Ah, the lazy days of summer and the infectious laugh of kids mark the beginning of the annual Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK for short) 8 day adventure to Southwest Colorado.
ELK cultivates a passion for science, leadership, and service in a diverse community of learners. Nature becomes the conduit through which kids learn about natural resources on hands-on science field trips, explore science careers, and develop the life skills to be leaders.
This is the biggest trip yet, with 24 explorers packed and ready to hit the road. We depart Denver at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday, and settle in for the long drive to the other side of the state. For many of the kids, we might as well be going to another country; this is the farthest and longest time away from home for most.
The drive is a long one; we arrive in Pagosa Springs around 7 p.m. and head out of town towards the cabin on Williams Creek that will become our base for the duration of our trip. After sleeping for most of the ride the initial excitement has died down, but it starts to rise again as the kids know we are getting close to the cabin. The enduring question, "Are we there yet?" begins to float around the vans, and the ooh's and ah's about the beautiful scenery hold them off from becoming too impatient. Heavy winter snows have provided the moisture necessary to turn all the vegetation a rich bright green color. With the sun low in the sky, everything has a surreal quality to it, almost like a painting.
We pull up to the cabin and the kids spill out of the vans. At once everyone starts to work as a team, unloading the trailer, pulling out coolers of food, and distributing sleeping bags. For the kids who have been on the trip before it is like returning to a family summer vacation spot, for the kids new to the trip it is an adventure of the best kind, with a tire swing behind the cabin, the whisper of the creek as background music, and a large family of marmots living in the boulders right outside the front door of the cabin.
After dinner, the boys decide to set up a tent because a couple of them have never camped outside before. They first set it up on a small hill about 100 yards from the cabin and then at dusk they confer with each other and agree that they might want to be closer to the cabin. Each one grabs a corner, picking it up, and they move it to the side of the cabin, but once inside they discover they are on quite an incline, so they scope out a spot at the back of the cabin. The final resting place of the tent ended up about 1 foot away from the back of the cabin, more an extra room of the cabin, than a remote outdoor experience! We start a campfire and many stories and marshmallows are shared. Cards and dominos were next on the agenda, with everyone settling down for bed around 11 p.m. - after a very long day indeed.
A short hike to Williams Creek and fishing begins the next day, the fish are biting and a couple nice sized brookies and rainbow trout are caught. Four or five kids landed their first fish that morning, and everyone enjoyed a sample of grilled trout for lunch. Gathering up swimming suits, towels, and waterbottles to go to the hot springs in town marked the start of the afternoon. Lounging in the warm waters and then cooling off in the swimming pool, is an excellent way to spend a June summer day! The day ended by making 70 fishing poles and rigging them up for a fishing clinic the next day.
Our third day begins early at 7 a.m., loading into two 15-passenger vans at 8 a.m. to go teach a fishing clinic to children on the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. The ELK kids are pros at teaching fishing clinics and they are much more sophisticated than you might initially think. Classes taught include fish anatomy, aquatic ecology, fish identification - including native and nonnative species, angler ethics, and fish handling. Everything is catch and release so it is very important that kids know how to handle a fish properly. ELK kids make the fishing clinics a ball, everyone is having fun, laughing and learning at the same time. Forty kids from the Southern Ute tribe learn about fishing and after lunch they try out their new skills with an afternoon of fishing. A reward for the successful completion of the fishing clinic is to take a hike at Chimney Rock. ELK kids learned about native plants, the history of the area, and how the former inhabitants lived in pit houses and burned them when they left the area. The kids even get to climb into a U.S. Forest Service fire tower, where rangers keep an eye out for fires.
The next day we travel to the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation. From Pagosa Springs to Tawaoc it's a 3 ½ hour trip, so the kids settle in for the ride, with their i-pods, and pillows. We will be staying on the Reservation at the Ute Mountain Casino and Hotel. When we pull into the parking lot, we are greeted by tents and vendors at a small park across from the hotel. Our trip has coincided with a two day festival of Native American dancers, drummers and singers.
