Upcoming Events at the Mineral School
Exciting news: This summer I’ll be taking a break from my busy guiding season for two fun upcoming events at the Mineral School. Here are the event descriptions:
Thursday, July 16, 2015. Lecture Series: “Woman vs. Nature.”
Join us as at Mineral School to hear three adventuring women authors with very different takes on nature’s extremes. Charlotte Austin (The Better Bombshell) routinely treks the globe’s tallest peaks in her role at International Mountain Guides and kayaks entire rivers for sport. Washington State Book Award nominee Nicole Hardy (Confessions of a Latter-Day Virgin) so yearned for adventure that she signed up for a year-long round-the-globe journey working on a wooden tall ship. Meanwhile, Litsa Dremousis (Altitude Sickness) knows what it’s like to love a person addicted to extreme sports and climates and to grieve his death caused by this passion for danger. The authors will share from their work and discuss how they have defined their relationships to nature—as explorers, adventurers, subjects, bystanders, and critics. This reading is free (donations are welcome). If you wish, bring a potluck dessert to share. 7:30pm.
Saturday, August 29, 2015. Hike & Write.
Choose your own adventure in Mount Rainier National Park! Write poetry and hike with Washington state poet laureate Elizabeth Austen, who draws creative inspiration from time spent on the trails and is working with the public to advance poetry via her two-year role supported by The Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington. Or choose prose and follow real-life adventurer Charlotte Austin, who treks with International Mountain Guides when she’s not writing essays or journalism about the outdoors. Bring a sack lunch and come dressed for a moderate hike. Hike is free but a nominal park entry fee will be required.
If you’re visiting the charming and tiny town of Mineral, check out the Mineral Lake Resort, where you can rent a cabin, buy worms, or (as far as I can tell) disappear after committing a crime. For more information about these and other upcoming events, keep an eye on the Mineral School’s website.