Reciprocity, recreation retreat hosted by Telluride Institute
Telluride News Article By Ellen Metrick Planet Contributor Oct 25, 2025
Ute youth explored the High Camp Hut ecosystem on Lizard Head Pass during the third annual Reciprocity and Recreation Retreat with Telluride Institute in early October.
In early October, during the height of golden leaf-peeping season and rain inundation, Telluride Institute (TI), Ute youth and chaperones spent the weekend at High Camp Hut for the third annual autumn Reciprocity and Recreation Retreat (RRR).
“The kids really liked the retreat,” said Raylene House, one of the retreat chaperones and director of the Ute Mountain Ute Recreation Center in Towaoc. “They get out in the mountains at home [Sleeping Ute Mountain], but they haven’t been out walking that long and really looking at things.”
The group of 12 kids hiked up to High Camp Hut with TI trustee Laurie Lundquist and parent chaperones on Friday afternoon. They trekked 2.5 miles from the parking lot on Lizard Head Pass, a trip with 1,000 feet of elevation gain through meadows and spruce forests.
The hut, a two-story, fully functional off-grid cabin, is an inholding in San Juan National Forest, surrounded on three sides by the Grizzly Peak Research Natural Area.
“The kids know they’re on ancestral lands,” said House. “I think it’s a beautiful thing, what TI does, and this gives that sense of reconnecting and belonging.”
House also participated in this year’s Indigenous Youth Ski Day last March. The event is an annual collaboration between TI, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and Southern Ute Tribe, which receives funding from grants, individual donors, Telluride Foundation, Telski and the Town of Mountain Village.
Both events are part of Telluride Institute’s Indigenous Programs (TIIP), which “honor and strengthen the enduring relationship between the Ute people and the San Juan Mountains by creating year-round opportunities for Indigenous youth and leaders to gather, learn and thrive,” according to TIIP’s mission statement.
The autumn RRR is mainly supported by San Miguel County and the Telluride Foundation.
TI has partnered with High Camp Hut for all sorts of events that fulfill High Camp’s board and staff mission “to inspire a love of nature through education, exploration and stewardship.”
The rain was an incessant companion on the retreat, which meant that High Camp’s value of resilience was being met.
“At High Camp, we embrace the difficulties of the wild, recognizing that growth often comes from discomfort. By leaning into challenges, we prepare ourselves for success,” according to High Camp’s website.
TI trustee, treasurer and environmental artist Laurie Lundquist led this year’s retreat.
“The hike up is always a big deal and fun, and it was raining. We were really communing with the elements,” Lundquist said. “It was so lovely to wake up Sunday to snow and sun.”
