Adventure: “Real Adventure Takes Trust” by Dom Pautler
When I finally had the opportunity to leave the office for a trip this summer I wasecstatic. I packed all my gear the night before; I woke up before dawn and eagerly awaitedputting on the river for the first time in months. After hopping in the van with the advancedpaddlers, everyone excitedly chatted about the…
Adventure: “Worm & Flippers and Their Great Appalachian Adventure” Trip Report by Lizzie Denham
Last year, my Chos-man Aaron Miller and I hiked the Appalachian Trail. For those who are unfamiliar with the AT, it is a 2,194-mile trail stretching from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Katahdin, ME. Every year, aspiring thru-hikers start at one end with the intention of getting to the other before the snow starts blowing. On average, 25% of people who start a thru-hike of the AT finish it. Aaron and I were 2 of that blessed 25% who made it to the end. Along the way, we went by trail names, his being “Flippers” and mine being “Worm.”
Adventure: “Let Him Deliver” Ricky Lytle Shares Love for the River in Ecuador
When Ricky Lytle left Dartmouth College in January of 2021 for his Winter term, his intention was to try his hand teaching kayaking in a different culture as well as to assist with some mission work on the edge of the Amazon. While his goals were clear when he arrived in Ecuador, Ricky wasn’t entirely…
Adventure: “Challenges Help You Grow” by Jess Pienta
It’s still surreal for me to think about what the past 4 months have been. Five days after I finished working at Family Camp this past summer, I was in the air flying to Europe. You could say that was a whirlwind for sure. After I finished working as Head of Wilderness, I shortly began…
Adventure: Burning Calories and Crushing Miles
By Sean Callahan – Chosatonga Wilderness Staff ’21 It started with a phone call, and ended with 102 miles on the Appalachian Trail. Back in April, I received a call from a friend encouraging me to pursue a summer backpacking leadership position down in North Carolina. After researching and noticing the outdoor components of the…
Adventure: Love the Wild
I remember most the silence. Prayer flags and pennants floated from the stone houses around us–houses that seemed to have grown into the landscape itself. They were less like stones stacked one on another by human hands and more like crags in the cold and barren hillside, weathered and roughened by centuries. From that hilltop…
Adventure: Laugh Often
Paddlers have an additional gene. I wasn’t really aware of it growing up. I paddled at camp, but horses were my passion so I didn’t learn about this amazing phenomena. In November David and I were invited to join a fantastic group of people on a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon. A bunch of…
Adventure: An Invitation
“The mountains are fountains of men as well as of rivers, of glaciers, of fertile soil. The great poets, philosophers, prophets, able men whose thoughts and deeds have moved the world, have come down from the mountains — mountain-dwellers who have grown strong there with the forest trees in Nature’s work-shops.” – John Muir My…
Encounter Faith: Magnifying God’s Love by Dominic Pautler
I want to share a short story written by my grandmother, Sue Dominick, on how we have the chance to magnify the love of God. Grandma was a faithful woman who was married for 57 wonderful years, raised seven children, was constantly involved in her church, started a Christian bookstore and endured life’s hard and…