Good Morning!!
It's early here at Vagabond Ranch and the kids are shoving their bellies full of food while we get ready to set off towards home. While they're doing that, I thought I'd run a quick update.
Yesterday morning we started off a little later than Monday. Students made pancakes and bacon and happily ate up until it was time to go. Andrew then led the group in another round of animal stretches as I headed out to hide the avalanche beacon. When stretches were complete, Sarah taught the kids the ins and outs of using an avalanche beacon. Once the lesson was completed, they suited up to go find the "victim" that I hid earlier. Beacons are difficult to learn how to use, but the kids did an amazing job. In between beacon hidings, they started building their quinzhee huts.
After awhile we came inside and Andrew shared his wilderness survival experiences and explained the items in his survival tin. The students really enjoyed hearing from him (Andrew has a ton of experience as a park ranger in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest). Students ate lunch while they listened and then Andrew transitioned into a lesson about tracking. He helped students learn the basics of tracking and then they headed out in their groups again to search for tracks and place them on a circle chart. Once they came back inside, each group presented what they found and we were able to piece together a story about the fox that lives on the porch of the hut. The kids have named him "not Tate" and it was fun for them to get to know more about him.
After that, students had about forty-five minutes of forced quiet and then we sent them out for quinzhee workshop time. They spent several hours finishing up their quinzhees in preparation for the possibility of sleeping in them at night. Once they were done, kids came in and hung out while Sarah and I used the rest of our food to create a fiesta of leftovers.
After dinner and clean up, we headed out on a night hike to the teepee that was discovered on Monday. We wanted the students to have some solo time so they departed about two minutes apart walking/skiing from me to Andrew to Sarah who was waiting in the teepee. The moon was out and the starts lit a path for a quiet, beautiful evening. We had a wonderful final circle and the students were able to share about their experience here. We headed back to the hut in small groups after that where we celebrated more and then headed to bed. Seven brave kiddos stayed out in the quinzhees (and almost all of them made it all night!).
This morning we are finishing up packing and eating. Weather is moving in from the forecast, so we'll be headed straight home, unfortunately missing the hot springs. We're heading
It's early here at Vagabond Ranch and the kids are shoving their bellies full of food while we get ready to set off towards home. While they're doing that, I thought I'd run a quick update.
Yesterday morning we started off a little later than Monday. Students made pancakes and bacon and happily ate up until it was time to go. Andrew then led the group in another round of animal stretches as I headed out to hide the avalanche beacon. When stretches were complete, Sarah taught the kids the ins and outs of using an avalanche beacon. Once the lesson was completed, they suited up to go find the "victim" that I hid earlier. Beacons are difficult to learn how to use, but the kids did an amazing job. In between beacon hidings, they started building their quinzhee huts.
After awhile we came inside and Andrew shared his wilderness survival experiences and explained the items in his survival tin. The students really enjoyed hearing from him (Andrew has a ton of experience as a park ranger in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest). Students ate lunch while they listened and then Andrew transitioned into a lesson about tracking. He helped students learn the basics of tracking and then they headed out in their groups again to search for tracks and place them on a circle chart. Once they came back inside, each group presented what they found and we were able to piece together a story about the fox that lives on the porch of the hut. The kids have named him "not Tate" and it was fun for them to get to know more about him.
After that, students had about forty-five minutes of forced quiet and then we sent them out for quinzhee workshop time. They spent several hours finishing up their quinzhees in preparation for the possibility of sleeping in them at night. Once they were done, kids came in and hung out while Sarah and I used the rest of our food to create a fiesta of leftovers.
After dinner and clean up, we headed out on a night hike to the teepee that was discovered on Monday. We wanted the students to have some solo time so they departed about two minutes apart walking/skiing from me to Andrew to Sarah who was waiting in the teepee. The moon was out and the starts lit a path for a quiet, beautiful evening. We had a wonderful final circle and the students were able to share about their experience here. We headed back to the hut in small groups after that where we celebrated more and then headed to bed. Seven brave kiddos stayed out in the quinzhees (and almost all of them made it all night!).
This morning we are finishing up packing and eating. Weather is moving in from the forecast, so we'll be headed straight home, unfortunately missing the hot springs. We're heading