Bikes and Boats!

June 13-17 | Ages 9-13 

8:30 am – 3:30 pm | Wednesday overnight at Abiquiu Lake

Monday – Friday  $595 + tax

Campers need their own mountain bike & helmet, plus camping equipment 

This fun-filled camp offers time on mountain bikes, camping, swimming and in kayaks. We will spend two days mountain biking and learning new skills at La Tierra, and two days at Abiquiu Lake camping, swimming and kayaking. Friday will be a fun day hiking and playing in the mountains. Campers will build confidence, skills and learn team work as we play together and have a blast in the summer sun.

Challenge Level:

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Wonders of Water!

Wonders of Water week turned out to be a huge, wet success! Our campers triumphantly discovered a natural water source at each destination and enthusiastically learned a new fact or skill everyday. We explored the water cycle, how to conserve, and how to properly filter water!

In between lessons, our campers sought out interesting looking minerals on river beds, and came across a handful of native, water living creatures.

I think we all have an absolutely enormous appreciation for water, especially here at home in Santa Fe. Keep on rain-dancing everyone, bring on the rain!

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Mountain Biking Skills and Thrills! June 4-8

What a great way to kick off summer for the Eagles – our 9-12 year old campers! On Day one we rode at La Tierra where we tackled the Flow Trail, climbs to and from the trail, and then the pump track at Alto Park.  We talked about specific skills for climbing, descending, braking and turning.

On our second day we rode Dale Ball, which was short and sweet!  Day three took us up to the Rift Valley Trail south of Taos. It was a long drive, but we had fun playing games along the way, and the views and riding were worth it!  We also had time for a dip in the Rio Grande, which was a treat!

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On Day four we checked out the Oak Flats campground in the Tijeras District on the east side of the Sandias.  It was perfect riding. At 7000ish feet, we rode through a ponderosa forest, which was a bit cooler than previous rides, and the trails were a combination of beautiful smoothness with a few technical spots to challenge our skills.

We are so proud of these campers for all the hard work they put into riding, and the fun they had!  Apparently, hard work and fun go hand-in-hand and provide great learning and growth for kids exploring their limits.

 

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Photo Safari! June 8-11, 2015 – Eagles (9-12 Year Olds)

This Week the Eagles used their Eagle eyes peering through camera lenses to capture and share the beauty they found all over New Mexico.  On Monday we hiked through an Aspen Grove and played games along the way.  On Tuesday we mustered heroic persistence for a long but beautiful hike .  The magical, misty, wide open view was worth all the complaining on the way up and hail/rainstorm on the way down.  On Wednesday we donned our camping gear and headed out to Abiquiu Lake for a camping trip.  As the rain clouds cleared we spent the day working on out photo transfers, swimming in the lake, and learning about its history from the park rangers.  Once night fell, we shared stories, songs and s’mores by grandfather fire.  The next day we had the opportunity to hike Chimney Rock at Ghost Ranch and cool off in the lake, before heading back to Fort Marcy filled with vitamin nature, cameras of artfully composed photos, and lots of great memories.

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Week 3. Day 2. World's Largest Swim Lesson! Tsankawi!

Tuesday, June 18th

We started the day by offering kids an opportunity to participate in the World’s Largest Swim Lesson. We had twelve kids participate: both BIGS and LITTLES.  It was chilly but a great opportunity to practice a really important survival skill!  Mountain Kids joined swimmers around the world to make it the largest simultaneous swim lesson ever. We hope. 🙂

Afterward, we headed out to hike and marvel at Tsankawi, a part of Bandelier National Monument. It was a beautiful and perfectly cloudy day for such an adventure (for the morning anyway)!

The paths there are grooved three feet deep in places (!) and there are many, many caves from the “masters of survival skills”  – the Ancestral Pueblo people. It was a big hike for the LITTLES but we took plenty of breaks along to way to drink water, and to look for pottery shards, apache tears, petroglyphs, and hollow rocks!  We all climbed several ladders and got to enter several big and small “cavates.”  We learned that Cavates are caves that were dug out by the Ancestral Pueblo people. They were not naturally formed.

The BIGS did the same loop and stopped to eat and listen to a story told by Ashley in one of the caves.  They had fun exploring and imagining what is was like to live here.  In the van everyone enjoyed listening to My Side of the Mountain, a great tale of survival to complement our day!

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