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.

Snowcave trip - January, 2010

On a sunny and relatively warm winter day, we built a snowcave in the Caribou area. The trip also involved belly sledding on a magic carpet, followed by destruction of the snowcave. That was a shame because we could have easily rented out our amazing snowcave to one of the skiers passing by!

Scary Fish 2009

It took a while to get this video together but here it is: footage from our "Scary Fish" backpacking trip in 2009. This trip is so-named because the fish in the lakes we visit on this outing are so big they're scary. Thanks to Kera Tafoya and Melissa Pierce for making this trip a success. It was, indeed, a lot of fun.

Note: This video makes fair use of copyrighted material by Lyle Lovett.

Canyonlands 2009

We had another great trip to Canyonlands National Park just before Thanksgiving. The group comprised 19 youth from at least 7 different schools and 10 adults including 8 BVICO volunteers and 2 Colorado Youth Program staff. The trip was a FULL 4 days with 1 night of car camping and 2 nights backpacking in smaller groups. The weather was cold but very sunny - at least for a precious few hours each day. The Needles District rocks and it's a wonderful place for kids to play in nature.

Here's a slideshow from one of the backpacking groups. CYP's photos are on facebook.

Night Hike

Our friends from I Have A Dream ... had a nightmare!

Re-Posting of Video from Mt. Zirkel Backpacking Trip!

Once again, Linda Muscatell knocks it out of the park with a great 4-day backpacking trip in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness. Special thanks to Shawn Bratt and Andrea Villa for providing expert angling instruction. It was an amazing trip, one of the best Boulder Valley ICO has ever run.

NOTE: This re-posting includes the audio stripped from the earlier posting.

Fulford Cave & Hut Trip

Nobody has written an entry in a while. We must be busy here at Boulder Valley ICO!

We had a wonderful early October weekend exploring Fulford Cave and staying overnight at the Peter Estin hut. It was a beautiful weekend and, as the trip description predicted, there were great fall colors and a little bit of snow.

We had an adventurous 2.25 hours inside the cave and explored parts of the cave unseen by the ICO group last year.

Thanks to Linda and 10th Mountain for arranging our stay at the hut. Thanks to Debra and Luz Helena for doing the food and to Linda, Debra, and Mary for driving. And thanks to the great kids who put smiles on our faces (yeah, really!).

Boulder Valley ICO Backpacking in Utah

Boulder Valley ICO led a 5-day backpacking trip in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah in late March. A group of 9 kids from Manhattan and Angevine middle school toured this amazing place. Thanks to Linda Muscatell (principal organizer) and volunteers Michael Le Desma and Kera Tafoya for making this far-flung adventure so much fun.

Snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park, 2/21/09

Boulder Valley ICO led a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park on 2/21/09. We started at the Bear Lake Trailhead and headed toward Dream Lake. We didn't quite make it to the lake, though, because ... well ... I think the video says it all. Thanks to volunteers Hannah Harman, Luz Helena Florez, and Simon de Szoeke for making this trip a success.

March of the Penguins Snowshoe Video

We had fun!

Canyonlands National Park Report

Just before Thanksgiving, sixteen youth and eight adults from Boulder Valley ICO and the Colorado Youth Program (thanks, CYP!) had a 4-day adventure in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Utah. We took full advantage of the school break and the fine late fall weather in Colorado and Utah. We left Boulder around 8AM, traveling in CYP's van and private vehicles. We stopped for lunch in Fruita, and had a final taste of civilization in Moab before arriving in the Needles at sunset (around 5PM this time of year). Camp was set at Squaw Flat, where we built a campfire and cooked hotdogs and veggie dogs on coat hangers. We discussed important subjects around the fire and had a trivia contest with S'mores as the reward for correct answers. The dark night sky of Canyonlands is spectacular, and we took an amazing night hike before tucking ourselves into bed. We awoke to a bright, sunny day that warmed up quickly. Our hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage took a while to prepare, but it was worth it. We ran around like crazies gearing up for the next 2.5 days of backpacking. We split into smaller hiking groups and checked in at the visitors' center for our permits. Then it was time to hit the trail! Group 1's slideshow is below, and Group 3's (CYP's) pictures are linked below that. 

Group 1 enjoyed climbing rocks, identifying scat, filtering sand through our fingers, the hot conditions at our first campsite, and, to cap it off, our final silent skit at the end of our 2.5 day hike:

Colorado Youth Program's Canyonlands Photos.

On the 4th day, we met around noon at the visitors' center and drove back to Colorado. All in all, it was a great adventure, and we were very lucky to have such a wonderful group of youth and leaders!

Boulder Valley ICO is entirely run by volunteers and funded by donors like you. We spent over $1300. on Canyonlands, but including the in-kind donations by volunteers and CYP (such as vehicle mileage, gas, and some of the food), the trip cost at least $2500. That still doesn't count much of our gear, which has been supplied by donations and generous business sponsors like La Sportiva and REI, and the over 800 hours of volunteer time devoted to this trip. This is a valuable program that is free to participants, but it costs money to run. Won't you consider making a donation? Donations are tax-deductible, and you will receive an acknowledgment of your gift from the Sierra Club Foundation. Online donations will be available soon, but in the meantime you can mail a check to the address below. If you have questions, please contact us at boulderico@gmail.com.

Checks payable to "Sierra Club Foundation - Boulder Valley ICO" can be mailed to:

Sierra Club Foundation - Boulder Valley ICO

637 B S Broadway

Suite B, No 117

Boulder, CO 80305

Thank you, and have a wonderful holiday season!