Michele Forto traces the November route before Robert rolls: Metallica at Sphere on Saturday, noon Sunday out of the lights, Bryce Canyon that night, coffee in Tropic and Highway 12 toward Moab, Arches or Island in the Sky, I-70 through Glenwood Canyon, Carbondale coffee, Estes Park from the east because Trail Ridge is likely closed. Then the Association for Experiential Education conference at the YMCA of the Rockies, November 12–14.

This is not a travelogue. Team & Trail did not build a 501(c)(3) to post sunsets. The parks on that corridor: Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Glenwood Canyon, Rocky Mountain National Park, are public classrooms. If the people teaching on that land are underfunded, exhausted, or performing instead of practicing, the land pays, and so do the kids who get one first trip.

Michele’s ask: support programs that still work when the founder is not on the sled and the weather is not pretty. If you know an organization doing honest outdoor leadership on a thin budget, send them to the Foundation.

Field notes: teamandtrail.com

Conference: aee.org (ASCEND: Growing Community, Elevating Practice)

Team and Trail exists to remove barriers and help more people get outdoors. This episode opens with the next step in that mission.

The Team and Trail Foundation is accepting applications for the Lead Dog Access Program. Each year the Foundation supports up to six individuals through the complete Lead Dog service dog curriculum at a discounted rate of $9,600, paid to the Foundation. Selected teams receive the full training experience, not a shortened program.

We give priority to veterans and individuals living with PTSD, people with mobility, psychiatric, or autism-related disabilities, and applicants from rural Alaska and other underserved communities.

Apply here: https://teamandtrail.com/lead-dog-access-program/

Questions: explore@teamandtrail.org

Help underwrite placements: https://donorbox.org/team-and-trail-foundation-ldap

Free public workshops on service dog partnership, outdoor access, and leadership through the human–dog team will be announced soon.

The Team & Trail Fall Tour is hitting the road.

In this episode, Michele Forto shares what’s ahead as Robert prepares for a Northern Route drive from Seattle to the New York area in September 2026. The trip will cover thousands of miles over a couple of weeks, with Podcast Movement in New York serving as the main professional stop along the way.

But Team & Trail is making the miles part of the mission. Throughout the journey, Robert will host informal coffee meetups in select towns along the route. No presentations. No formal agenda. Just a chance to sit down, meet people, and talk about the trails we’re all navigating, from outdoor adventures and work projects to the decisions that shape where we go next.

The trip will also include stops at places like Glacier National Park, the Badlands, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while documenting what a long-distance working road trip actually looks like.

If you’re somewhere along the Northern Route this September, keep an eye on Team & Trail. We might be coming through your town.