Sand Castles with the Yogis by Evan Anderson

So our group really likes to dig. During our last expedition we were in a desert, ideal for digging. In many of the places like Canyon Lands National Park, Cedar Mesa, and even into the side of a river bed, we dug holes.
It all started in Canyon Lands National Park when a few people in the group were afraid of rain. I took the risk of sleeping on a small but comforting riverbed. Worried that rain might come I dug holes and channels and a few barriers to stop water flow and redirect it. Others built similar things like trenches and channels. Anders dug out a huge hole that he literally slept in! Unfortunately it never rain to test out our defenses.
Digging holes were not the only thing we would do. We would use the excess dirt from our holes to build towns and use sticks and make farms near the towns. It all started as a peaceful thing in our town economy, however some people would get a little crazy and build literal castles and trenches and what not around them turning into a giant game of Risk (which we love so dearly). Unfortunately we have a leave no trace policy here at S.O.A.R so our humble towns and fortresses ended in a horrible furry of rock, logs, and pure human greed (meaning we go and destroy each other’s stuff). This event of destruction would usually last about a half an hour because rebuilding and the struggle for victory would take place during the destruction. This was just one of the many things we did during our down time to keep us entertained in the idle of a desert. Thank you for your time.

Colorado Trip By Jon Adkins

Hello, I’m going to be talking about some of the things that the group and I did when we were in Colorado. I am going to be talking about when we hiked the Kowanichi trail. I will also be talking about when we went to the Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument.

The first thing that we did when we got to Colorado was drive to our first camp ground to stay for the first couple of days and to get our packs ready for the five day hike on the Kowanichi trail, that is part of the continental divide trail. The first day was one of the most brutal of the days hiking because once we got to the top of the highest ridges, there was a lot of snow that started to fall and it turned into a whiteout. That was a bit difficult because we were hiking through up to about nine inches of snow going up hill for more than a mile. The second day wasn’t as bad, but it still wasn’t pleasant because the campsite that we stayed at for the second and third the snow was melting off the trees. So it was very cold, wet and a bit miserable there. The third day was a bit longer in miles traveled. It was a little over five-mile hike and the snow continued to melt and soak everything that wasn’t under a tarp. We stayed at that campsite for the fourth day also. On almost all the days we did a few hours of schoolwork but on some because of one thing or another we couldn’t do it on that day. We did make up from those lost hours from those days. Then on the fifth day we did the last nine miles of the trail to get out in a very nice four hours of hiking. We were all very impressed with ourselves after we learned about that accomplishment.

The next thing that we did when we got off the trail was drive to the Mouler Forest State Campgrounds. The day after we got to that campsite we drove to the Florissant Bed National Monument. There we saw some of the biggest trees of that day. The biggest of the trees probably had a circumference of roughly four hundred seventy five inches. We even got to see the result of when a once huge tree dies, there were three trees that sprang up from the first, and then those trees got petrified. That was a very cool sight to see and I will always remember it.

In conclusion I will remember all the sights, sounds and feelings that I had when I was in Colorado. It was a wonderful place to go and I will surely miss it.

Continental divide hike Anders DeBoom

Our trip this time was the hiking of a portion of the continental divide.

The total mileage of the hike was about 28. The weather during this time was usually cold. Many of the days that we were out, it snowed, rained, or both at the same time. We hiked for a total of five days.

            During our hike my group and I saw many interesting animals. A few of the animals that we saw were big horned sheep, trout, elk, moose, and many different types of rodents like squirrels and chipmunks. One of my teammates says that he saw a fox slinking through our camp in the middle of the night. Many mornings our team awoke to find ourselves soaking wet because of perspiration and the morning dew that collected on our sleeping bags.

            The hiking was one of the harder things that the group faced during our trip. The first day, the group hiked around six miles. The second day we also hiked around 6 miles. The day after that we got a brake and only had to hick three miles. The one problem with that was that the hike was three miles long up a hill and crossing over a mountain. While we were crossing over the mountain we got caught up in a snow storm/ white out that cut visibility to about twenty feet. The only good part of the hike was the downhill, which was about ten times easier. The last day was the longest hike, which was nine miles, but it was easier than some of the other days because it was plain and even. On the last day the team really pushed each other hard. Because of all of the effort that each teammate put in the hike, the team and I were able to complete our nine-mile hike within five hours. 

