Trails & Vistas storytelling workshop for volunteer trail leaders on June 7

Garth Gilchrist, a professional storyteller best known for his portrayals of California environmentalist John Muir, will conduct a free storytelling workshop for the volunteer trail leaders of the 2015 Trails & Vistas Art Hikes. The workshop, at Cedar House Sport Hotel Truckee on June 7, 2015 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. will be immediately followed by a brunch. Both the workshop and the brunch are free. Volunteer trail leaders are needed for both the September 12 & September 19 Art Hikes.

Volunteers will learn the art of oral history from one of the best. Garth Gilchrist, a performing storyteller, poet, and environmental educator, has spent decades bringing people into natural landscapes and watching the transformative effects nature’s gifts can have on a person’s soul. “Clarity, energy, harmony, exhilaration. These are the gifts nature offers to those who choose to receive them,” says Gilchrist.

An award­winning recording artist who has performed across the world, Gilchrist will facilitate this workshop to better enable the Trails & Vistas Art Hike volunteer trail leaders to build a connection with their small audiences through oral storytelling and history. Trail leaders will learn specifically how to animate their stories, how to provide a playful and peaceful place for discovery and exploration, and how to connect people to each other and to the place.

Each trail leader will guide a group of audience members through the landscape showcasing art, music, storytelling, and dance. Gilchrist will be one of the performances along the trail, telling his John Muir and original stories.

—Trails & Vistas