We spend the next three days, swimming in the hotel pool, doing fishing clinics, and watching with reverence the Native American performers. Our last night at the hotel is also the last night of the festival. The moon is full, and as soon as we pull the vans into the parking lot from dinner and open the doors, you can hear and feel the beat of the drums. My daughter no more than lets me shut the van door and she's grabbing my hand, pulling me towards the drums. "We have to go see, Mommy", she says. Some ELK kids come with us, and we move into the crowd surrounding the open circular wooden structure that makes up the parameter of the dirt dance floor with a fire roaring in the middle. The drummers and singers stand off to the side, and dancers in masks, and elaborate costumes dance to the beat. We all look at each other and smile, amazed that we have the good fortune to be allowed to view this ancient dance. The full moon is framed perfectly over the open roof of the ceremonial pavilion with large wooden beams pointing upward and inward towards the night sky.
Five or six ELK kids have made friends with some of the Ute Mountain Ute kids from the earlier fishing clinic, and find each other and sit in front of the crowd on the ground. Towards the end of the evening, folks are invited to come out and dance to the drums. I watch ELK kids and their new friends dancing together on the earthen floor under the moonlight. The openness, kindness, and curiosity of ELK kids are matched by the generosity of our new friends. The night closes with all the ELK kids coming to our hotel room to present Father's Day cards to my husband, Scott. He has become the surrogate father figure to many ELK kids and it is emotional, heartwarming, and an honor to have them in our lives. Three of the older kids, want to read their cards out loud, and with voices cracking they do so. Group hugs end the night, and everyone's off to bed. Tomorrow, with an elder from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, we will explore their ruins.
The hike down into the ruins is the highlight of the trip. We must first drive many miles of dusty dirt road into the tribal park. Washboard roads make the drive slow and tedious. We arrive at the top of a bluff overlooking miles of desert scrubland. Everyone gathers their backpacks and water bottles together, and after a short introduction to the area, our guide, Mr.
George Wells, a Ute Mountain Ute wildlife officer, tells us about the great reverence his people have for this place. He reminds us that we will be walking by pottery shards and corn husks that the ancestors left behind and we should treat the area with respect. The ELK kids understand that they are in for an exciting time that mixes history with the present.
The first challenge is looking over a cliff wall into a great ravine, and then at the wooden ladder you must climb down to get to the trail. The ladder is made of lodge poles, and the rungs of the ladder seem so far apart that while hanging on tightly with your hands, you are searching for the next rung with your foot! Some ELK kids are afraid of heights and to tell the truth, anyone would be a little apprehensive to just jump on this ladder and start to climb down. With lots of encouragement and patience from the group, everyone makes it down the ladder successfully. Whoops of happiness and relief fill the air. Mr. George leads the group and tells us about the history, the trials of daily life people faced, and the myths that go along with this area. The sun is beating down and it's starting to get hot on the east side of the mountain, you can smell the ponderosa pines - that mixture of sap and wood mingled together. Kids spot a red tailed hawk flying overhead, and lots of little lizards dart back and forth across the trail. At the end of the trail, another set of ladders lead up and into a hidden away ruin, that still has clay bricks comprising its walls. Mr. George does a sage smudge ceremony for the group to make sure we do not carry back any spirits with us on our travels. The next day will mark the end of our adventures in Southwestern Colorado.
An early start of 10 a.m., which to some might not seem early but when you're feeding, packing up, and loading bags for 24 people is pretty good time, marks our trek back to Denver. The ride back seems much longer than the ride there, it must be the tiredness setting in, we arrive in Denver at 7:30 p.m., and after dropping kids off at home, we collapse on the couch. Feelings of pride, accomplishment, and awe are daily occurrences with ELK kids, and to be able to provide this experience and to create life long memories for kids is a noble mission in life. Many ELK kids are from Montbello and Green Valley Ranch, and started out in the program while in elementary and middle school, and the group we had on this trip is made up of middle, high school, and college students. Three out of the four college students on the trip are studying science in college and are all ELK alumni. They mentor and encourage the younger students on life ~ how to be successful by actions, not words. It is impressive to see the kids' growth each day, with encouragement and positive reinforcement they shine!