We are all Travelers

In late January we released our new book, “Letters from Sacred Rok” and in mid-February we  started off our book tour by giving a presentation at the Stanford Alpine Club. On February 21st we were given the opportunity to have a book release event at Heyday Books with founder Malcolm Margolin. Being at Heyday was more than just an honor, it was a validation; when we support each other and show respect it promotes healing and confidence. Malcolm’s introduction of Sacred Rok and myself was an example of that.  In his way of respecting the education I received in nature through rock climbing gave me something I know we all want to give our kids – the power to respect yourself and your uniqueness, your gift to be. Thank you Malcolm and all the people for the great night.

The following weekend Sacred Rok hosted youth from the Merced Boys and Girls Club on our first trip of the year. Many of the youth are returning from last year and some are new comers. It is so nice to see some of the young people from the last year and how they grow. This privilege to be with youth is amazing – it’s an opportunity to have fun visits, share stories and laugh.

We help to bring out the best in each other. So far we have had three trips with them this season, the most recent of which were some of the youngest yet – ages 7 to 12!  These little beings shed the light even more about how precious this life really is.

A few days after our first trip with Boys and Girls Club we stepped back on the trail with Mr.Garcia and our Probation crew. It felt like we never left, our connection is strong in many ways. These relationships are  based on Respect, recognizing as we enter the natural world we are equal as human beings, this is what I like to call “Higher Education.” Getting back to the basics we keep it real and real simple – for this profound reality – listening to the water and wind, smelling the trees. We learn that wisdom is everywhere in everything.

We have made  a new friend from Merced, Kelly Turner. She works with young girls in the  Merced area through an organization she created called Symple Equazion; she brought up three teenagers a couple of weeks ago. We found ourselves under waterfalls and rainbows, our feet in the ice cold river, looking for Eagles and meandering along. That was a great first day and we look forward to seeing them again.

March 23rd was our book signing presentation at the Merced Arts and Cultural Center on Main Street. At this gathering all of our board members shared their thoughts and feelings about why they are involved, setting me up for our power point which goes through my life  – starting as a teenager and on into our book.  After, we had a Q&A, this brought us into the realization of how this group of fifty people are creating a circle of like-minded Human Beings wanting the best for our young people – here and everywhere in the world.

To bring it home, Joe Frontella, our new friend and connection to the Juvenile Correction Complex, came up to read these quotes from our young incarcerated people who were on the first probation trip this year:

“We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world and the best we can find in our travels is a honest friend.”

“Yosemite is life changing and will be an inspiration for the rest of my life.”

“When you are motivated and dedicated you can climb any mountain.”

“The smallest choices we make now can have a huge impact on us later in life.”

“I learned the purpose of nature is to preserve it, so that the future generation can enjoy it.”

“Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places to go and is my gateway in succeeding in life.”

“Setting goals like climbing mountains build your character and give you confidence. Setting small goals and achieving them weekly will help you be successful.”

“When you go to Yosemite listen for the call of your destiny and when it comes release your plans and follow.”

As always we thank you for your support in working together making our world a better place for all our relations.

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Sacred Rok Food Thoughts from Katie’s Camp Kitchen

Part of my job at Sacred Rok is to provide everyone with the best food I can conjure. This not only means good taste, it also means good for you.

A lot of thought and time go into thinking of recipes, adapting recipes to fit with our mission of better health through nutrition, and what ingedrients will be the most beneficial.

We have a lot of picnics with our youth and this is actually a tricky type of meal to be prepared for. I want to provide something warm, something heathy and something everyone will enjoy. Sure hotdogs are easy but hot dogs are no more than a mouthful of toxins.

A personal favorite that is not only savory but also highly healthy are cabbage rolls.