            Over all because of all of the hard work our team put out to make this trip a successful experience, I can say that I was able to take many different experiences out of it. I believe that if we work this hard during the rest of out time at soar, we as a team will be able to overcome any challenge that may confront us.

Thank you very much for reading this passage,

            Anders Deboom

Colorado Trip By Chris Veno

On this trip we went to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and we also went to Mueller State Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  It was a lot of fun and we did a lot of cool things.  We hiked the Kawenchue Trail, which was pretty hard and tiring.  We also went to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, which was amazing. 

            The first place that I am going to be talking about is Moraine Park. For 2 days we saw a lot elk there and on the drive there we saw some mule deer, which was pretty cool.  The temperature wasn’t that bad at Moraine Park, and it did not get that cold at night like it did at Rocky Mountain National Park. 

            The second place that I am going to be talking about is Rocky Mountain National Park.  In Rocky Mountain National Park we hiked the Kawenchue Trail, which was 28 miles, and there was a lot of elevation gain and it wasn’t that hard.  One of the days it snowed over night and we woke up to an inch of snow in the morning, which was pretty cool.  It was the earliest I have ever seen snow.  On the first day of hiking we hiked 4.6 miles and it wasn’t that hard of a hike.  The next day we hiked 5 miles which, wasn’t that bad.  The next day we hiked 6 miles over the pass in a whiteout, and that was probably the hardest day of the whole trip because most of it was uphill and downhill, which, is hard on your knees.  On that day I saw a cow moose and four bighorn sheep.  The next day we did a 3-mile hike, which was very short and easy compared to the rest of the long hikes.  The last day we hiked 9 miles in four hours, which is beast.  A big bull moose walked right through our campsite, which was a sight to behold.  

The next place that we went to was Moraine Park for one night and that night only John used his bivy and it rained all night long, which really stunk because our sleeping bags were completely soaked and we were freezing because it was 35 degrees.  Then it started snowing giant snowflakes so we got into the Big Black Beast and cranked the heat, which felt really good.  Next we stayed at Mueller State Park for three days, which is in Colorado Springs.  It was really cool at Mueller State Park because we saw a mule deer.  At Mueller State Park we got to play a little bit of catch with a football.  While at Mueller State Park we went to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and there were giant petrified redwood trees that were absolutely huge and amazing.  We also saw fossils of different kinds of trees and other things.  We also went to the Garden Of The Gods, which was really cool and we saw giant rock formations that were absolutely amazing. 

            During our expedition we did many cool things such as going to Rocky Mountain National Park, doing a backpacking trip on the Kawenchue Trail, and going to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. 

Wet Sleeping bags and the Yogis By: Evan Anderson

In this blog I will describe the undeniably silly mistake of not using a bivy or tent you think for sure that it is not going to rain. Well we learned that it’s always good to be safe than sorry.

   So after we got back of the back country trail of the continental divide, the group was excited for sunny weather and glad to be back in civilization. We ended up getting in to our camp site after dark and just decided to pick the first big campsite.

  That night the group was deciding if we should use our bivys, eventually I convinced everybody but Connor and Jon that bivys were not necessary because there were still stars in the sky (ignoring the clouds out in the distance).

  That’s when the night got interesting… after we all got in our sleeping bags I started to hear pitter patter of rain on my sleeping bag. Another thing I told people in my group is that since most of us have the snow shoe sleeping bags, our bags will defeat the rains if it does come. Haha, wrong! I totally didn’t think about the water all seeping through the zipper where it wasn’t water resistant. So all night, a few of us were using our socks to soak up the rain coming through the zipper. When the dawn started to break it looked like freedom and that it was all over, but no one realized how wet we actually were until we got out of our bags…

   At this point we are all standing on our sleeping bags ( except for Jon ) freezing and shivering some of us laughing at others and surprisingly having fun and hating me at the same time because I apparently made them do this. Even Connor got wet in his bivy. Then it happened… after 4 days of constant snow up on the pass, the snow finally caught up to us again. None of us wanted to move from our frozen, standing up position, luckily being the trooper he is, Connor wanted out of there so bad that he just grabbed our bags, stuffed them and got us out of there! (Good job Connor).

   So the lesson we learned is that you should always be prepared even when it seems as if it’s not necessary. Thank you for your time of reading this valuable lesson!

