Picture Gallery of The Lost Valley Program

Here we are, the motley crew, about to take off in our magical bus that took us to the coast to discover what lay on the other side of the coastal mountains!

Wanake and Bus Driver, Allan, are tackling the fine art of chainsaw use at the Deadwood Community Center and Fire Hall

Ben an Rebeccah discuss the fine art of pulling weeds while everyone waits for lunch to arrive at the Youth Farm where we helped in a project that would create food for the homeless and hungry of Lane County.

Lost Valley has a beautiful meadow which has been used for thousands of years by the Native peoples of the area. During the spring Camus, a starchy bulb used as major food source by the Calapooya tribe, is harvested.

Two pretty "squaws" warming up in the morning sun in front of the Teepee.

But that Teepee didn't just show up in the field. Many hours of hard labor happened to cut the poles in the National Forest, limbing them, removing all the knots and bumps and then learning how to effectively put them up so that the "skin" will fit tightly and beautifully around them. Ben and Elizabeth make sure that the appropriate poles are fitting into place!

Classrooms look different in Oregon. Here Ianto Evans (in the straw hat) talks about his knowledge of life and cob-building with Leyla, Cigdon, Christina, Walker and Joseph.

Ben and Michael are learning the "dance of the cob makers". They are stomping down on clay, sand and water to make sure the mixture is the right texture for the adding of the straw!

One of Ianto's fanciful and lovely garden walls and cob fireplace.

Not everything in the program was messy work projects and philosophical learning. Sometimes, it was time to play, for instance, at the beach along the Oregon Dunes! The group is enjoying the rewards of having collaborated on a meal of corn on the cob, baked potatoes, watermelon, and you guessed it-"s'mores". Even Joseph on his "litter" was carried out to the sea on this cool, windy and cloudy summer day.