Schedule:

9am-4pm: Cultural Connection Speaker Series
Silco Theater (311 N Bullard St, Silver City, NM 88061)

Join us at the historic Silco Theater during CDT Trail Days for our Cultural Speaker Series, where we celebrate the rich history, diverse voices, and evolving stories of the Continental Divide Trail and its surrounding communities. This engaging series features speakers from Indigenous communities, local historians, Dark Sky educators and astronomers, outdoor advocates, and long-distance hikers who share their unique perspectives on conservation, culture, and connection to the land.

Whether you’re a thru-hiker, a local resident, or simply passionate about the outdoors, these thought-provoking discussions will deepen your understanding of the landscapes and people that make the CDT so special. Don’t miss this opportunity to listen, learn, and engage in meaningful conversations! There will be door prizes between sessions and CDTC staff will be hosting a merch table along with resources about the trail
Session 1: Sharing Love and Connection to the Stars | Panel facilitated by Teresa Martinez, CDTC Executive Director

Michael Darrow: Secretary-Treasurer of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe and Tribal Historian

Michael Darrow is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, and has been the designated Tribal Historian since 1986. He attended the University of Oklahoma, majoring in botany, and received an associate degree in Museum Studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. He has worked for the Tribe on Native American Grave Protection and Reparations Act and on cultural and language preservation issues.

Naomi Hartford: Cultural Coordinator of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe

Cassandra Carmichael: Executive Director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment

Cassandra Carmichael is the Executive Director for the National Religious Partnership for the Environment where she serves an alliance of four major faith groups: Jewish, Catholic, Evangelical and Protestant. Previously, she was the Washington office and eco-justice program director for the National Council of Churches where she implemented the environmental and justice ministries of NCC’s 37 member denominations, which represent 100,000 churches nationwide. Cassandra is a senior fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program and a previous board member on the Chesapeake Bay Alliance.

Marisela La Grave: New Mexico based trans-media artist, director, producer, film maker, photographer and creator, and co-founder and Artistic director at Magnetic Laboratorium™

New Mexico based trans-media artist, director, producer, film maker, photographer and creator of projects that explore the nature of perception, phenomenology, consciousness and temporality. Her multidisciplinary oeuvre includes film, video, sound design, film, photography, installation & performance art, environmental advocacy, drawing, writing. She produces experimental films, essay style documentaries and time based works for camera that explore the space in between concept, reality and auto-fiction. Her cinematic art performance concepts, films, photographs, multidisciplinary site-specific events, sound track design, scripts, works on paper are the core of her existential deracinated ongoing investigations. M. La Grave is a Co-founder and the Artistic director at Magnetic Laboratorium™ (2001) a New York – Paris based multimedia art studio experimenting with multidisciplinary productions. Her original site-specific collaborative performances for camera with Magnetic Laboratorium associated artists as well as other works have been screened, exhibited, presented, and published internationally and housed in private collections and museums around the world. M. La Grave studied Film at Tisch School, New York University (New York) – Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Sorbonne 3, (Paris) Photography at the International Center of Photography, (New York). She is currently focused on developing, directing and producing Dark Sky Land, an Experimental documentary film & concepts for site specific night sky environmental projects, New Mexico. In partnership with: Skyland Lab Productions, LLC – Magnetic Laboratorium – The New Mexico Film Foundation. She is a board member of the New Mexico Dark Sky Land, NM.


Session 2: The CDT at Night – Stargazing for Thru-Hikers | Zack Stockbridge, Astronomer and Astronomy Instructor

Zack “Beekeeper” Stockbridge has taught astronomy for most of 20 years. An avid astro-photographer and eclipse-chaser, he also thru-hiked the Continental Divide Trail in 2023. A love for landscapes and nightscapes allowed him to enjoy the CDT in a unique way. He is excited to share some of his knowledge of the night sky so you can experience a new level of wonder during your adventures. While on trail, he did a series of social media posts entitled “CDT at Night” to showcase some of the beautiful experiences under the night sky he and his wife encountered along the way. Zack and his wife, Jen (“Kismet”) have been married for 20 years, have hiked over 10,000 miles together and now live in Trinidad, Colorado – which is not close enough to the CDT!
Session 3: Exploring the Great Divide Trail | Kate Hamilton, Executive Director of the Great Divide Trail Association

Kate began volunteer trail building with the GDTA in 2020 and quickly became attached to the trail and the volunteers, which is why she put her name forward for this role. Kate deeply values connection with the environment inspiring stewardship and protection, movement outdoors for mental and physical health, and access and inclusion to outdoor recreation for everyone. She hopes that her contributions will help the Great Divide Trail to be preserved and maintained for generations to come.

5:30-9:00pm: Kick-Off Party!
Little Toad Creek Brewery (200 N Bullard St. Silver City, NM 88061)

Join CDTC and friends for our official kick-off to Trail Days at the Little Toad! There will be raffle prizes and a hiker buffet! Get a plate for $10 and enjoy the camaraderie of downtown Silver City. We will also be enjoying live music by Stoney Blue Fish, a band based out of Southern New Mexico specializing in a heavy funk rock sound.