Mountain Matters

Programs

Enriching Lives

Adventures With Youth

Thoughts From Youth in Mountain Programs

This is my first year, my friends recommended coming here. I've only been here a few days and already it feels like the cabin is my family. It's so beautiful here -- it's so amazing to hike to other mountains and the lookout. Winston was a great leader! ~~Olivia S.

I love the new adventures every day and you get to learn a lot of new stuff about UUism and how to work on climate change. There are people from around the world and its so nice to get to know them. ~~Greta S.

At my school, people struggle to be kind and try to tear you down, but at The Mountain people are so kind, it is such a good environment to be in. ~~Ava K.

Please encourage young people to participate in a variety of enriching experiences throughout the year in MountainCamp as well as CONferences (CONs).

Recent Experiences for Guests

Aaron Shearer Classical Guitar Institute

The Aaron Shearer Foundation perpetuates and enhances this legacy of classical guitar pedagogy as one of the most successful in history. Shearer was instrumental in the development of many celebrated classical guitar performers of the past decades.

The Mountain is honored to host the Shearer Summer Institutes. The photo above is at the Highlands Bascom Art Museum where students in this Institute performed for a full-house of Highlands residents and visitors.

Forest to Table Dinners

During a dedicated Farm Dinner, our Highlands residents new to The Mountain and guests from other local communities learned about our programs and what we do here at The Mountain. They had a tour of the farm and a four-course meal featuring farm and foraged foods. Many new relationships were built as people shared their stories, connecting with current and new friends.

Join us for a Forest to Table Dinner

Looking Forward - Youth CONferences (CONs)

A Youth CONference is a weekend gathering of Unitarian Universalist youth, Peer Advocate Leaders (PALs), and advisors from congregations all over the southeast (and sometimes beyond!). We build community together. Small groups and CONwide activities provide opportunities for fun, connection, reflection, and spiritual growth.

Activities include workshops, a dance, and a Coffee House where youth can showcase their talents. Participants stay in our cozy cabins and eat together in our Dining Hall, which prepares delicious meals suited to each individuals’ dietary needs. CONs are planned by youth for youth, providing opportunities for youth leadership and empowerment.

Want to volunteer to help plan CONs? We’re seeking PALs (ages 16-18) and PAL Mentors (ages 18+). Ap ply to be a PAL!

PAL Training/CON Planning October 20-23

Elementary CON (3rd-5th grade) November 3-5

Intermediate CON (6th-8th grade) November 17-19

High School CON (High School) December 1-3

Join us for these life enriching experiences at The Mountain.

For more information or to request accessibility accommodations, contact Catherine Zenaida, Youth Program Director.

CON Participants

Share Their Thoughts

Trust Activity (photo above)

I really admire the way The Mountain teaches youth and children how to live sustainably and treat the earth with respect. I like talking about caring for the earth and seeing the effects of what we do. ~~Fiona A.

High School Bridging (photo above)

It (CON) creates an environment where kids can learn to be sure of themselves and their values and then put those values into practice. ~~Elly M.

I really liked this weekend because I got to bond with a lot of people and do cool activities - crafts, cooking together, field games, and other games. ~~Neave B.

Grateful Gathering - November 22 - 26

Plan now for Thanksgiving Weekend

Join us for building community, and

learning more about ourselves and our wider world.

Join Our Mountain Team

We are thriving and hiring!!

Maintenance and Maintenance Mgr.

Program Manager

Marketing

Housekeeping

Guest Services

Positions open and applications:

Message from the Board -- Rachel Kinback

The Mountain is a landscape abundant with flavor! My interest in wild foods first started when I arrived at The Mountain in 2015 to work as a summer Farm Apprentice. It was then I learned that with a simple shift in perspective so many common “weeds” can transform into choice gourmet garden delights. Dandelion greens for salads, chickweed pesto, mugwort for sleepytime tea all became staples of my Mountain life diet.

Fast forward to this past Spring, I now am in my 2^ndyear of serving on The Mountain’s Board of Trustees (and truly enjoying this meaningful volunteer work! I invite you to consider if becoming a Board Member is a hat you’d like to wear in the future).

I am lucky to be local to The Mountain, making my home in Scaly Mountain, just 5 miles from the Dining Hall. In May I was delighted to be tasked with collecting wild flavors from the Highlands area to aid with a special project. Chemist Distillery in Asheville is partnering with Old Edwards Inn (my current employer) to craft a specialty limited release Gin Spirit for a fundraiser to benefit the Highlands Cashiers Land Trust this Fall. Since The Mountain is a Land Trust property and was the birthplace of my love affair for wild flavors, I knew I would be foraging there for our secret ingredients! After gaining permission to ethically harvest, I connected with my friend Hope Corbin, Environmental Education Americorps Member and the Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Land Trust and a fellow wild foodie. Together we spent the day collecting Multiflora Rose blooms for the folks at Chemist to process into a concentrated rose flavor.

Multiflora Rose has a bad reputation for taking over borderland habitats between meadows and forests and choking out small trees and shrubs with its thorny brambles. One way to slow down the spread of this vigorous invasive is to harvest its flowers and hips and use them to make lovely medicinal foods! Since flowers become hips and hips hold the seeds, collecting either or both of these parts of the plant will mean less seeds will be spread in the surrounding landscape. The flowers have a cooling quality and have many applications in herbalism as a heart tonic. The hips are high in vitamin C and sport a laundry list of health benefits, including being anti-inflammatory.

If this story has kept your attention you might want to consider going on your own foraging foray. You can seek out opportunities to take a plant ID walk in your local area OR come visit The Mountain for one of the Farm Dinners or Workshops to begin or deepen your own wild foods relationships.