What we’re about
Welcome hikers, adventurers, and book lovers
We are an 'Outdoor adventuring / lifelong learning' mashup: We welcome you to Join other like-minded people as we embrace the rigors and exhilaration of hiking, rucking (hiking with weighted pack), adventuring, and discussing ideas & books. We welcome creative mental meanderings.
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We are a non-profit organization. Our FREE programs include
- St Louis area hikes: We will have local hiking events each month, primarily in Forest park, but will sample other areas
- Lifelong learning: Book discussions and Conferences: All varieties of books and ideas. We will use a mix of zoom meetings and in-person sessions (and of course we will discuss books and ideas while we hike)
- Adventure discussions (online and in-person): We discuss adventures of all kinds and provide tips on how to get the most out your adventures
- You can find more about our "Parent" organization here
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We operate with donations. Those who support Medallion with a $50/year subscription are referred to as 'Fellows.'
- You can support Medallion as a Fellow here
- By becoming a Fellow you join a constructive and engaged community of like-minded people.
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Medallion Fellows can join other Fellows on a variety of DIY trips including:
- Colorado trip: Our signature event is an annual weekend trip to Colorado. For those interested, we will try to summit a 14er (a peak higher than 14,000 feet).
- Grand Canyon trip - Five day trip with three days hiking/camping: Day 1: Air/car travel to South Rim; Day 2: Leave at sunrise to hike South Kaibab trail to Phantom Ranch and camp at Bright Angel Campground, Day 3: Hike to Havasupai garden campsite, Day 4 hike Bright Angel trail to Rim, Day 5 Head home.
- Camp Innsbrook: Participate in the Adventure challenge
- Many other adventures and trips
- You can learn more about Fellow trips here.
Who should become Members: People who love exploration and who wish to advance their adventure and growth mindset. We seek a happy combination of hiking/rucking, sharing ideas, and socializing.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- 7/30/25: Books and a beverage: All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr6655 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO
Ron K. - Discussion leader
- Join us for an engaging discussion of ideas and experiences.
- No need to have any expertise or to have read the book, but if you have a chance to read, please come with your ideas and thoughts!
- We will meet at the Karaoke lounge 6655 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO 63130 (but we are just using the space - there will not be food or beverages). It is a bit tricky to find, but the entrance is from North side of Delmar Blvd.
- Bring a beverage and/or snacks if you wish.
- After the book discussion, we plan go to a Delmar loop restaurant for a bite for those interested.
From Amazon
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the Resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.
- 9/10/25: Books and a beverage: The Odyssey6655 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO
Ron K. - Discussion leader
- Join us for an engaging discussion of ideas and experiences.
- No need to have read the book
- But if you have a chance to read, please come with your ideas and thoughts!
- Time: Arrive 5:50 and we will start at 6
- Location: We will meet at the Karaoke lounge 6655 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO 63130 (but we are just using the space - there will not be food or beverages). It is a bit tricky to find, but the entrance is from North side of Delmar Blvd. See photos below that shows a map.
- Bring a beverage and/or snacks if you wish.
- Social: After the book discussion, we plan go to a Delmar loop restaurant for a bite for those interested.
- Translation: There are many translations of The Odyssey. Any translation is fine, but I will use the Emily Wilson translation.
From Amazon
The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travelers, hospitality, and the yearning for home.
Its characters are unforgettable, none more so than the “complicated” hero himself, a man of many disguises, many tricks, and many moods, who emerges in this version as a more fully rounded human being than ever before.
Written in iambic pentameter verse and a vivid, contemporary idiom, Emily Wilson’s Odyssey sings with a voice that echoes Homer’s music; matching the number of lines in the Greek original, the poem sails along at Homer’s swift, smooth pace.
A fascinating, informative introduction explores the Bronze Age milieu that produced the epic, the poem’s major themes, the controversies about its origins, and the unparalleled scope of its impact and influence. Maps drawn especially for this volume, a pronunciation glossary, and extensive notes and summaries of each book make this is an Odyssey that will be treasured by a new generation of readers.
