Start the New Year off on the right foot! Join the Yachats Trails Committee and fellow trekkers for the
Seventh Annual Yachats New Year’s Day Peace Hike. Participants should meet at the Yachats Commons
(441 N. Hwy 101, Yachats) at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 1, 2017. Each year, the hike traditionally honors the memory of a blind Native American woman known as Amanda, who was forced to leave her young daughter and march barefoot through rocky terrain to the
Alsea Sub-agency internment camp in Yachats in 1864.
In preparation for the hike, Doc Slyter, Elder, Tribal Flutist and Tribal Council member for the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and
Siuslaw Indians will tell her story and introduce the fire ceremony that follows. Hikers will then set forth along the 804 Trail before connecting to the Gerdemann Botanic Preserve public footpath and moving on to the Ya’Xaik trail. From there they will again connect to the 804 and loop back
to the Commons, or can catch a shuttle back. The overall hike is 3.5 miles but the various segments enable all participants to choose the terrains and duration best suited to their abilities – from the flat surface of the 804 to the moderately strenuous inclines and stairs on the Ya’Xaik. There are also indoor activities planned for those who prefer to wait in the Commons for hikers to return.
Upon returning to the Commons, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on the essential need to
treat people of all backgrounds and cultures throughout the world with honor, dignity and respect.
Everyone is then invited to enjoy a finger food potluck and other refreshments, while picking up their
collectable Peace Hike pins.
The image for the 2017 pin was created by the Siuslaw National Forest 2015 Artist-in-Residence, Colleen Caubin. She and 2014 Artist-in-Residence Margie Lopez Reid will both be on hand for a silent auction and to show their work. Native American flute and other music will be
provided by Doc Slyter and Mary Beth Nickel. If any participants wish, but not required, would like to bring a covered and plated finger food potluck item to share, please contact Sandy White at virgoswede@peak.org or at 541.547.4194 to coordinate.