Places we stayed things that we did, animals we saw. By: Connor Newton

‘Places we stayed in Jackson Lake’

Our first campsite was called, Hermitage Point. We got there a little late and had to hurry and set up camp. After we set up camp we made dinner, after dinner we did our jobs and had our evening meeting before going to bed. The following day after we were ready to go, Anders and I had one-day fishing permits for the whole day. As we sat, Anders and I trolled behind with our poles and as we were almost to Elk Island, my pole snapped from the pressure of a massive 25-inch lake trout. I was crushed but happy that I was able to catch such, an awesome fish. As soon as we got to Elk Island, we immediately had lunch and unloaded our gear. Afterwards we started school. After school the people who were still at our campsite left. Then we moved all of our gear to the campsite. After we brought our gear up and we all found our sleeping spots for the night, we had a short meeting and figured out what we could do until dinner. While the food was cooking the group broke up. Evan, Stephen, and Aaron went out in a canoe and trolled. Anders and I went fishing, and he almost caught a fish but it got away. The next we day went over to a campsite called South Landing and it was a very cool campsite. That was where Chris and I swam in Jackson Lake, and it was very cold! We were there for a couple of days, and then we moved on to our next campsite, which was our original site, Hermitage Point. We stayed there for one night and had our one last night of fun. It was really a blast. We got there and started to throw a bunch of big rocks at a floating log. Evan tied a log behind his canoe and trolled it back and fourth as we threw rocks at it. As we were paddling back to Hermitage Point we saw 2-3 large bald eagles and a very large mule buck. I enjoyed this Canoe trip and I loved doing the activities that we did while at Jackson Lake. I also loved seeing all of the animals that we saw while camping on Jackson Lake. I still cannot believe that I lost that fish, and the fact that Chris and I were the first ones to get our schoolwork done. The three bald eagles that we saw were amazing and proud. In conclusion I loved this trip and would do it again in the future.      

Wyoming trip By Jon Adkins

In this Blog I’m going to be talking about the trips in my first expedition. I’m going to be discussing what we did when we were in the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and what we did at EVR.

            The first place we went to was Yellowstone National Park. One of the first places in Yellowstone that we went to was the Fountain Paint Pots. The Fountain Paint Pots were very cool to see, and it was a bit funny to hear what kinds of sounds they made while we were standing there. The second place we went to was the Grand Prismatic Springs. The Grand Prismatic Springs were very cool to watch. It was breathtaking watching all the colors that made up the Grand Prismatic. The third thing we saw was the Grizzly Discovery Center. In the Grizzly Discovery Center we all learned a lot about Grizzlies, but one of the things that I remember is that a grizzly bear’s gall-bladder is worth $2000-$15,000 each. The final thing that we did was go to Old Faithful. At Old Faithful, while we waited, we played ninja among other things. Ninja is a game where you can only move once per turn, and the goal is to hit the hands of your opponent and then he or she wouldn’t be able to use that hand. We also did journals, health checks, and budgets.

The Second place was the Grand Tetons. Among the places that we went to were Hermitage Point, Elk Island, and South Landing. Jackson Lake harbor was one of the places where we looked in awe at the surrounding wild life and the scenery all around us. The second day we paddled our canoes to Elk Island, and during the small trip Anders, Connor, and me fished off the canoes. We also fished off the land. Other than that, we did some school and walked around. We really didn’t do much else. The third day we went to the place called South Landing. There we did the usual thing, which is skipping rocks on the water, on brakes, and when we don’t have anything to do. Also we did some school, swam, and read.

EVR, which stands for Eagle View Ranch, is where we slept and ate in between journeys while we were, in Wyoming. It was a fun place to stay between journeys and a place where we could, and did, have a fire in the fireplace every night. It was a place where we could have fun and be productive in our studies. One of the fun things that we got to do was go to the shooting range with Jeremy. There we got to shoot paper targets from 20 yards away and try to get the bull’s eye without sighting the gun. You tried to get a tight grouping with your five shots at the three sets of targets. One of the things that made my day was that in all three targets in both the times we went to the shooting range I was able to shoot in what is called a nine-circle. A nine-circle is about the same diameter as a quarter. In that amount of space I had all five shots from the 22 gun and earned myself six shots with the Russian style mosinenagant. The mosinenagant is a 5 shot magazine or single shot bolt action rifle that was primarily used in WWI. Another that, for me was also very fun was doing a class of yoga with a good friend of Suzanne’s and Wes’s. She used to be a counselor at SOAR some years back at a park in Wyoming.

In this paper I have discussed a few of the things that I have done when I went to Wyoming. And all the details describing them to you and from all of this I find that this experience is now one of my favorites and that I will remember this for many years to come.