Wonders of Water – August 2018

The Wonders of Water was the absolute perfect theme for our very last week of camp this year. With excitement at its peak, we had a blast all week long, playing our favorite games and enjoying the highly anticipated swimming at our favorite lakes and rivers.

Location, Location, Location!

keeping_cool

We explored the Santa Fe Ski Basin, Deer Creek, Santa Cruz Lake, and the infamous Abiquiu lake! Our primary objective was to get as wet as possible to celebrate the end of summer – our campers dug their fingers deep into the damp soil and absolutely covered the counselors in mud at every opportunity. They said they were giving us mud tattoos, but we knew better than that.

Fun Activities

Some of our highlights this week included mushroom hunting at the Santa Fe ski basin (with strict guidelines!) and jumping into Abiquiu Lake. We made earthworm rock castles, built the best dams and bridges of the summer, learned the importance of water filtration (and how to do it), and ended the week with a lively social with lots of snacks – fruits and veggies, chips and guac, and popsicles… Oh my!

This summer we laughed, made friends, and created memories for our Mountain Kids! to remember for years to come. We hope to see you all soon – many thanks! for a fantastic summer. – JR, Max, Carmen, Katie, Keifer, and Morgan

Frog Hunting is for all ages!

A Frog!

Team Building Games at the Park

Success!

Water Play at Patrick Smith

Morning Art

Ranger Ezra preparing the older campers for some trail work

The Group Contract – an essential part of our week’s start

Team Building Challenge

Fun on the Winsor Trail!

Story Time!

Ready? JUMP!

It wasn’t me!

Abiquiu Lake

The water is SO refreshing on a hot day!

For upcoming cames or additional information please check out our Program page!

Muddy Buddies – July 2018

The Muddy Buddies week is highly anticipated by our campers and counselors alike, and this year did not disappoint! With the heavy monsoon rain becoming more and more frequent, all of our favorite trails have been transformed into muddy wonderlands with endless possibilities!

5 to 7-year-olds

Challenging our Mountain Kids! to dig a descending mudslide into a knee-deep mud pit in Galisteo, mud tattoos, mud painting the counselors, and of course “who can get the muddiest?” contests are few of the many highlights of our week. We visited the Santa Fe ski basin, Deer Creek, Galisteo, and Santa Cruz Lake as our filthiest destinations, with Galisteo being the choice location for mud deep enough to fully submerge in! Ski Santa Fe and Deer Creek offered some nice hikes and were great, beautiful places to play games and enjoy stream-side mud, whereas Santa Cruz lake was an amazing place to get as muddy as possible along the lakeshore and have the option to clean off during a relaxing swim afterward. When we weren’t playing in the mud, making natural clay pots and bowls were a great pastime.

Mud fights broke out numerous times throughout the week and it was impossible not to get caught in the crossfire! All week our campers took being “clean” as overrated, so it might take the entire weekend and multiple showers for these kids to regain their usual skin tones and hair colors. One more week left of the summer for us Mountain Kids! and we’re aiming for it to be one of the best yet!

8 to 12-year-olds

Muddy Buddies was the goofiest, dirtiest, most fun week of Mountain Kids! yet. The week consisted of getting gloriously muddy, rinsing, and repeating. Our muddiest locations were Galisteo Creek and Santa Cruz lake, both of which were muddier than you can imagine! You imagination may not even bee enough, the photos will speak for themselves! Our kids were knee deep in the dirt, slipping and sliding around, camouflaging themselves, wrestling, and making fabulous creations out of clay. Close behind these mud havens were Deer Creek (where we got to do some fantastic swimming in watering holes that, while they were dry a few weeks ago, are now full to the brim) and Ski Santa Fe, where we were playing in the muddy headwaters of the Rio En Medio. Our week ended poignantly with some of our favorite Mountain Kids! returning to their home state! 🙁 Thankfully we get to see them next year 🙂

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For future camps, check out our programs page!

Amazing Animals! June 20-23, 2016

The Amazing Animals week was a hit! The Hummingbirds and the Owls eagerly participated in a variety of animal-themed activities. Tracing animal tracks, playing animal charades, and handling different skulls and pelts made for a full week of learning! There was one animal that stood out more than any other, however, and it received a mixed reception: the tent caterpillar. Yes, this fuzzy, creature can be seen by the thousands, chomping away at aspen leaves at Big Tesuque. Whether the children chose to save them from floating down the creek, or opted to organize an anti-tent caterpillar campaign in favor of the Aspens, it cannot be questioned that the critters proved fascinating.. The Hummers and Owls ended their week at the Norski playing hide and seek, and building forts from fallen branches. The kids learned to efficiently get ready to go, and we made it back just in time for a deluge, huddled in the van. A big thank you goes out to all the parents who tolerated the rain and quickly picked up their kids! We hope that they will come back to Mountain Kids for more fun and excitement!

