Sonoma County’s LandPaths ignites teens' passion for nature
WILLOW CREEK WATERSHED - Their tent floors were soaked when morning came, the brisk air revealing clouds of expended breath as nine Sonoma County teens gathered for a breakfast of hot tea, egg scramble, homemade tortillas and mole sauce, then packed up camp and hit the trail beneath a brightening sky.
They had lugged backpacking packs over hill and dale to reach this verdant clearing near the coast, where cathedral trees surrounded by thick, redwood duff edged the streambank and a wooded ridge line rose above, separating them from the ocean beyond.
Relieved of their packs for the last leg of their four-day trek, they began the 5-mile climb through county open space properties toward Shell Beach in Sonoma Coast State Park, where they would bury tired feet in the cool sand and frolic in the surf.
But first, they formed a circle with their adult leaders to reflect silently on the previous three days, on the beauty of the land, the wildlife they had seen, the expectations they had when they started out and the experience of pushing forward through fatigue, self-doubt, homesickness and, one of them, severe nausea, only to arrive at camp and have the heavens open up.
And still they wanted more.
“I hope I get to come back next year,” was how Santa Rosa High School junior Marisol Cornejo, 17, summed up her feelings that day.
Part of a spring break expedition organized by the nonprofit group LandPaths, these high school students had been mostly strangers to one another and largely inexperienced with backpacking or even camping when they started the week at Westminster Woods near Camp Meeker to practice with their loaner tents and organize water bottles, clothing, hiking boots, rain gear and other equipment provided to them for the trip.
But on the trail, or preparing meals together or sitting around the fire, they had become friends and confidantes, empowered by the opportunity to experience the beautiful west county landscape and to overcome new challenges.
“I guess just being outdoors really connected us, since we had to work together,” Elsie Allen High School sophomore Emma De La Cruz, 16, said. “It was really just a wonderful experience.”
Omar Gallardo, LandPaths' director of outreach and diversity, was unmistakably moved by how the kids opened up during their recent trip, sharing stories of family struggle, loss or hardship.
“Out here, they're different,” Gallardo said. “They drop their guard.”
Some of them had had their doubts, especially on the long day of hiking that took them 11 miles overland from Westminster Woods, where they bunked in cabins to get out of the rain, to Willow Creek Ranch, where they were hosted for two nights of camping.
Healdsburg High School senior Jorge Cervantes said he “was already tired” after the first 500 feet uphill, while Jazmin Escandon, who attends Roseland University Prep, wondered, “Why did I think this was a good idea?”
“I've never been camping and hiking,” said Escandon, 17. “I don't like walking.”
But when they arrived that afternoon at their stunning destination, a private ranch awash in green splendor and redwoods, “we all had smiles on our faces,” said Cervantes, 17. “You feel superhuman.”
The trip was an extension of a program for under-served and, in some cases, at-risk teens designed to connect young people who may not have grown up hiking or camping with nature and the outdoors, LandPaths Executive Director Craig Anderson said.
The program, called Inspired Forward, is part of a larger mission to link diverse populations with the outdoors and, particularly, with the spectacular landscape of Sonoma County. It was created four years ago to fill a general gap in offerings for high school-age youths, with the aim of creating a sense of belonging, providing mentorship by “people of intelligence and heart” and inspiring leadership, community, vision and optimism about the future, Anderson said.
“We are trying to build a foundation for successful lives by creating opportunities for them to build communities in the outdoors,” he said.
Working with partner agencies to identify appropriate candidates, the Inspire Forward program this year created six cohorts totaling nearly 100 students in the program, each participating in four outings that involve hiking or other outdoor exercise, land stewardship, preparation of a meal together, camp-outs and conversation, Gallardo said. Along the way, there are opportunities to meet and hear from community leaders about opportunities out in the world.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: