Trailblazers

A “Building Community” initiative.

“Such a play of colors and lights, different seasons, different hours of the day — the lines of the far horizon where the faint-tinged edge of the landscape loses itself in the sky.”

— Walt Whitman, Specimen Days

Rob Mack stands before a group of 12 in the Sunroom. It’s the second gathering of this kind this year — Trailblazers: a weekend dedicated to clearing the trails of fallen branches and trees, as well as completing other projects that otherwise rest on the back-burner since the efforts of our on-site community are required for operational tasks.

Rob addresses the group with his typical, casual smile. He thanks Ace for his partnership in making this second gathering possible, thanks everyone for joining and cracks a corny joke. We laugh. Everyone’s in good spirits, ready for a weekend of dedicated work and the fulfillment of pouring our efforts into a place with which we each feel a special connection.

As he reminisces on his first visits to Easton Mountain in 2017, Rob mentions meeting “Pathfinder” (Jonathan White), the self-appointed custodian of the trails during his tenure at Easton Mountain. That’s often how things go here: someone steps into a roll that best suits their abilities and interests, and all of Easton Mountain benefits.

This is the second time Rob has led a Trailblazers weekend, supported by the organization and preparations made by Ace Ricker, resident director of volunteers and community care.

The first of these gatherings, last month, surprised everyone with just how much can be accomplished with many hands, supported by good food, good weather, good company and a nightly sauna to ease well-worked muscles. Trails were cleared, fallen trees cut, new signs made, a storage container built for the infamous slippy slide, furniture rearranged in the great room including the erection (teehee) of a folding chair storage unit, folding chairs upholstery-cleaned, a kitchen pantry deep-clean, to note some of the groups accomplishments.

This second time around, the rest of the trails were cleared, more trees cut, signage finished and installed and cushions in the temple deep cleaned. These guys were up and down the mountain all weekend! In addition to the sauna, this Trailblazers weekend included a massage exchange and a sound bath journey courtesy of sound healer Wyatt Mylius.

Maintaining the integrity of wilderness trails is an ongoing effort. In fact, the existence and maintenance of Easton Mountain as a whole is an ongoing effort. What we’re hearing is that there are many in our community who want a reason to come to the mountain outside of our retreat programming — and want to contribute, hands-on, to Easton’s mission and growth.

We’re looking ahead with excitement to the next of these “work weekends”, suitably labelled: Building Community.

If you’d like to be informed about upcoming Building Community gatherings, let us know! Send an email to: acer@eastonmountain.org