Cabbage Rolls – makes about 35 small rolls

Ingredients

Two head medium size cabbage

Grass fed beef, or bison

Organic rice

Organic onion – 1 large

Organic Green Onion – 5

Organic Garlic – 5 cloves

salt.pepper, red pepper, parsley

lemon

-heavy bottom pot

Process

in a large bowl mix the meat (uncooked), rice (uncooked), chopped onion, chopped garlic, and spice.

wash cabbage and pull off the leaves. many times the center vein is very hard and makes rolling the leaf difficult – I cut these leaves in half – removing the vein- so that rolling is better. you want the leaves to be very pliable.

place anywhere from one to two full tablespoons of meat and rice mix in the center of your leaf and roll up- like an egg roll.

line bottom of pot with leaves – to create a barrier between rolls and bottom

place the rolls side by side in pot – layering up to one inch from the top of pot.

add enough water to cover halfway – about two cups or so

cover and steam on low heat until rice is cooked.

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Our New Book! Letters from Sacred Rok

We are asking for a suggested $20 donation (minimum) plus $5 for shipping and handling – please send a check or money order to PO Box 148 – Yosemite, CA 95389 if you would like a copy or click the donate link above.

January 2013 Book Announcement: Letters from Sacred Rok by Ron Kauk

We are asking for a suggested $20 donation (minimum) plus $5 for shipping and handling – please send a check or money order to PO Box 148 – Yosemite, CA 95389if you would like a copy or click the link below.

Click here for a tax deductible donation through PayPal.

We are pleased to announce the publication of 107 page book, Letters from Sacred Rok. The book is based on Ron’s newsletters and photos that have appeared on our website, and envisions how we share the story of nature.

In the preface, founding board member Kenji Hakuta recounts his conversation with Ron, from which Sacred Rok originated. At the parking lot of the Tioga Pass Resort, he asked Ron what he was working on, expecting an answer about a new climbing project. “I’m working on my breathing,” Ron said. Sacred Rok is based on this kind of simple ceremony that connects youth to Yosemite.

Letters from Sacred Rok comes from Ron’s intimate connection with nature. It represents what Yosemite has meant to him over the past 40 years as a climber, and now what he hopes to communicate through Sacred Rok. As Ron writes in the book, “Sacred Rok has become a climb of a lifetime.” The book interweaves new photos taken by Ron of Yosemite and the Sacred Rok youth, with more classic pictures from his history as a climber.

This is truly a stunning and beautiful book which we would like to share with all of our supporters. We are asking for a suggested $20 donation (minimum) plus $5 for shipping and handling – please contact us if you would like a copy.

January 2013 Message from the Board Chair

On behalf of the Sacred Rok Board of Directors, we would like to wish you all a happy new year, filled with the joys of nature as we continue to work together. As our book announcement shares, 2013 is off to a good start. Letters from Sacred Rok will be having book release events in Merced and in the Bay Area in the next few months, so please keep an eye out for announcements.

Our Annual Report has also been released and is on our website. We are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to the paths that will lead us in 2013!

Nancy Goodban, Chair

Reflections on the Season

Summer came early, you might say, with Tioga Pass opening in late May, which offered a good long time for camping trips up in Tuolumne Meadows.  On one of the trips our elder, Bill Tucker, brought up five Yosemite native young people between 11 and 16 years old. The morning started early.  At first light, we got the fire going.  Bill would walk over to the 6-man REI tent to tell the guys to get up.  It only took saying it once.  It was chilly out.  They all walked out to the fire, some barefoot, some just in a T-shirt, eyes half open.  It’s such a magical time of day, where the idea of waking up is profound with light brushing across the trees, the birds starting to sing, squirrels running around, deer crossing the river.

The morning talk is on.  Having an elder to keep things in perspective was a good and powerful experience.  Kenji, Les James, Bill and I had all met a year or so ago when we wrote about the native language and how to bring back the value and sacredness that comes with it, the connectedness of people.  That ideacame to life in the morning.  At some point in our morning talk about respecting life and how to work together, Bill would say to the youth to go to the river and make your offering to the water, the earth, your family.  Then when Katie said breakfast was ready, Bill would have one of the guys say something about the food, to appreciate it.  The same for dinner.  Always taking a little time to honor life and what gives us life.   This way of being together for our 3-night, 4-day set the stage for everything we did.

