Hello, Beloved Friends! 

We breathed a sweet sigh of relief and happiness as we arrived at the golden time of the Autumnal Equinox. Fall is magic here, and along with the change of season has come some much-needed rain. We’re basking in the moisture and appreciating the cooler temperatures while we harvest and process the bounty from our farm (think apples, cucumbers, carrots, pumpkins, winter squash, beautiful red cobbler potatoes, tomatillos, and tomatoes, which are racing to ripen and will feature soon in our blue-corn fried green tomato appetizer). The leaves on Boulder Mountain and around the Lodge grounds are lustrous, and our flower gardens are glorious, with zinnias, cosmos, roses, and sunflowers, and marigolds.

There was such an abundance of beauty this summer, particularly in the form of weddings (thank you to the wonderful couples who trusted us and shared their love—we all needed it!) and the Tibetan monks’ recent visit. Our week with the Monks of Drepung Loseling Monastery, after a six-year hiatus, was profoundly joyful and restorative. We’re grateful to everyone who was part of this very successful fundraiser for the monks’ nonprofit, The Mystical Arts of Tibet. In addition to raising support for their monastery, creating awareness about the Tibetan plight, and preserving and showcasing their spiritual art form, the monks also hosted guided meditations each morning in our common room, cooked incredible vegetarian lunch feasts alongside us in the kitchen (which we shared with staff and guests), chanted and sang in our favorite side-of-the-road slot canyon, and performed various pujas on our new stage out on the lawn. The monks quite literally blessed us with their presence—and we’re delighted to report they’ve expressed a sincere desire to return to Boulder next year. We will announce in a subsequent newsletter when we have their 2026 return confirmed!

In the category of beautiful happenings, we were also delighted and honored to be the featured chefs, along with our forever icon Alice Waters, for the “Tables of Late Summer Gala,” a special fundraising event for The Christian Center of Park City (CCPC). The gala celebrated the organization’s twenty-five year commitment to fighting food insecurity and providing food, clothing, school supplies, resources and support for mental health and wellness, as well as other initiatives to the communities of Summit and Wasatch counties. We created a delicious seasonal menu inspired by Alice and lovingly prepared by our friends at the wonderful Utah based catering company, The Blended Table. Ingredients were locally sourced, with items that might regularly appear in their well-stocked food pantry.

Our menu featured plenty of HBG classics (crabapple jam on our black powder biscuits, braised beef over lemony mashed potatoes, chocolate-chile pots), along with a fresh elberta peach with a peach-leaf infused custard and amaretti crumbles, in honor of Alice who loves a good peach more than nearly anything. The evening included a lively forty-five-minute conversation about food justice and regenerative farming with Blake, Jen, and Alice, moderated by our dear friend Davia Nelson of NPR’s Kitchen Sisters. It was a dream come true to share the stage and the evening with Alice and Davia in service to such an incredible heart-based Utah non-profit. If you wish to support CCPC, too, you can do so here.

Bloom Where You’re Planted

As most of you know, not too long ago, a hefty amount of uncertainty swirled around us. But now that we are nearing the end of our first year in this big, new chapter—lodge ownership, a new partnership group of Hellions, and our fabulous food truck, little bone—we can say definitively that our trust-fall into this very different paradigm was absolutely the best-case scenario for us. While many other businesses in the area (as well as the national and state parks) reported a slower year, we have been BUSY! And you know what else? It has felt good. There’s a shift in the energy here. We’ve heard from so many of you that your experience has felt like an oasis, which we take as the highest compliment. Every day we enact small, medium, and large changes to move us in the direction of our vision of higher consciousness hospitality. Our great desire is to continue to make improvements that provide the most nourishing and replenishing experience possible. Thank you for your ongoing love and support. We could not have arrived at this place—or even imagined it—without you.  We have so many fun plans and dreams and projects coming up; it’s super exciting! Just next week, for instance, here at the Lodge, we’ll be putting in 300 plants with a grant from the Utah Pollinator Habitat Program, to establish a diverse pollinator garden that will support and attract all the wild and vital flying beings that abide in this immeasurable place.

And now, the primary reason for this letter: Our Annual Harvest Feast of Gratitude, aka Thanksgiving!

You haven’t missed the moment! The moment is now! 

