| Rocky Mountain Way log (2005-06-23 -> 2005-07-06)
Leaders: Adam Fjell and Kate Finkenstaedt
Students: Betsy Batts, Michael Milich, Andrew Paschal, Courtney Ridenhour, Chloe Simmons, Lydia Willis-Fleming
Saturday, June 25
Greetings from beautiful Brown's Canyon. Tonight we are camped at Headwaters State Park right alongside the Arkansas River. It seems that the smaller group size lends itself nicely to the kids getting to know one another quickly! From the very first van ride from DIA, everyone hit it off; starting with new nicknames. For example, Andrew is now known as "Ned", Michael is "Baxter", and Chloe is AKA "Gerdie". This crew has displayed excellent expedition behavior before even knowing the meaning of the phrase, Adam and I are ecstatic. On the way out of the airport, Lydia was helping others carry their heavy bags to the van. This trend continued into the hail storm our first night at Mueller State Park just outside of Divide, CO. Despite the downpour we encountered while settling into camp, we were thrilled to learn that we had six troopers that never broke a smile! For our first day, Michael and Betsy were our leaders of the day, who woke everyone up and got us on the road to meet our rafting guides; but not before a breakfast of French Toast and cinnamon bananas prepared by Courtney, Lydia and Chloe. Once on the river, everyone took turns paddling through rapids such as Widow Maker, Graveyard, Pinball, and the group favorite Zoom-Flume. Just to be sure no one got off the river dry, everyone (even Adam and I) mustered up enough guts to take a daring rock jump! We are off to begin our 6 day backpacking section in the majestic San Juan Mountains. Check back in 6 days for more updates and news on this courageous crew! -Kate Finkenstaedt
Friday, July 1
After six full days of hard work and fun on the Bear Creek Trail in the San Juan Mountains, the group has returned to the van much stinkier, but a lot stronger. We were extremely lucky with weather; sunny and clear every day except for our summit attempt day, so unfortunately we didn't get our chance at Centennial Peak. Instead, that afternoon Adam and Ned (Andrew) tried to spur a love for beef jerky with the girls, which didn't exactly work out. We also met fellow Moondance groups Colorado Trail and Rocky Mountain Way #1. Later that afternoon when Lydia had bout with her asthma, Courtney stepped into a leadership position and gave a great helping hand to calming Lydia. The whole team pitched in carrying gear as we moved to lower elevation so Lydia would feel better. Later in the trip, Lydia's passion for card games became evident and infected the whole group. Although there haven’t been consistent victors, Betsy's poker face has stopped us in our tracks, and Chloe isn't fooling anyone, try as she might. Andrew, Betsy, and Chloe spotted a group of elk grazing in one of the meadows where we camped.
Most of our evenings out on the trail were spent telling ghost stories (some creepy and some not...good try Kate) and sipping hot chocolate. Andrew led the group daily in belting songs out on the trail. The group’s favorite seems to be "Bike" by Pink Floyd. It would seem the group was on the trail for a month the way they scarfed down burgers, hot dogs, and ice cream at Sweet Life in Telluride this afternoon. Let's hope they don't get too used to it though, as we're headed off for two days of rock climbing in Lake City later today.
July 5, 2005
Sitting in Canon City, Colorado it's hard to believe we have just finished our second whitewater rafting trip and that we have just two days left together. The group is now back to full force with Michael's return on Saturday evening. We enjoyed two full days of rock climbing on God's Crag just outside Lake City, Colorado. The first day was spent learning the basics such as the figure eight knot and how to safely belay (catch) a climber. That night we had the pleasure of seeing what Tang can do to a group of teenagers. In his sugar-induced frenzy Ned (Andrew) came up with a new name for the group trowel, "Imanuela." With Michael along for the second day of climbing he immediately became the group motivator for the most difficult route. Lydia, Betsy, and Courtney all stepped up to Michael's challenge of completing the route and earned themselves candy bars.
Traveling back to Hecla Juntion, outside of Salida, we had our Iron Chef cook-off with the remaining ingredients. Although it was a tough decision, Chloe's fruit salad and chicken-tomato pasta carried her team "The Bikes" to victory.
The kids are looking forward to both our 4th of July festivities and our final banquet tomorrow night in Woodland Park.
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