With the school year just beginning, Cottonwood Institute‘s Community Adventure Program (CAP) at New Vista High School is back in full swing. This past weekend, the CAP class had their first opportunity to camp and hike as a group. On Saturday morning, we left New Vista for the Cheley Oupost campsites near Allenspark, CO.

The group arrived with plenty of daylight left for setting up camp and hiking. After a quick lesson on maps and navigation, students led a hike up to a lookout spot northwest of the campsite. From the lookout, we could see aspens nearby and on the mountains surrounding just beginning to change. Nearby the lookout was a perfect spot to play a game of Camouflage, which gave the group a chance to practice their hiding and quiet stalking skills.  

Back at camp, Taryn showed the CAP students how to start fires using a bow drill. While this is a really difficult skill, two students were able to “bust an ember.”  Everyone showed a lot of focus and perseverance learning and practicing such a hard skill.

CAP New Vista is a very musical group. They sang on the hike up, the hike down, and around the campfire. One student brought a ukulele and the whole group enjoyed singing while making dinner and around the evening campfire. They are also a musically diverse group, and could sing along to everything from John Denver to Smashmouth to “Riptide.” After s’mores, the group took some time to lay down and admire the stars together.

On Sunday, the group was eager to play some more “gaga ball” and Camouflage, but they also enjoyed a quiet sit spot to tune into their natural surroundings. They returned home to Boulder on Sunday afternoon prepared with low-impact camping skills and a lot of excitement for their next trip in October!

Written by: CI Instructor, Keiran Bissell

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