The AWA headquarters was packed on Saturday, January 28 as it hosted the first event of 2017 put forth by the GDTA Outreach Committee: Julia Lynx concert: A Benefit for the GDTA.
Julia Lynx thru-hiked the GDTA in 1996 with her partner Dustin, an experience that eventually evolved into a comprehensive guidebook that helped revive interest in the long distance trail and still is the definitive GDT resource used to this day.
The trail and mountain has inspired Julia’s work, which she generously shared with us on that evening. Accompanied with friends and her daughter, Julia invited us to her living room to share her passion for the Great Divide and the outdoors.
Those in attendance were treated to not only an intimate concert but also some slides of the trail and the wonderful stories that go along with it. The vintage photos from Julia and Dustin’s hike twenty years ago were followed with another presentation from Julia’s daughter, Tenaya, who relayed the tale of a mountain hike she did with her dad while exploring for potential new routes on the trail.
Heath McCroy and daughter Léa joined Julia on stage and entertained the crowd to songs rendition that included, along with original composition from Julia, interpretation of pieces from Jack Johnson and Bob Dylan, among other. There was also a notable adaptation of the Robert Burns poem “My Heart’s in the Highlands” which Julia sang on the harmonium.
This was a great evening of folk music and trail stories, the perfect antidote to warm up those cold January nights. Great work from the GDTA Outreach Committee for planning and organizing this event, and many thanks to Julia and her cohort for being part of this successful evening and sharing their passion for the GDT dream with us.
If you would like to hear some of Julia’s music, her CD “Wild Patience” is available for order at http://www.julialynx.com/album/.
The next scheduled outreach event will be a talk Charlie Russell: Living and hiking with Grizzlies. The evening will also feature speaker Dustin Lynx who will kick off the evening by sharing some of his adventures on the Great Divide Trail and beyond. This not to be missed event will be held on Tuesday, March 21 at the John Dutton Theatre Library, 616 Macleod Trail SE. Get your ticket today on Eventbrite.
