AAVE Trip BLOG » Colorado Discovery
August 5, 2010
Rock, Horse and Bike - Colorado Discovery 3
Posted by the AAVE team in : Colorado Discovery, General AAVE Trip BLOG , add a comment
Hello from Crested Butte, Colorado!
We last left our campers on an action-packed rock climbing expedition. After completing four absolutely amazing days of climbing and rafting, we headed off to Kenosha pass for a two-days Horse packing experience with real cowboys. We trekked about 3 hours on horses into the wilderness of the Colorado Trail. After a large steak dinner, complete with potatoes and baked beans, our campers enjoyed the night with a fire and an exciting game of camouflage. Having our meals prepared is amazing and has been some campers’ highlight so far!
The next day, we took our campers back through the Colorado trail on their horses, waved goodbye to the cowboys, and headed off for Rock Bottom Ranch, right outside of Aspen! There, our campers participated in a service-project for Robyn and Mike, helping the ranch by building a path for a self-guided tour. We were sure to reward our crew for their hard work with a scoop of ice cream!
From Rock Bottom Ranch, we headed to the beautiful and famed ski-town of Crested Butte at an elevation of over 8,000 feet. Campers were able to walk around the town and enjoy the beauty of the mountains and fresh air. We were then able to participate in one of our most adventurous and thrilling activities, mountain biking. We spent over 3 hours on the muddy rock and root-filled trails, climbing steep terrain and coasting down slopes. Here is what our campers have to say about mountain biking, Crested Butte, and their adventures all over:
“Mountain biking was awesome. It was definitely worth the cuts and bruised I got from “spills.” It was a great challenge and I hope I continue in New Jersey.” -Blake
“Mountain biking was incredible! I only fell twice, but had many other close calls. When I saw the view, biking uphill so much was worth it!” - Antoine
“I fell enough times to count of 2 hands and a foot! Mountain biking was fun, though!” -Micah “Mountain biking was very challenging and very fun. When you get to the top of a hill, the view is breathtaking.” -Sam “The freedom we enjoyed while personal shopping was amazing!” - Henry “I really enjoyed mountain biking because of the thrill going downhill. I also thought that playing Nuke ‘Em was awesome!” -Evan “Mountain biking was awesome. Then night before it rained, so we had to bike through HUGE puddles and we got really muddy.” -Max “Whitewater rafting was awesome because we got wet. We went in class 3 rapids, which bounced us around a lot. Some people fell out, but I didn’t. It was awesome.” -Jason “Biking was really fun and exciting!” -Alex “Biking was challenging!” -Jonah That’s all for now! Stay tuned for our next action-packed blog about our adventures in Colorado. We’ll be spending our last days together backpacking and summiting Rosalie Peak, so it’s going to be a blast! Talk to you soon!
Renee and Dave