Tolkat: A Place to Pause
Toklat is a magical place just 11 miles upstream from Aspen in the Castle Creek Valley. It has been part of ACES (Aspen Center for Environmental Studies) since 2004 and has a long history as a gathering place for nature enthusiasts, environmentalists and artists.
ACES shares that the Catto Center at Toklat was once the family home of one of its most influential founders, Stuart Mace, and still holds great meaning for the Aspen community. Toklat, an Inuit word meaning “headwaters,” was built by Stuart and his wife, Isabel, in 1948 as a wilderness lodge. Today, it continues that rich history as a gathering place for the community and visitors.
I recently had the privilege of attending a deep ecology writing workshop there. It was the perfect place to connect with nature and reflect through writing.
Deep ecology asks us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world—not simply valuing nature for what it provides us but recognizing that nature has inherent value of its own. I appreciate its invitation to look beyond environmental problems like pollution and climate change and consider something deeper: how we might live and be in greater harmony with nature.
Lindsay Branham, author of Heartwood: The Wisdom and Healing Kinship of Trees, led the retreat. She created an incredible space to write and connect that was welcoming, compassionate and dynamic. Her reverence and appreciation for nature were impactful to be around.
Lindsay shared stories from her book and some of the wisdom she has gained through her own healing journey. Then she took us on an introspective journey of our own, with the beautiful landscape surrounding Toklat as our guide.
If you ever have the chance to attend a writing workshop with Lindsay, go for it. I promise it will be worth it. Her invitation to cultivate a reciprocal relationship with nature is one I think we could all welcome.
The retreat also included the opportunity to camp at Toklat. I slept beneath the aspen tree canopy in my tent. It was the first time in my life I had ever slept in a tent by myself, and I was very proud of myself. If I do it again, however, I will definitely upgrade my sleeping pad!
For 36 hours, I was able to completely disconnect from the digital world and the busyness of everyday life and simply be with nature, connect with new friends, and write.
It filled my soul.
I returned to my life with a renewed appreciation for the natural world and a desire to deepen my connection to it. I’m grateful my daughter Sierra encouraged me to attend, I’m grateful to ACES for creating opportunities like this, to Lindsay for guiding us, and to Toklat for continuing to be a place where people can gather, reflect, connect—and pause.
