Itinerary and Mailpoints

Itinerary

* Please note that all dates, plans, and locations are approximate, tentative, and subject to change.  Changes to this itinerary are quite likely, though our basic travel route will not likely change.
Download full PDF itinterary here.

August 21:  Westies arrive at Johnston Wilderness Campus between Noon and 3pm.  Directions:  Follow Isaacs Avenue east, which turns into Mill Creek Road.  Follow Mill Creek Road until it turns to gravel at the Oregon State line.  Go approximately 3 miles, then turn right on China Canyon Lane.  Follow the lane back to JWC.  Carpools from campus will be available and announced on Cleo.  Also, if you need an airport pickup, we may be able to help with that as well.  Please email Season for transportation questions.

Orientation activities begin at 3pm.  Please have all your errands accomplished before you arrive.

August 21-23:  Orientation activities, Johnston Wilderness Campus.  Includes time with film maker (and 02 SITW alum) Sarah Koenigsberg to learn about field recording and effective radio show production.

August 24 : Depart for Nez Perce Precious Lands, Wallowa County, Oregon. Campsite: Near Flora, OR

August 25-September 1:  Part I, Ecology Field Course with Mary O’Brien (see her itinerary here).  We will be working with Angela Sondenna with the Nez Perce Tribe doing a field bighorn sheep survey for three days, then with Suzanne Fouty with the USFS doing a stream survey near Unity, Oregon for 2 days, then back to Wallowa County for a quick overnight backpack trip in the Wallowas to study climate change and alpine ecosystems.
Campsites: Near Flora, OR, near Unity, OR, and near Joseph, OR

September 2-4: Field meetings on forests, wolf recovery, and restoration in Wallowa  County, Oregon (See a detailed itinerary here).
Campsite: near Joseph, OR

September 4:  Drive to Pyramid Lake, NV

September 4-7:  Joint Field Trip with students and faculty from the University of Nevada, Reno to discuss climate change and terminal lakes such as Pyramid Lake and Walker Lake.
Campsite: Pyramid Lake, near Nixon, NV

September 7:  Drive to Lone Pine, CA.  Meet writing instructor Paul Hoornbeek.

September 8-13:  Part I, Writing Workshop with Paul Hoornbeek.  We will be discussing water and river restoration issues in the Owens Valley.  We will take a short backpack trip in the Sierra Nevada. See the itinerary here.
Campsite: near Lone Pine, CA

September 13:  Drive to Jackpot, NV

September 13-15:  Meet Jon Marvel, Western Watersheds to discuss public lands ranching and climate change.
Campsite: near Lone Pine, CA

September 15-17: Ranch Tour with Steve and Robin Boies, Vineyard Ranch, and tour the Cottonwood Ranch. Discuss public lands ranching, aspen.
Campsite: near Lone Pine, CA

September 18:  Drive to Dinosaur, CO. For a detailed itinerary of this week, click here.

September 19-20:  Overnight river trip and weed pulling work party with Tamara Naumann, Dinosaur National Monument Botanist.  Kill Tamarisk!
Campsite: Dinosaur National Monument

September 21:  Drive to Paonia, CO

September 22-23:  Writing Workshop with independent journalist Michelle Nijhuis. Discuss sustainability with Jack Perrin.
Campsite: near Paonia, CO

September 23:  Drive to Aspen, CO

September 24-26:  Meetings with Piper Foster, Sopris Foundation and local residents to learn about local adaptations to climate change
Campsite: near Old Snowmass, CO

September 27:  Drive to Dixie National Forest, Utah

September 28-October 4:  Part II, Ecology Course with Mary O’Brien.  Stream surveys, aspen surveys.  Ecosystem changes in the context of climate change.  Dixie National Forest, with last day or two in Castle Valley, near Moab, UT
Campsites: near Loa, UT, and at a private residence in Castle Valley, UT.

October 5:  Free time, move camp to Bluff, UT.

October 6-11:  Writing workshop with poet Ann Weiler Walka.  Explorations of the area including a river hike, rock art, local culture. See a PDF of the detailed itinerary here. See the Syllabus for the writing class with Ann here, and a brief geologic history of the Bluff area here.
Campsite: near Bluff, UT

October 12-15:  River Trip on the San Juan River near Bluff, UT. No academic activities scheduled. Take out early on the 15th, drive to Desert Rock Camp SE of Shiprock, NM. See the detailed itinerary for power issues in Navajo Land and our writing workshop with Craig Childs.
Campsites: all along the San Juan; put in near Bluff, UT and take out near Mexican Hat, UT.

October 15-16:  Navajo Reservation issues including the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, environmental justice issues. Near Shiprock, NM
Campsite: near Shiprock, NM.

October 17-19: Navajo Water and Energy Issues, TBA
Campsite: near Chinle, AZ.

October 20-23:  Writing Workshop with writer Craig Childs. Comb Ridge Area
Campsite: near Blanding, UT

October 24:  Drive to northern New Mexico. To see a detailed itinerary for the coming weeks, click here.

October 24-25:  Visit with writer William deBuys, El Valle, NM
Campsite: near El Valle, NM.

October 26:  October 26: Drive to Camel Tracks campsite outside Santa Fe, NM. Free time to explore Santa Fe.
Campsite: near Santa Fe, NM.

October 27-November 7:  Ecology Course with Paul Arbetan.  We begin near Santa Fe, then move south along the Rio Grande, then to the Guadalupe Mountains in southern NM, then to the San Bernardino Ranch in Mexico near Douglas, AZ.
Campsites: near Deming, NM, and near Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico

November 7:  Afternoon: Drive from San Bernardino Ranch to Cliff, NM
See detailed itinerary here

November 8-10:  Writing Workshop with Sharman Apt Russell at the Nature Conservancy Lichty Center near Cliff, NM.
Campsite: Nature Conservancy Lichty Center, near Cliff, NM

November 11-13:  Stream Survey on the El Coronado Ranch and Chiricahua National Forest near Pearce, AZ
Campsite: Private Ranch near Sunizona, AZ

November 14:  Visit with humanitarian aid group No More Deaths (No Mas Muertes), and Whitman Alum Danielle Alvarado, '07, and Johanna Allen, '08, near Arivaca, AZ.
Campsite: near Arivaca, AZ

November 15:  Travel to Joshua Tree, CA

November 16:  Solar thermal energy near Joshua Tree.
Campsite: near Joshua Tree, CA

November 17:  Travel to Tejon Ranch near Bakersfield, CA.
Campsite: Tejon Ranch, near Arvin, CA.

November 17-22:  Meetings with Tejon Ranch Staff and other Conservationists; Final Writing Workshop with Paul Hoornbeek

November 22:  Travel Home, arrive in Sacremento, CA that night.

November 23:  Continue travel, arrive in Bend, OR that night.

November 24:  Arrive Johnston Wilderness Campus on the 24th.

November 25-December 6:  Podcast production work with Sarah Koenigsberg and public epiphany preparation.

November 27:  Thanksgiving Day.  Cook. Eat. Drink. Sleep.

December 4 and 5:  4-6pm, Olin 130, Public Epiphany presentations with slides. Invite your friends and family!

December 6:  Final touches on podcasts, clean-up day.

December 7:  Program Ends at Noon.  Rides provided to Reid Campus Center.