You are cordially invited to join us again for this extraordinary event. As usual, we’ll offer three distinct seatings of our elegant multi-course harvest celebration dinner. You can expect an exquisite combination of plated and family-style dishes, served communal-style at long tables—both in our original dining room space and on our cozy patio, which is covered, enclosed, and heated.

For two decades now, we’ve taken enormous pleasure and pride in preparing a nourishing meal with ingredients sourced from our own farm and local growers and producers. The apple cider brined butter- basted turkeys will be accompanied by bountiful side dishes, including an array of sumptuous desserts and sweets (including our dark magic pear gingerbread with salted butterscotch sauce, a pecan pie with chile and dark chocolate, assorted cookies, and even Blake’s famous piñon buttermints). A thoughtfully prepared vegetarian entrée is available upon request when you make a reservation. Many of our offerings are also vegetarian and gluten-free! But please note that as our lavish feast is powered by butter, we are entirely unable to accommodate vegan diners.

We’re so looking forward to welcoming you to dinner and to our festive pre-dinner tradition of gathering outside by the bird sanctuary, where we will serve you hot spiced cider with juniper and small bites around the bonfire. Our harvest dinner this year will be $225 per adult and $85 per child aged 4-12. Each ticket covers the cost of the dinner. Tax will be added after your purchase, along with gratuity. Alcohol is not included in the ticket price, but beautiful seasonal craft cocktails, curated wine selections, and draft beer & local cider offerings will be available to purchase on the day of the event. There is no required dress code, but feel free to dress up! We’ll make sure you feel welcomed and festive as you dine and drink and make toasts and new friends and memories. Come to Boulder for Thanksgiving, and let us feed and love you like you’re family.

You’ll find more details on Tock when you go to book your tickets…

Thursday, November 27 … 1.30 pm Seating

Thursday, November 27 … 5.30 pm Seating

Friday, November 28 … 12.30 pm Seating

Now, as for where to stay…. Accommodations can be the tricky part of the formula on Thanksgiving weekend. Though the Lodge is already full, rest assured that there is other lodging in the area, including a few accommodations right in Boulder (Circle Cliffs Motel, Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch, Annie’s Place B&B) along with a number of AirBnB and VRBO houses. You’ll also find many more hotels, lodges, and rental houses in Escalante and Torrey. And another great option is to bring an RV or rent a Sprinter van. Endless free dispersed parking is available in the Monument!

Repeating for those in the back: If you’re planning to join us for Thanksgiving, please prioritize securing your lodging as soon as possible! There are plenty of seats for dinner, but relatively few rooms in and around Boulder at that time of year.

A Winter Respite for the Soul

For those of you looking for true peace and rejuvenation or wondering about the most economical time to visit Boulder: Consider a winter visit! Although the restaurant closes the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Lodge stays open year-round. And here’s a secret we Boulder locals don’t share with just anyone: Winter is our favorite season. (Really! Hands Down!) Hiking in a hushed desert under the winter sun is energizing, and if you’re lucky enough to see the cinnamon-colored sandstone under a blanket of white snow, you’ll experience the landscape in its finest form. The quiet is deep, the air is cool, and the night skies over the Grand Staircase are intensely dark. Come with your journal and sketchbook and that novel you’ve been wanting to read. Bring your snowshoes or crosscountry skis and enjoy Boulder Mountain in a totally new way. Does everyone know we have dog-friendly rooms? Bring your dog, too! Being here in the off-season is incredibly grounding and replenishing—which is something we can all use right now. While you won’t get the restaurant experience during a winter trip, the tradeoff is solitude and access to wilderness in a way most people never experience.

We know the question on everyone’s mind: So what do you do for food in the off-season? Most restaurants in the area, including HBG and Little Bone, are closed, but you have options! First, we’re delighted to announce that we are in the process of developing some culinary offerings. We will, for instance, provide a complimentary continental-style breakfast for our lodge guests, served in our cozy common room by the fire—and we’re also discussing rolling out meal kits, ready-to-eat restaurant favorites, and occasional special events. Also, Hills & Hollows, our local convenience store, will be open daily (they carry many staples, including grains, cheese, butter, and other dairy, and even some vegetables!), and all the Lodge rooms have mini-fridges and microwaves, so you can bring some groceries, as well. A number of our rooms are also outfitted with kitchen facilities (Luxury Suites have full kitchens, and the Deluxe King and Deluxe Queen rooms have kitchenettes). Our off-season rates for December, January & February have been updated, and there’s lots of availability! We are definitely open to catering winter weddings, gatherings, workshops, and retreat groups that book a certain number of rooms or are looking for a specialized experience.