Adventures of the Hummingbirds and Owls:

Grass crowns!

Pelts!

Skulls!

Pelts!

Skulls!

Natural Art Projects! & Mountain Biking! June 6-9, 2016

Natural Art Projects!

Hummingbird Adventures:

This week the Hummingbirds made art projects using materials found in nature! On Monday, we explored the rocky, clay arroyos of Galisteo Basin Preserve. There, we collected different colored rocks, which we later used to make paint. On Tuesday, we went to the Ski Basin where we collected natural objects to create a nature collage. We also made clay figures. Wednesday we headed to Big Tesuque, and there we spent the day playing in the river and creating rock paintings and felted rocks. To end the week we went to Las Golondrinas. We learned about and even tried the different types of work the children of the ranch performed. We learned how to write with a quill, how to weave a small blanket, and how to make a leather pouch. The Hummingbirds had a great week making art and playing in the wilderness!

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Owls Adventures:

This week the Owls and Eagles campers explored the beauty and craftiness of nature. We began our week at Galisteo Basin Preserve, bouldering up sandstone walls and searching the landscape for rocks that could later be used as pigment. On Tuesday we ventured up in altitude to the Ski Basin for some cool relief. This more riparian habitat flooded the kids with a sense of wonder as they inspected golden flowers, blue flowers, swirling, fuzzy green plants and became intimately aware of how fast the creek could carry a boat (stick) down its waters. Several kids watched in awe of the miniature eddies and whirlpools that sucked there boats out of the moving channel. After working with clay, making nature collages and playing games it was time to go. Wednesday we visited Big Tesuque where the Owls and Eagles learned the art of felting, creating some seriously cute felted rocks with googly eyes, using wool that they had dyed on Monday. They also worked hands-on with a mano and metate, grinding pigment for paint, which they used to make pictographs. We ended our week at Las Golondrinas, which hammered in the utility of nature and its relationship with crafting. The campers ended their week on a reflective note, with the realization that nature crafts were not always a source for fun, but for survival. The week produced a lot of fun and new skills, and also a new-found appreciation of the heritage of nature crafts!

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Mountain Biking!

This week the mountain bikers explored La Tierra trails and Norski trails. The bikers also explored the Santa Fe River in order to stay cool in the summer’s heat. We had a blast shredding on the trails this week!

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Week 10 – August 4-7, 2014: Wilderness Skills!

Monday, August 4: Lower Windsor Trail along Big Tesuque Creek

Rain and shine – we had it all this week! We started with a new venue for the summer. With rain eminent we decided on the lower end of the Windsor Trail along Big Tesuque Creek. The rain held off and we had a wonderfully cool hike up to a grove of enormous Ponderosa pines where we played in the creek. The Eagles developed a deep pool with a rock dam complete with hollow reed spigots! The rain finally found us about ten minutes from the vans.

Tuesday, August 5: Deer Creek/Grasshopper Canyon

Tuesday we listened to Ziggy read Stop and Stay Put, a book about how to prepare for a hike and what to do if you get lost. Then both the Owls and Eagles hiked up Deer Creek for a well deserved dip in the deep (yea monsoons) granite pools. The pools were cool but not freezing cold and we could have played in them for quite a while longer were it not for a good hike back needing some time.

Wednesday, August 6: Aspen Vista to top of the quad-chair lift via Carl’s Meadow.

Wednesday Dave read The Giving Tree before collecting dead yucca fronds for making cordage. It was a blue sky day for a trip up to high country. Owls frolicked in the headwaters of Rio en Medio up at the ski basin while the Eagles climbed up to the top of the Quad chair from Aspen Vista. Strawberries were abundant in the big meadow that is the top of the chair lift knoll. We worked on map and compass skills, plotted our route up through Carl’s meadow and counted contour lines to discover we had gained over a thousand feet in elevation!

Thursday, August 7: Ski Basin to Norski Trails via the Windsor Trail.

Thursday Rebecca led us in a discussion of what to pack for a day out using her own well stocked pack for an example. We then played a quick game of Mountain Lion, Lightning, and Bears, Oh my! Up the hill to the Windsor trail we went for our last day of 2014. Owls enjoyed the Rio en Medio meadow and the Eagles built shelters in the Norski environs. Popsicles brought by Shelly, Sam’s mom, awaited our return to celebrate another great summer of Mountain Kids! Thanks for a great season all!