I learned a lot about staying true to our pace.  It’s not a race or competition.  Bill kept slowing the guys down, saying “Why are your heads down and walking so fast? You’re missing everything, like that falcon’s nest.”  So we stopped and had a little snack and talked, yet getting to our destination Cathedral Lake anyway with lots of time.

Thinking about time, culture, language is so interesting.  These are things that nature evokes.  I would say it’s written in us, the rhythm of moving, breathing, staying in tune with the heartbeat.  Recognizing the new day, listening to the harmony of nature, watching the sunrise – the youth resonate to these ways of flowing with natural time.

Adjusting to this rhythm first thing in the morning brings me back to a kind of healthiness for our being, you might say, the “being” part of human.  This profound experience was helped by our elder who sees the value and importance of showing our young people how to greet the new day, something good for everyone.  Tucker has always shared this, it’s just part of who he is, and it was an honor for us all to be together.

On another of our trips, Karen Rust, a teacher and counselor from Mariposa, came up again with some of her students.  She offered the following reflections on the trip, which we share with you.

Flow of Friends (by Karen Rust)

Last winter Ron Kauk was able to come down for an assembly at the Mariposa Middle School.  The 8th grade students were invited to experience the wonder of Yosemite through Ron’s stories and slides.  Several of the students seemed magnetized by Ron’s presentation and came up to talk with him afterward.  Ron had said to me that he was open to the idea of building relationships with a small number of local youth over time to see what would happen in its natural flow.  These initial conversations led to these students participating in three separate outings in Yosemite during the late Spring, Summer, and Fall.  Nearly a year has gone by, and these young people have come to know each other and their Yosemite backyard in new and exciting ways. 

A group of five students has been able to spend one day in Yosemite last spring, four days in Tuolumne over the summer, and our last outing in late September on the Merced River.  It was obvious to me on the YARTS bus on the way home from our last day together, that they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, each other and their place.  We had spent the better part of the day, wandering back and forth across the Merced, only covering about a quarter of a mile stretch of river.  How many hundreds of times have I driven by this spot, and not even given it a glance?   

During the day we ate lunch at the most exquisite granite table, imagining ancient groups like ours sharing food preparation, stories, splashing in the crystal clear water, (even in September in a drought year), eating together, balancing on log crossings, making driftwood art, and seeing a bear in the rocky crevices of the far shore.  Ron Kauk has opened up an opportunity for us to immerse ourselves in the present and delight in it.  How can we be totally alive to our senses when we are hurried and worried to death and dullness?  In these little oases of outdoor living, we have been present with each other and our setting. 

The four day stay in Tuolumne was a true highlight of the summer for all of us.  The meals were simple, healthy, and the organic produce and oh so fresh.  As a veteran backpacker and camper for 30 plus years, I am not accustomed to fresh produce at the campsite.  The students were able to help prepare the meals and in one case, the understanding of how to prepare and include vegetables in cooking was life-changing for her.  She said, “You know how we had the chicken meal on our last night and we used Grandma’s recipe plus the veggies; now we add veggies whenever we make it.” Our meal planner and Chef Katie added a key ingredient for healthy, balanced life together.

As a social worker/school counselor, I am increasingly aware of growing numbers of students that experience anxiety and depression.  With the pressure in school to achieve standards, and the financial pressure on the families, it becomes all the more important to maintain a balance of self-care and family play.  Five fourteen year-olds found themselves playing, creating, interacting, and challenging themselves physically beyond their expectations of themselves.  One of the girls stretched herself physically when bouldering and learned, “Even if you doubt that you can do something, try it anyway.  If you tell yourself you can’t do something, make it your mission to prove yourself wrong.”  One of the guys challenged his negative self-perception, “Never doubt yourself and enjoy the moment, even if you think you are insignificant, keep an open mind and you will learn that you are more.”   Thanks to the unique opportunity that these students have had with Sacred Rok, they have more vitality and motivation to explore beyond their borders.  Isn’t that what education is all about? 

