Weekend Spectacular!

I hope all of you had an amazing weekend. I know the students have.

Since Thursday, each squad has had the pleasure of sleeping out among the stars. Because of the fire ban here in Colorado, each squad headed to a secluded area a few minutes away from the main lodge after a glorious dinner. Here’s the scene:

Wind rustling through the overgrown grass, creating waves of green; a small trail leading to a resting spot with benches and wooden stumps surrounding a rock clustered fire-pit. Two tents set up for each gender. No tree cover for when the sun finally sets beyond the mountain line and the spheres of energy are finally seen. The air begins to cool off after sunset, followed by a warm, temperate breeze for the rest of the night.

Students brought sleeping bags, pads, and fleece liners for inside of the bags. Football, cards, Frisbees, and other games are played until dusk, when one can hardly see the person next to them. When the stars came out, so did the ghost stories. This particular chaperon brought fright, anxiety and suspense to the unsuspecting squad that asked for a bed time story.

For most of the day on Saturday, many games were played, testing students’ wits, athleticism, creativity, and teamwork. One team decided to create a memorial for one of the animals that passed away on Saturday. Tony the llama, son of Dolly Llama, tragically shed his mortal coil after a bout of sickness. He is no longer in pain, and will be sorely missed. The challenges lasted until after dinner, when the students drowsily headed upstairs to bed. But not before sighting a doe wadnering across the ranch!

On Sunday afternoon, after another lazy day of sleeping in for another hour, students had the option of two hikes: the long hike, and the short hike. Here is a description of the short hike:

“The short hike was more of a slow paced long hike. We got home at the same time. We walked up next to the marsh and were following the river all the way up to the mountain. At the base of the mountain, we got to go to a waterfall and wade around in the water. We got to keep our feet cool, and have a little break. We didn’t do much more than was different from the long hike, except we ended up meeting on a mountain where we were having lunch. We basically backtracked on each other, and the way the long hike went up getting to the mountain [where the short hike was eating], [the short hikers] ended up going that way on the way home.”

~Cameron Enderson

After a surprise activity that this chaperon personally enjoyed, the students went off to bed, excitedly talking to each other throughout the night, but going to be at a decent time for the familiar schedule on Monday.