Congratulations to Andy and Molly… another Walker Creek Ranch dating success story.

Walker Creek Ranch is an outdoor science school in Marin County where fifth and sixth graders come for a week as their big school trip of the year. At the Ranch there are 10 Naturalists who are in charge of teaching the students science through experiential education, which means learning by digging in the mud for insects at the pond, identifying native plants while hiking, singing about the food chain at campfire and tasting biodiversity at the garden.

These 10 Naturalists, usually young, smart, attractive, and ecologically minded people all live in a communal space called the Naturalist Lodge. When I was first introduced to the Walker Creek and the Naturalist Lodge, I could not understand how there could be so many attractive people with similar interests, yet there were no good gossipy love stories… well… it didn’t take long before I learned that I was wrong.

Since my year at Walker Creek in 2002, there have been 5 Walker Creek couples to get married, including Arann and me. In fact, Susie and Walter’s wedding was the very first wedding of my photography career. I’ll have to dig those photos out, it was back in the days before digital photography and blogging, well for me anyway.

But Andy and Molly are the first Walker Creek couple, that I know of, who actually got married at Walker Creek Ranch. And, wow, was it fun.

It was a huge reunion of multiple generations of Walker Creekers, which means a whole lot of people who just want to be outside in the sun and dancing, dancing, dancing. Their wedding was a good reminder of what weddings are supposed to be about, including but not limited to the Hokey Pokey, especially if it is a barn shaking version by the Green String Farm Band.

To read how the economic crisis in California is affecting outdoor education and the amazing community of Walker Creek please click here.