
For the past 13 years, we have had had the great privilege of guiding the Deep Wilderness Experience for the Wild Gift, a local non profit dedicated to supporting better world entrepreneurs through mentor-ship, project funding and instilling a deep ethic of the wild. Each year, a class of recipients (known as Gifters) is selected from an ever growing pool of inspirational applicants who have begun social and environmental ventures. The 2016 class included 5 Gifters with varied and amazing projects across the globe and all related to this year’s theme on Climate Change including:
Dr. Arun Gupta: Who is developing ground breaking solar panels with his company, Skyven Technologies designed to capture thermal energy used to heat, process foods and for industrial applications.
Bryce Andrews: Rancher, writer and deep thinker, Bryce is beginning a non-profit educational institution: Swallow Tail Foundation, dedicated to critical evaluation of how to better ranching and farming in the West.
Tsechu Dolma: Growing up in a Tibetan refugee camp in Nepal, Tsechu Dolma recognized the need for developing sustainable solutions for the mountain people of the Himalaya. Her venture, the Mountain Resiliency Project , is dedicated to creating viable communities in these rugged and remote landscapes.
Sam Teicher: Has founded a company: Coral Vita, dedicated toward restoring threatened coral reefs by growing and replanting local endangered corals on degraded reefs worldwide.
Alex Wankel: Has begun a new social enterprise, Pachukuti Foods, to create markets for rare Andean superfoods while supporting farmers and protecting agro-biodiversity. Alex strives to tap into the huge potential of rare and underutilized crops by creating innovative new products that are uniquely natural, delicious, healthy, and good for the world.
Enjoy these pictures of our 18 days trekking deep in the wilds of Idaho with SVT guide, Joe St.Onge, and Wild Gift Facilitator, Raj Vable, and click on the links above to find out more about the Wild Gift and these phenomenal ventures:
- Tsechu, always smiling
- Lunch break siesta on a big day
- Loving the exposure high on the peak
- 8 hours into an 11 hour trek on day 6
- Tsechu, feeling the air beneath her feet
- Foot wash mid day
- The “Board Room” at Sapphire Lake
- The team, above Boulder Chain Lakes
- Arun, lunch contemplation
- Climbing the final granite slabs toward the “Cheese Grater” pass
- The Doctor, back in his element
- Morning yoga
- Summit Stoke!
- The beauty of each camp was unique
- Alex, feeling the immensity of it.
- Pass #3
- The magic of a secluded camp deep in the mountains
- Rugged country, no trail and lots of potential
- Sam collapses under his book
- Camp at sunset
- morning beauty
- morning Yoga
- Blazing their own trails, Bryce and Sam point the way toward the future
- Boulder hopping between the Boulder Chain Lakes
- Castle Peak Board Room
- Straight from the source, Tsechu fills a bottle from the snout of a rock glacier
- The team after crossing the last of 7 passes on the route
- Alex, grazing on route
- The team atop Cheese Grater
- 2 legs and a pack among ancient sea beds and a living rock rock glacier at 11,000′
- Lake contemplation
- The rock glacier above Cirque Lake is one of the few living glaciers left in Idaho
- Bryce, in his element
- Long shadow trek
- Heading over into Karma Basin on the dark side of the Boulder Mountains
- Sam, adrift in the wild
- Pass #4
- Climbing toward the magical land of peaks, lakes and the ancient White Bark Pines in the White Cloud Mountains
- Castle Peak
- Taking a break on the loose descent off the pass
- Unbridled Joy!
- The team, heading for the Peak!
- Gazing toward our home for the night
- Climbing above Cirque Lake
- Clean lines in the White Clouds
- The 1st steps up into the Boulder Mountains
- Sam likes his fish al dente
- heading toward “Cheese Grater” pass
- Dropping down into the Boulder Chain lakes
- The team, atop White Cloud Peak #9
- Our 1st trail sign in 16 days was found at the very end of our trek, how fitting.
- Arun, enjoying an alpine bath
- a point in nature
- Yahoo, the team atop the summit!
- Summit brain storm
- Reflection on the day
- Joe and Bryce discussing options for the day ahead
- Arun, psyched to to be high and exposed
- Tsechu, bargaining with the bars
- Evening light
- Stoked to make the pass, Castle Peak in the background
- YES!
- Many fish were caught, providing tasty nutrition along the trek.
- heading for the summit of D.O. Lee Peak
- presenting new ideas
- Climbing toward the last rays of sun
- Sharing humor
- Wild, Sublime, Beauty
- Entering the Chamberlain Basin
- We began the trek at Coyote Yurt, deemed the “air lock”, serving as the acclimatization zone for the wild ahead
- Climbing out of Little Boulder Basin
- Arun, enjoying the exposure
- Contemplating the wild, deep in the Boulder Mountains
- Most mornings began with yoga and/or a meditation
- Sunset/moonrise
- Adrift in thought
- Joe, employing a rope for the descent
- Climbing from one place of magic to another
- mmm, a swim and then a some fish for dinner…
- Serene beauty in it’s natural form
- the team, deep.
- Each evening, ideas related to the wild, entrepeneurship and making of a better worls were shared, discussed and debated
- Looking toward the peak ahead
- Bryce, siesta at the 1st pass
- Focus on the final climb to the pass
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