Colorado Trail

Colorado Trail Log (2007-07-12--> 2007-07-29)

Leaders: Molly Fisher, Brad Kossover

Students: Hunter Austwick, Andrew Buckner, Joshua Gall, David Gibbons, Charlie Keane, Peter Mackay, Eliza Rolfs, CJ Skelly, Amar Sra, Lindley Sytz, Evan Tonsfeldt

July 12

We are on the Arkansas River and should have an update by Monday morning. Stay tuned!

July 15

Hey Moondance Family and Friends!!!!

Our Colorado Trail trip has started off wonderfully. Only three days have gone by and we already feel right at home. Everyone decided that a group name was MUCH needed… With that said, the “Mooners” soon became our new identity! Browns Canyon was the perfect way to start our adventure together. We were laughing, having water fights and screaming our hearts out through each and every rapid as we plunged our way through the canyon.

Our first day consisted of rafting the Narrows, a famed section of the Arkansas River consisting of tight and technical class III rapids. The first section of the Narrows we experienced was called the “miracle mile”. No sooner than we put on the water, one of our rafts experienced a “high side” which nearly sent a few people in to the river. The excitement was clear as everyone was wide eyed and giggling profusely.

With the Narrows behind us we pulled over for a fabulous lunch to give us the energy needed to conquer the Canyon. As we entered the mouth of Brown’s Canyon we were greeted by numerous rapids much to the kids delight. Soon after entering the Canyon we found our campsite and set up for the night. Here we had a fabulous chicken and steak fajita dinner topped off by some of the best smores any of us have ever had! After dinner we learned of an “old miner’s spirit” who roams the canyon with a green lantern. Being Friday the 13th this made for an interesting night as we “tried” to get some sleep. . .

The next morning we ate another spectacular meal, loaded the rafts and headed for the take out. This day proved to be the best rafting of the 2 days. Simply by conquering numerous named rapids such as the Staircase, Twin Falls and the Boneyard, we feel in love with white water. We all had a blast!

Charlie and Hunter kept the rafts alive. Their screams and laughs were surly heard miles and miles away. They even plotted to push Brad off of the raft with our guide. Everyone was shocked it only took them a couple of seconds to get Brad in the water. Their plan was not only perfect but one of the funniest things we have ever seen.

Josh, along with Brad, spent a lot of time in the water. Josh has this wonderful ability to live in the moment and has loved every second of the trip. Today, after our huge water fight, he looked at us and said “I don’t think I have ever laughed this hard”.

Peter is one of the most caring boys we have had the pleasure of knowing. He might be one of the smallest on this trip but he has the biggest heart by far. Whenever anything needs to get done, Peter is there willing to help.

Lindley is our little “go get em” gal. She wants to do everything at anytime, anywhere with anyone. She loves the outdoors, the sun, the stars, the moon. . . Lindley is the backbone of the group; she is fearless and has helped everyone face their fears.

David just loves this experience. He wants to sleep under the stars, wake up with the sun and when rafting came to an end he was so bummed!! David asked us how long we were going to be in the Kayaks tomorrow, and followed up his question with the statement “I just hope we can paddle all day, this is so much fun!!”

CJ and Amar took FULL advantage of our campsite at browns canon. They were constantly in the water, splashing around. Their love for the water spread like wildfire. Once everyone saw CJ and Amar having so much fun, they all joined in on the fun, including the both of us!

Eliza is such sweetheart. She can talk to anyone about anything for hours. She is the easiest person to be around and her positive outlook has everyone gravitating towards her!

Evan surprised all of us with his paddling skills. He was a solid necessity in the raft. We, along with the raft guides, are sure that without him we would have all been in the water swimming more than we would have wanted to!!!

We have had a blast on the river and cannot wait to plunge into the Blue Mesa tomorrow. Do not worry we are taking tons of pictures and laughing harder than ever. Miss you all!!! We will talk to you all again after Kayaking!

…until next time!!!

