Photo above: Kuthai Lake at sunset.
by Ben Szydlowski
This past summer, while hiking up Monarch Mountain for the first time in a year, I quickly realized my once strong “mountain legs” of old times had become squishy desk legs that needed some breaking into. Since becoming Co-Director of Student Programs, most of my time is spent in front of my computer screen and not as much in the field as before.
So, I was thrilled to get back to Atlin for a full summer – the first for me since 2019. I’ve had the privilege and honor to be able to spend some portion of the last few summers in Taku River Tlingit Territory, and I was ready to reconnect with the land and people in Atlin and get my legs and mindset back into Student Program shape.
There’s something special about a Round River Student Program that’s hard to replicate. The day-to-day dynamics are so different from a typical day at home that it becomes difficult to illustrate to folks when asked. Early mornings, late-night obligatory games of Hearts, long hours on windy mountaintops and constant questions and conversations with students and community members make for the intimate nature of a student program that leaves little room for personal time or personal space. But that’s undoubtedly one of the best parts of a student program. Quickly, the cohort turns into a quirky, dysfunctional family unit, often reliant on each other in times of stress, celebration, curiosity and firsts: first grizzly bear sightings, first backpacking trips, first time seeing the landscape.
One of my favorite parts of a program is the chance to introduce students to places they’ve never experienced. The look of awe and confusion as they take in a landscape for the first time is infectious. In 2019, Will Tyson drove me from Whitehorse to Atlin and I saw Mt. Minto for the first time. Mt. Minto is a stunning, conical mountain that sits on the northern edge of Atlin Lake and is a landmark indicating one of the northernmost parts of Taku River Tlingit Territory.
At a pullout spot on the road, we caught our breath and acknowledged the start of TRT territory and the work that’s gone into protecting it. The vastness of the territory was difficult to comprehend. As far as I could see was just the start of seemingly endless boreal forests, lake shoreline and alpine peaks.
For the last few years, I’ve been lucky enough to reciprocate that moment to a number of students, just as Will showed me. The reactions of the students are always refreshing, humbling and grounding – a reminder of why the work that we do is important, timely and long-lasting.
At the end of the day, the emails, paperwork and due dates that create my squishy desk legs are in service of larger goals, purposes and places. The pullout marking the start of TRT territory and displaying Mt. Minto always puts this into perspective for me. I look forward to hopefully pulling off the Atlin road again soon.
Ben Szydlowski is Round River’s Co-Director of Student Programs.
Learn more about Round River’s Taku Watershed Student Program and our conservation work in the Taku.