What You Can Do For Our Public Lands

You certainly don’t need us to tell you all that’s in peril in this dangerous time, but we do want to share with you a few important action items. If you want to raise your voice in support of our public lands, we would be grateful!

Please call your senators and congress people regularly and tell them Utah's national monuments are important to you. Talk about it on social media if you are in those spaces. Follow and support Grand Staircase Partners and amplify any and all pro-public lands messaging.

We’ve been fighting for a very long time now for the preservation of our home landscape, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. In 2017, the Trump administration downsized the Monument by nearly half, and opened up to extractive industries. In 2021, we celebrated when President Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland completely restored Utah’s precious public lands. This time around, the Trump administration’s plan is even more nefarious: to sell off large portions of the monuments—not only to extractive industry for mining, drilling, grazing, timber production, and recreation, but also for large-scale commercial development, which would be irreversible.

We beseech all of you who love these vast protected landscapes to join us in supporting the many dedicated nonprofit organizations that are working hard to keep Grand Staircase and Bears Ears intact and safe from irrevocable harm. You can do so by supporting them financially or through volunteer and stewardship programs. Here are some we work closely with: GSEP, The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Grand Canyon Trust, Conservation Lands Foundation. Another very tangible action you can take is to submit a public comment on the Department of the Interior’s proposal to eliminate the Public Lands (Conservation and Landscape Health) Rule, which was adopted in 2023 after overwhelming public support. The Public Lands Rule enabled the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to consider conservation and landscape health in its public lands management. Rescinding this rule would make millions of acres of public land more vulnerable to extraction, so please consider commenting to let the Department of the Interior know that you DO NOT support this change! The last day for public comment is November 10th, and you can submit a comment here. In the past—and even recently—the public outcry and determination to “keep public lands in public hands” has been extremely effective, so thank you, and let’s keep up that wholehearted pressure!

Hard times call for a deeper rootedness, and to that, we are relying on one another and on you—our community near and far— to stay committed, resilient, curious, hopeful, and engaged. Please make sure to vote in your local elections (and check now to confirm that your voter registration has not been purged, which is reportedly happening). One very cool bit of election news here in Boulder is that our own amazing and longterm Hellion Lacy Allen is running for Boulder Town council—and she came in first in the primary. She’ll be wonderful in this role, and we couldn't be prouder of her! Please make sure that wherever you are, you vote in every election, no matter how small or local, and that you get out the vote for citizens like Lacy who love and value community, the environment, social justice, human rights, and inclusivity.

This year has been SO WILD, truly a whirlwind, and we can’t believe it’s October! Every single day, we’re looking around this property we now own and steward and love. We  hang new artwork and stock our lending library of books, puzzles, DVDs, and board games. We watch the leaves turn gold on our newly planted orchards and welcome the migrating waterfowl who avail themselves of the sanctuary. We embrace all the goodness unfolding and remain gobsmacked with gratitude that we get to do this work. It’s such an honor to share this life with you, in one of the most magnificent places on earth. We could not ask for more. Our hearts just love you all so much. Thank you for showing up in droves to make our 26th season such a resounding success.

As we were putting the finishing touches on this newsletter today, word came that our friend, mentor, and North Star, Jane Goodall, has passed away at 91. We are sitting with grief and gratitude, and we dedicate this newsletter to her great work. Rest in power and love, dear Jane. May your time among the stars be peacefull and filled with smiling dogs.

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

— Jane Goodall 1934-2025

Love,
Blake, Jen, Nina, Nick, Morgan and all the Fabulous Hellions

when the world

goes mad

be wildly kind

to everyone

everyone

everyone

everyone 

~ you can’t control

much

but you control how

you treat others

in these breaking news

heartbreaking times 

when nothing feels

certain

let your raw kindness

be a certainty

allow your compassion

to become a North Star

stamped up in

the sky for

others to follow

back home

~ John Roedel