It was a dark and stormy morning, when intrepid CAP class students from Centaurus High School set out for their inaugural epic backpacking adventure! They embarked on their uphill journey to Mica Mine at Cal-Wood, slipping and sliding through mud and snow with ginormous packs weighing them down, footsteps sinking deep. Arriving at the campsite, we found it covered in snow – it’s spring in Colorado!

After pitching tents and eating lunch, the students continued their adventure down to the mine cavern. They were excited to find the walls covered in dazzling mica. Down a steep hill, and past the ogre’s lair was the most beautiful waterfall with spectacular ice. (Until the boys decided to conquer all and smash all the ice.) Throwing rocks at icicles proved to be the most satisfying experience, smashing all school-related stress in the process.

In the evening we enjoyed a filling dinner and rousing campfire. Afterwards, everyone settled down in their tents listening to the wailing spring winds. The trip ended with a service project where the students cut down small sapling trees that were overcrowding a section of the forest. The thinning of the trees created a defensible space in case of wildfire. The students thought that the project was interesting and are looking at doing more of the same during our upcoming action project. So stay tuned for more from this group!

Many thanks to Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), The Larrk Foundation, PeyBack Foundation, our donors, and our partners for making this program possible. And thank you to Cal-Wood and Nature Kids Lafayette for continuing to make this partnership possible!

Written by CAP Instructor Erin Angel and the small but mighty Centaurus CAP Class.

See more photos from our trip here!