AAVE Trip BLOG » Wild Coast Discovery
August 6, 2010
Non-stop Wild Adventure! - Wild Coast Discovery 3B
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Hey Abbott and our beloved Bold Earth families back home,
I bring news to you of our awesome Wild Coast Discovery camp! We have been busy campers since our last update on Lopez Island and have some fun stories to tell all of you.
After Sea Kayaking around Lopez Island, we took to our bicycles and circumnavigated the entire Island (26 total miles!) to find a peaceful picnic and swimming spot on Agate Beach. We then had some town time in Fisherman’s Bay and were treated to Ice Cream and homemade fudge! The following day we loaded our bikes and rode onto the ferry that took us from Lopez to Orcas Island (the 3rd biggest to the 2nd biggest of all the San Juan Islands). On Orcas we rode 10 miles into East Sound and visited a local farmer’s market and listened to some live music. A small group: Dan, George, Monique, Adam and leader Drew rode the rest of the way (4 grueling uphill miles) to our campsite in Moran State Park. Everybody rode hard and had a phenomenal time living the “Island Life”!
The following day we helped our friends at Moran State Park (on Orcas Island) to re-route a trail at the top of Mt. Constitution. Our leader Pat, along with our Ranger friend Rich, taught us valuable lessons on how trails are made and why trails are important in such beautiful forests. Before and after our service project with Moran State Park, we got some valuable swimming/beach time at Cascade Lake, where we played soccer, baseball, chicken wars in the water, and Jeremy and Theo taught us how to Parkour (it’s basically gymnastics in the park).
The next day we said goodbye to our home on Orcas Island, and the San Juan Islands as we began our trek south to Oregon and Mt. Hood. Camping on Trillium Lake at the foot of Mt. Hood only added to the suspense of skiing and snowboarding in August. As we cooked dinner we could see the ski lifts and the snowcats grooming the slopes as the sun settled.
The first day of skiing started at about 9:30, after we got all of our equipment situated and ready to rip! We all hit the slopes and shredded them up until the lifts closed. Samantha and Cameron both took some lessons from Drew, and Alli who lived and taught boarding at Steamboat Springs took the rest of the crew to the top to check out the black diamond runs. The views from the top were epic!
The second day of skiing/snowboarding started earlier and proved to be another picture perfect day. Today we met Lindsey Jacobellis (an Olympic boarder) on the slopes and Adam, Jamie and Dan even got to talk to her and get some boarding tips from her! Definitely their highlight of the day! (That and of course calling all of our parents, we love and miss you guys!)
Beyond skiing/snowboarding we just made it up to North Bend, Washington for some rock climbing for the next two days. And we are all excited to learn how to climb and are looking forward to our last backpack into the Wenatchee National Forest and Spider Meadows to close out our trip!
We are keeping journals and are constantly sharing our individual stories with one another so we will have perfected our story-telling when we return home to our families.
Love you all,
WCD3A crew:
Daniel, Jamie, Monique, George, Theo, John, Miranda, Sam, Woody, Carolina, Cam, Jeremy, Jake, Adam, Allison, Patrick and Drew
PS Sorry no pictures this time, we will find a computer that will allow us to transfer our pictures onto it sooner or later….