Week 7 – July 14-17: Amazing Animals!

The Beaver Ponds is a magical place to make forts, discover special creatures, find ancient fossils and make new friends!

Electra, the Osprey, enjoying her lunch.

What sound does a Turkey Vulture make? Not one you’d expect!

A curious burrowing owl saying hello.

A game of Bat and Moth to start the day out.

Eagles were paired with Owls to study animal skulls. They had to decide, are they predator or prey? What do they eat? How’s their sense of smell or hearing? Then they would share their discoveries with the rest of the group.

Animal pelts are interesting to examine and touch too!

The Espanola Wildlife Center is a great place to see birds that you might not normally see.

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Friday was a fun day of exploring the Santa Fe Ski Basin without any snow. The creek that flows down Easy Street is a great place to cool off.

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Dirt, Rocks, and Clay! June 16-19, 2014

We began the week by learning about each other, camp rules and a Rock Song about the three types of rocks: Sedimentary, Igneous and Metamorphic. Our adventure took us to Deer Creek where we got to see some great examples of sedimentary rock and talk about how it formed. We collected special rocks for painting the next day, and had fun hiking and getting wet in the pools (Eagles) at Deer Creek!

Ditto for the Owls, except they explored different pools and played games!

Tuesday: We began our day with a great game of Park Ranger and some Rock Painting! We sang the rock song and did a Dirt True and False before heading up the mountain. The Eagles did a HUGE hike up to Raven’s Ridge! Nice work, Eagles! It was chilly, so we had to stay moving to keep warm!

The Owls also hiked along the Winsor Trail to a beautiful meadow where they played rock games and explored.

Wednesday: Galisteo Basin Preserve. Morning games and working with clay were followed by a quick stop in Galisteo where the mosquitoes were out and biting – one of the drawbacks of all the lovely June rain! We quickly aborted this location and found some great dirt, rocks and clay to explore at the Galisteo Basin Preserve.

Thursday: Tsankawi. Our final stop for Dirt, Rocks and Clay was the amazing ruins at Tsankawi. We talked about volcanoes and made a human volcano at Fort Marcy before we headed out. it is always impressive to see the remains of the supervolcano that erupted and is now the Valles Caldera. We found pottery shards and obsidian and arrow heads on our hike to the caveates.

Owls Explore Amazing Animals (and more!:) June 2-5, 2014 (5-7 year olds)

Hello Owl Families! If you read and enjoy the BLOG, please let me know…. write a comment, or send me a quick note. Constructive feedback is also appreciated! BTW, any of the images below can be enlarged and viewed as a slideshow by clicking on them. Enjoy! :~) Katie

Monday: Before we took off for the mountains, we played games, we learned names, and made a group contract (rules about how to have fun)! We snacked and buddied, and then loaded up for our adventure at the Big T!

The Owls hiked and paused for lunch and play. We talked about animals of New Mexico and played animal charades and frog detective. We got animal names and got into our roles as we listened to the forest and tried to think like our animal. We had story time and snack time before heading back to the Adventure van and Fort Marcy!

On Tuesday we hiked along the Rio en Medio. Before we set out, we played a game where we learned and practiced various animal gaits. At circle we got to examine the skulls of various forest animals of New Mexico and thought about how certain traits aid their survival. Some kids drew animals using the Ed Emberly books.

On the trail we played “Stalk”, drew in our nature journals, played in the river, explored the forest, had fun, got wet, and found wondrous things!

We learned a song called Bats Eat Bugs on Wednesday. It’s a great reminder that “nothing out there wants to eat you, nothing out there wants to make you it’s meal!” We looked at Animal pelts and paws today and talked about each local animal and some if it’s characteristics.

Our adventure took us to the Ski Basin where we found out how cold that water really was by dunking our heads! It was silly and felt great on this hot summer day! We played the Habitat Web game and learned how everything in the forest is connected and depends on one another for survival. We pressed flowers, found insects, sang songs, and got dirty. A super day!

Thursday: We were busy as little beavers today! We learned about Beaver adaptations and dressed up some unsuspecting children to illustrate them. We hiked along the Little T(esuque Creek) and tried our hand at beavering, a.k.a. dam making. It was hard to make the water stop completely, but we sure slowed it down, and had fun working together in the process. I wonder how beavers need to work together to build their den? We played some (other) team building games and made scrolling animal stories. The End ~ of a(nother) and (FUN!) week.