July 17

Sea Kayaking was A BLAST!! The Blue Mesa provided us with the most beautiful views. The Blue Mesa is the largest body of water in all of Colorado. We all learned the ways of paddling and controlling our own Kayaks. We started off our kayaking trip with a great lunch on the beach, sandwiches, chips, and cookies galore!!! After that we all piled into our kayaks and QUICKLY realized how challenging it is to actually turn those things! Once we all got the hang our paddles and boats, we were off! Josh kept us all laughing throughout the whole kayaking adventure. He has proven to be our own personal clown. We have all loved having him around. David has helped everyone through this section of the trip by always being the first to help clean, cook and or pick up the “micro-trash” as we like to leave every place we visit better than we found it. He is a solid leader. David constantly wants to grow during this experience and this need and desire for growth is always seen throughout the day and at moon-up each night. Lindley is always pushing the group to try their best. She sets this example by always doing so. Lindley is our go get em gal. Whether it is putting pigtails in everyone’s hair (including all the boys) or singing the loudest, she keeps everyone’s spirits high.

We all got to watch Charlie experience Kayaking for the first time. He picked up the strokes in no time. Charlie works so hard at everything he does but yet he is always the one making everyone smile. Charlie taught us all to succeeded you have to have a good time while doing it. He said “time fly’s by so fast with you guys!!!!” Evan started out our Kayaking section by going around in circles a couple of times… Once he got the feel of the kayak, he led the whole group. He learned to trust his paddle and the people around him and fell in love with the idea of being surrounded by such beauty. He cheered everyone on and made sure that no one got discouraged by our tough paddle. CJ picked up paddling quite quickly. Throughout both days of paddling you could always find him at the front of the pack. With near perfect strokes he finished the paddling section tirelessly. Peter and Hunter stuck together on this section. They cheered each other on and quickly learned how funny it is to quietly sneak up quietly behind people’s kayaks and scare them! Because of their creative surprise attacks, we all learned to watch out for the mysterious twosome. By the end of the day, everyone tried to sneak up on those guys but we never fully succeeded. After a great paddle, surrounded by the mountains and followed by a raging sun we finally decided to stop and take a swim about 1\2 way to our overnight campsite. Everyone got into the water faster than we thought possible!! After cooling off and playing some frisbee we were eager to get back into our kayaks. Camp was only a couple more miles away and everyone was paddling their hearts out knowing that dinner was just around the corner. We all helped each other “park” our kayaks and stepped out on to dry land. After picking out the perfect campsite, we pitched our tents. Andrew and his crazy outgoing self led the most interesting day hike. His ability to get everyone involved and excited is something amazing to watch. When the “Mooners” came back from the hike, stomachs were grumbling! We got a stellar cooking crew together and soon after that, we all enjoyed the world’s greatest spaghetti, veggies and garlic bread! The night ended with a crazy moon-up, filled with funny stories. Everyone took their sleeping bags outside to fall asleep. For many, this was their first time falling sleep under a sky filled with shooting stars. Eliza’s is falling in love with shooting stars and being able to sleep outside. This morning Liza was one of the first to wake up, and she proceeded to roll over everyone in the group, starting off the day with MANY of laughs. Her laughter is always present.

We woke up the next morning to the best chocolate chip pancakes. Amar said that they were the best things he had ever tasted. After a full stomach he said that he just wanted to get onto the water again. He pushed everyone to hurry up and get ready so we could have more time paddling and because of that we were able to have a blast paddling home. That’s all for now… We will be sure to update you all after rock climbing!!! Sending our love all the way from Colorado…

Molly and Brad

July 20

Hi all!!

We are all bummed that our rock climbing section is over, but we are also ready to get moving in the back country! We left our Kayaking section with full tummies after a big lunch only to start our drive to Lake City!!! The “Mooners” fell in love with this town. After driving up the Alpine Loop of Engineers Pass, we found our campsite for the next couple of days. This site is for sure our favorite so far. With a fast flowing Henson Creek behind us and the face of God’s Crag before us we settled down for the night. At Moonup we talked about what makes us happy, what we wish to experience while being with Moondance and our own personal goals for the upcoming weeks. Everyone climbed into their tents early tonight with such an exciting day just a sun rise away.

