Fall is a busy time for everyone, but high school students may be the busiest of all. Last Saturday students from the Centaurus High School CAP class and a student from the Centaurus Outdoor Club sneaked in a big ol’ day hike before their homecoming dance. Some students get their hair or nails done for the big dance, but these students got their hike on! And it was a killer vertical hike, too.

We hit the trail head behind NCAR ahead of the Saturday crowds. The students set a fast pace, led by a cross country runner fresh off her regional competition the night before. We practiced good trail etiquette as we politely passed other groups, then we hit Fern Canyon Trail. Fern Canyon Trail is basically a giant stair case up to the peak. We still crushed it, but were forced to stop and admire the beautiful views while gasping for elusive O2. As we ascended we could see Denver in the distance and a wind farm nearby. We came out on a saddle about three-fourths of the way up, and it wasn’t the exertion that left us gasping, it was the amazing views of Indian Peaks and Rocky Mountain National Park. We continued up and up. Some of the students decided that summiting wasn’t that important, so they stayed behind the last half mile while others continued to the wind-swept summit.

We descended the peak on shaky legs, tired from our toil. We stopped for a refreshing lunch and guarded our sandwiches from a chipmunk with a greedy eye. The descent felt a little precarious to our tired legs, so we slowed down a bit, but still the return trip was much faster than our trip up. We were slowed for a bit by a rattlesnake on the trail, which we gave a wide berth. Our trip back was short, but not too short for students to catch a quick snooze. When we got back that afternoon, we dropped off some kids that were tired, but not too tired to dance!

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

Written by CAP class instructor Erin Angel.

See more photos from our trip here!