Students at our May Outdoor Leadership Class.

Thanks to all who attended. And thanks to Carter for his expert instruction.

Mission: Wolf Service Outing

Mission: Wolf is an all-volunteer organization that cares for 37 wolves who have been rescued from homes where they could not be cared for properly. Boulder Valley ICO led a 3-day, 2-night service outing to the Mission: Wolf sanctuary near Gardner, Colorado. The kids (from the recently revived Project YES!) helped in the butchering of a massive draft horse that had been donated to the facility. Then we fed the wolves by chucking chunks of horse meat into their pens. On the next day, we helped with a smaller, morning feeding by helping to prepare and deliver kibble, meat, and medications. Finally, we got to spend some time in an enclosure with three of the wolves. As you will see, a proper wolf greeting involves allowing the wolf to look you in the eye, smell your teeth, and lick you in the face. Thank goodness they have odorless breath!

Special thanks is due to the Sierra Club national directorate for donating special funds for this outing. With luck we'll run another such outing in the fall.  Thanks is also due to Mike Whiteley for arranging our visit to the sanctuary and to Caroline Hogue, Grant Irland, and Michael Le Desma for leading the outing. It was an outing that none of the participants will ever likely forget.

Note that this video contains footage of a horse being butchered.  Also note that on YouTube the video is in high definition so that it can be watched full-screen when you have set playback to 720p.

Trinity Alps Service Outing

This summer, Erik Gainey and three of our youth leaders participated in a week-long service trip in the Trinity Alps region of California's Sierra Nevada. The pulled up their sleeves to some serious trail maintenance but there was also time to hang out with the horses and enjoy the alpine lakes and Sierra summer.

This outing was paid for by our national directorate as part of a collaboration with the general outings program of the Sierra Club. It was, therefore, a privilege for our team to have been selected to participate. And it was great that Erik stepped up to the plate to help us seize this really cool opportunity.

9/17 Chautauqua Day Hike

On September 17th, BVICO provided a day hiking trip for Pioneer Elementary School kids. The kids did a day hike at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO. After the day hike, the kids also got to visit the Chautauqua Park Museum and learn the types of wildlife present at the park. Along with the great weather, the trip was fun for everyone!

Bull Snake on 5/6 Water Sentinels Outing

On our 5/6 Water Sentinels outing, the kids spotted a lovely bull snake in the grass. Bull snakes mimic rattle snakes as a defensive mechanism even though they are not venomous -- they have similar patterning, will coil, will flatten and broaden their heads to look like a viper, and will shake their tail. But they have no rattle so they make their rattling sound by forcing air through a small opening just behind the tongue, causing the surrounding tissue to flap around. Gladly, we didn't get this particular snake sufficiently addled to put on such a display.

Pioneer Elementary Braves the Cold for Some Awesome Birding on International Migratory Bird Day

It was chilly. It was grey. It was absolutely awesome! After a short introduction to birds, birding, and binoculars, we set about to find some birds. And almost right away, we saw two bald eagles though our spotting scope. Then we saw some other pretty things: yellow warbler, yellow-headed blackbird, killdeer, red-winged blackbirds, great blue heron, lesser egret, green heron, osprey, and, even, an American bittern. But the star of the show was a western tanager that just hung out by the side of the trail, showing off his plumage.

Thanks to Mary Claire Collins, Irene Won, Ira Star, Debra Lawsing, Caroline Hogue, and Michael Le Desma for helping to make this trip so much fun.

Fruita Mountain Biking Trip: Big & Glorious

The 2011 edition of the Fruita mountain biking trip was big (15 kids, 2 youth leaders, and 9 adults) and glorious, owing to skilled support from Scot Colburn (BVICO), Catherine Powers (Casey Middle School), Andy Brannon (Trips for Kids), Andy Stephens (BVICO), and a small army of parents. Special thanks is owed Catherine for having planned many of the outing details even though she was not able to join us on the outing.

The red sandstone vistas were beautiful, the wind bracing, and the riding 100% Fruita perfection. Scot and Andy's photos are below.