The next morning we were all eager to get climbing and quite excited we didn’t have to pack up our tents, seeing as we had two more nights at this campsite. We then greeted our climbing guides who passed out our helmets, harnesses, and shoes. With that said we were ready to roll!! We put on our day packs and started our approach to the crag. It was quite the hike!!! Straight up hill for a 1\2 an hour. We sure got a good taste of what some hard hiking was all about. Once we reached the top, all sweaty and out of breath… Helmets were put on, harnesses were set and our guides started telling us about the rules, expectations and understandings of climbing. Once that was done, we looked over to find Josh already tied in and ready to go. It was his first time climbing and he impressed us all by getting to the top on his first attempt. It was a GREAT start to our climbing section. Josh came down from his first climb with the biggest smile on the face of the earth and said “THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!” Eliza was the next to climb, after watching Josh race up the rock and having so much fun doing so, she was ready to go!! About 1\2 way up the rock, a normal fear of heights set in. That did not stop her. She yelled down to the group for support. Her whole body was shaking but not once did she think about giving up. We were all floored by her bravery and dedication as she set her mind on getting to the top. With the help of the group and her strong will, Eliza got to the top and did it with style. The whole group learned a lot from Eliza today. “Courage is not being fearless; it is facing your fears”. After a few more people climbed, we had to scamper off the mountain as the afternoon rainfall was closing in.

Everyone scrambled to put on their rain jackets and prepared to head back to camp. Andrew saved the day. He was the first to get his stuff packed and the first to descend the mountain. Remembering some people had left their tents open to air out - he raced into camp, securing everyone’s tents. Thanks to Andrew, we all had a dry place to rest at the end of the day.

After a long rain shower, we all got into the van and headed to Lake City where we played many of games, ultimate Frisbee being our favorite. People from town saw how much fun we were having and asked to play, within minutes we had a huge game of ultimate going and the “Mooners” showed everyone that they were the best by far! We all had seen Amar climb today and noticed his athleticism, but we were really shown how talented he was when we started playing ultimate. He not only could throw and catch a Frisbee perfectly, but he was fast as a gazelle!! Thanks to him, we won the game (by a lot), even against an “older crowd”!

As the sun set, we were finally ready to have some dinner and go to sleep. We all fell asleep under the stars again, eager and ready to climb again tomorrow. The day started the same as the last with the challenging uphill hike to God’s Crag. On this day CJ faced his fears. Peter gathered the group and said that “we need to get CJ up there”. The group joined together and cheered CJ on. Sooner than later, he got to the top. We were all thrilled that CJ trusted the group and himself enough to step out of his comfort zone, he did an amazing job. Peter taught this group something very important today as well… Most of these tasks we are doing would be impossible without help and support from each other. Peter not only is a stellar climber himself, but showed everyone what this experience is really all about, team work.

After this moving experience, everyone was motivated to get involved. Charlie climbed, got to the top and down in minutes. After his amazing accomplishment, he did not stop. He was belaying everyone, cheering on and supporting each and every climber. Charlie was involved in every single climb that happened today. As a leader, it is so important to see people being involved in different aspects of an activity, not only the climbing but the belaying, the back-up belaying, the checker, and most importantly, supporting your group. Unfortunately, again the afternoon showers ended our climbing experience for the day. Today Evan really stepped it up. He made sure everyone had everything, did a trash check and asked the guides if they needed any help taking things down without having to be asked to do so. Evan truly stepped into his own element in this section. On the way down to camp, his voice was constantly heard saying things like “great job guys… Keep it up” After another wonderful afternoon shower we were hungry for something warm. We made an amazing egg drop soup that everyone polished off. Hunter was a savior when he collected all the firewood, and made the perfect fire to keep us all warm on the coldest night yet. While relaxing and warming by the fire, Lindley led us in our best moon-up yet. She asked questions that made us think, laugh, and grow closer to one another. She took on the role of a true leader by creating such a unique moon-up experience. David ended the night by thanking everyone for this experience. He went around the circle and said one thing about each person he was thankful for and it made everyone feel important. David said “you all are my family already and it has only been 8 days, I can’t even imagine what it is going to be like at the end of this trip”. Tonight ended again by watching shooting stars and falling asleep together in the most beautiful place in the world.

Blue Skies,

The Mooners