 We really want to thank Karen for collaborating with us at Sacred Rok.  Her experience in backpacking and being in the Sierras have put her in a perfect position to bring the kids from Mariposa up here into Yosemite.  These young people are now creating their own slideshow, which will help us learn more about developing long-term relationships and reflecting on our shared experiences. The potential is unlimited to follow education nature’s way.  We thank all of you for your support and donations.  These two trips we shared with you continue to inspire us to continue our original mission – to respect nature and through that to respect ourselves.

Day Trips to Yosemite

Staying true to our on-going relationships, two groups of four Boys and Girls Club youth returned to continue enjoying the adventure of being in Yosemite. One group which came first in March for the snow storm decided to wait until the snow melted before braving the elements, and they got to play in Tenaya Creek under Half Dome.

The other group that first came in February enjoyed a day under El Capitan at the river on a sandy beach. For both groups, even after just their second trip, it confirms for me the importance of continued relationships that connect us. We learn from each other every time we get together.

The probation guys also returned twice. Their first trip was spent observing the river along the Lower Merced Canyon.

From there, we went to the top from the backside of a 1,000 foot cliff to consider the perspective of looking back down on the river.

Interestingly enough, we ran across the Yosemite Search and Rescue team taking time to practice their rescue techniques, including Jesse McGahey the climbing ranger. Jesse has been part of our collaboration. He has helped Sacred Rok to join in with the Park Service and the Yosemite Conservancy on some trail work to fix some of the approaches up to popular climbs where erosion has become a problem due to years of a lack of care-taking.

So the following trip found us working in the Cascade Falls area – we put in a few good hours reshaping the trail building steps with rock work so that it would better endure the traffic – the guys worked hard.

It was a great exercise in working together, and that felt good. To top it off, we celebrated by then going down by the river to have a picnic that Katie prepared.

We were also fortunate to have a Mariposa middle school group of five come up.

This came about after being invited to give a presentation back in February where I showed “Return to Balance” and shared stories of my life spent climbing and its symbolic lessons. Their teacher Karen and I talked about arranging a trip to Yosemite in May or June. I didn’t hear from her for a long time and was wondering what might have happened. After months she emailed me saying she was sorry to say the middle school would be closing due to budget cuts and they wouldn’t be able to do the trip. I called her and told her that it wasn’t necessary that the school be involved in getting the youth up here and that we would be happy to fund the trip. She was so happy and thanked us for staying positive. It made me feel good that we at Sacred Rok could say yes.

I must thank everyone for the help you have given Sacred Rok and it’s against-all-odds approach where we feel it’s time to remember what it means to be human and work together for the future of all life. When we say Education Nature’s Way, we really mean it — bringing the young people to one of the most beautiful places on Earth is about inspiration, education, healing and the search for the wisdom of nature and our place as human beings. Nothing lives without water. Yosemite in spring and throughout the year is a display of the beauty and Sacred reality of water.

We feel that ongoing relationships with our young people will help us all to develop together, making better sense of the reality of Nature and to become truly educated into responsible, compassionate, caring human beings! From our experiences it’s interesting to imagine where these ongoing relationships will lead us as we creatively engage in conversations and generate possibilities such as connecting youth to work in the park. I feel that at Sacred Rok, one of our strengths is to grow organically, and so we appreciate hearing from you about what you think, and how you might participate.

Ron

Note: The trips with the Boys and Girls Club are funded by a grant from The North Face Explorer Fund and United Way of Merced County. The probation trips are funded through a flexible grant from Clif Bar. The Mariposa middle school trip was funded by your generosity. Thanks for the support!