtooth Mountain Range offer cool, northern temperatures while the Uinta Mountain Range in northeastern Utah offers backpacking and hiking up to 13,528’ in elevation.

From My Bookshelf

I’ve been a voracious reader since childhood, with overflowing bookshelves at home and work to prove it.  Like other bookworms, I read both for fun and relaxation and to learn more about things that interest me.  Over my 4+ years working at Logan RiverAcademy, I’ve transitioned to working primarily with students on the Autism Spectrum.  It’s no surprise that I’ve amassed a small collection of books focusing on the lives and stories of people who live with this complicated, fascinating, and often frustrating symptomology and diagnoses.  I’d like to share three of my favorites with you: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, The Journal of Best Practices, and Look me in the Eye.

Can You Hear Me?!

As human beings, relationships are often a measuring stick of how successful our lives are. Most of us value relationships. Relationships are often at the core of how happy or unhappy we are. An essential ingredient to positive relationships is the ability and desire to listen. All of us love to interact with good listeners. How many of us truly are good listeners ourselves?

I would like to highlight 6 blocks to being a good listener:

1.    Referring everything to your own experience: Have you ever talked with someone that constantly redirects the conversation back to him/herself rather than actually letting you finish your thought or story? I have. It's really annoying! Work on allowing the person with whom you are talking to finish his/her thought or story before interjecting a comment that directs the conversation back to you.

2.    Advising: Some of us go directly to problem-solving before listening or validating. Never advise when the advice is not asked for or wanted. Most of the time people would rather be heard or validated than given solutions or ideas.

The Certainty of Parenthood

Over the years I've learned that there are not too many things in life that are certainties.  There are however a few things that you can always count on - death, taxes, the sun coming up, and parenting being very, very difficult at times!

There are often many different things going on with each of my four children.  They are all at different ages, different stages of development, with different temperaments, different interests, and on and on.  Sometimes it can become a bit hectic parenting each of them in the way that best meets all of their individual needs.  There are some things however that all four of them need despite their differences in age, developmental level, etc. Things such as rules, empathy, limits, attention, consequences, listening, praise, etc. are things that all children need.  As a parent, I've sometimes noticed myself getting a bit out of balance with those things.  At times, I've noticed myself being a little heavy on the rules and consequences and not doing as much of the empathy, listening, and praise piece.

The following "parenting pyramid" has been a visual reminder for me over the years of the importance of always keeping those different parenting pieces balanced.  And more so, that the blocks of my parenting foundation needs to always be things like attention, empathy, talking, etc.  I hope this small little tool can be of some help to you as it has been to me!

The Uncomplicated Love of an Animal

In my last blog post, I introduced our new dog, Ivy to everyone.  Since this time, Ivy has brought joy and comfort to many students at Logan River Academy.  She has also increased mine and other employee’s job satisfaction.  I wanted to include some pictures that you can enjoy.