Seattle Waldorf Returns

Seattle Waldorf School Hyla Woods Forestry Experience Fall 2010
By Raizel Burstein-Frame

We, the tenth grade class of the Seattle Waldorf High School spent the week of October 4-8th at Hyla Woods in Timber Oregon. I readily admit that I had my fair share of trepidations. Last year, the tenth grade at our school also visited the woods. They went at a time when it was pouring rain and below freezing. Needless to say, that was not their favorite trip.
Our experience, however, would prove completely different. We had beautiful weather, no rain to speak of. The forest was beautiful. The work we were told to do was meaningful, but not too hard by any means. We cleared trails, mapped areas of forest and did some stream biology in Lousignont creek. We became mules temporarily and hauled logs.
Most of our work was supervised by Peter Hayes, the owner and manager of Hyla Woods. Peter is a man of many talents. In addition to forestry, he taught high school for many years and is a wonderful musician. He was beyond generous to us, ungrudgingly sharing his insightful ideas and ambitious vision for his forest and the world.
At the end of the trip, we regretted having to leave and begged to be allowed to go back. We learned a lot about forestry, but also about ourselves and each other. We were so lucky to have this experience.