Our day of adventure started in the Centaurus High School parking lot at 8:00 AM. It was a cold, crisp morning with the promise of a nice day ahead. We made sandwiches and then we were on our way. The van ride was a little chilly. Finally, we arrived at the trailhead. We got geared up, and after some organization, we were on our way. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

The snowshoes were rather cumbersome, like duck feet. People fell more than once on the trip. I guess that is why it’s called a trip! And trip we did. But once we got the hang of it, we made good progress. We cruised through the woods, bringing a sled carrying our lunch along with us.

We stopped for lunch on the porch of an abandoned homestead in a valley. After a savage and entertaining game of Pterodactyl, we made ramen noodles and cocoa. With five of us and only two spoons, we had to do some creative problem solving. We had a good laugh when, as we were packing up our lunch stuff, we found an extra spoon! Oh well!

After that, we had to (mock) rescue a student swept away in an “avalanche.” We learned how to use avalanche beacons and probes. Our reward for saving the protagonist of this adventure was a box full of delicious Oreos.

After lunch, we began the trek back to the trailhead. Along the way, we found the remnants of a previous group’s quinzee (snow shelter). We piled more snow on and learned the basics of quinzee building. The snow was as hard as a rock after sitting for a week, and try as we might, we couldn’t penetrate the walls. We hollowed out some of the inside, and the real fun began when one of us fell into the quinzee while digging it out. We played some friendly snow frisbee, with culminated when someone got stuck in the quinzee.

We took a group picture, and after several minutes of trying to collapse the quinzee, we waddled back to the van. Tired and cold but satisfied with a good day of fun, we headed home.

Written by Centaurus High School CAP students Kira, Sam and James²

See more photos from the trip here!

CAP at Centaurus High School is made possible in part by a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) through the Nature Kids/Jovenes de la Naturaleza program. Click here to learn more!