July.28.2012
[ARRIVE, INTRODUCTION, GOALS AND MISSION, NIGHT SKY, VISION/MYTH, ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS]
Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley Campus
- Arrive in Aspen, Colorado late in the evening.
- We will be staying in the dorms at the Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley Campus.
- Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be provided in the cafeteria on campus.
- Introductions to the staff and program once students arrive and get settled on campus.
- Following dinner, the night sky will be presented.
Video: "Behold the Milky Way". - There will be an opportunity for stargazing, visioning, and journaling after the video [weather permitting].
July.29.2012 [ORIENTEERING, GEOLOGIC TIME, OUTDOOR SKILLS, EARTH SCIENCE]
Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley Campus
- Breakfast will be provided in the cafeteria on campus.
- We will have two class sessions; one in the morning and then another in the afternoon
- The
morning class (9am start) will be an orienteering course at the college. We will use a
topographical map of the area and compasses to match the natural landscape to features on the map. We will be hiking around the campus during the lesson.
- Lunch will be eaten in the field
- After lunch we will discuss geologic time, plotting the 4.5 billion year history of the Earth and the planet's major events with a presentation highlighting the latest archaeological find in Snowmass Village dating back to the last Ice Age.
- Dinner.
- After dinner, we will discuss the topic of environmental advocacy.
Video: "Home".
July.30.2012
[LOW/HIGH ROPES COURSE, LEADERSHIP]
Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley Campus
- Breakfast in the cafeteria.
- We will spend the entire day at the Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley campus. The first class begins at 8am.
- In the morning, we will participate in a program on the college's low ropes course where we will be introduced to leadership and team-building concepts.
- Lunch will be eaten in the field.
- In the afternoon, we will further develop the concepts of leadership and team building on the high ropes course at the college.
- Dinner.
- After dinner, we will discuss the topic of energy.
Video on Leadership
July.31.2012
[ROCK CLIMBING, LEADERSHIP, OUTDOOR SKILLS]
Independence Pass
- Breakfast will be provided in the cafeteria.
- We will spend the entire day rock climbing in the field. [8am start] We have made arrangements to climb an outdoor rock face in the area where we will be able to practice different climbing techniques.
- Lunch is in the field.
- Dinner and begin staging gear for the backcountry.
- Video: "Ingredients".
August.1.2012
[GEAR, OUTDOOR SKILLS, CULTURAL VIEWS OF WILDERNESS, LEADERSHIP]
Chapman Campground
- We will finish staging gear in the morning and depart from Snowmass Village around noon. We will head to our backcountry staging area at Chapman campground.
- We will stay in tents at an established campsite and cook dinner on camp stoves near the trailhead where we will start our backcountry experience.
August.2.2012
[BACKCOUNTRY, OUTDOOR SKILLS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, LEADERSHIP]
Southfork Pass Trail, Moraine Camp
- We will depart for the Southfork Pass trailhead early in the morning and begin our backcountry experience.
- We will hike 3-4 miles and camp in the field.
- Opportunities for field presentations at camp.
August.3.2012
[BACKCOUNTRY, OUTDOOR SKILLS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, LEADERSHIP]
Williamson Camp
- We will hike 3 miles up and over Southfork Pass to Williamson camp.
- Opportunities for field presentations at camp.
August.4.2012
[BACKCOUNTRY, OUTDOOR SKILLS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, LEADERSHIP]
Layover at Williamson Camp
- Play around in the basin off to the West of South Fork Pass.
- Opportunities for field presentations at camp.
August.5.2012
[BACKCOUNTRY, OUTDOOR SKILLS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, LEADERSHIP]
Alpine Camp
- We will hike across Bust-A-Move boulder field and up and over the Continental Divide to an alpine camp above treeline on the eastern side of the Divide.
- Total travel time 8 hours.
August.6.2012
[BACKCOUNTRY, OUTDOOR SKILLS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, LEADERSHIP]
Upper Fryingpan Lakes
- Another long day of hiking, we will hike back over the Continental Divide and out a parallel drainage to the one we came in on and camp above the upper Fryingpan Lake.
- Opportunities for field presentations at camp.
August.7.2012
[EXIT BACKCOUNTRY, REFLECTION]
Return to Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley Campus
- We will exit the backcountry and return to the college dormatories where showers and dinner will be waiting for us.
- Rest and relaxation.
Video: "Chasing Ice"
August.8.2012
[RIVER RAFTING, OUTDOOR SKILLS, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE]
Roaring Fork River
- The afternoon will be spent rafting on the Roaring Fork river in group rafts. Kayaks will be available for the brave souls. River guides will be provided by Blazing Adventures.
- The morning will be spent doing some necessary paperwork, reflecting, and relaxing.
- Breakfast and dinner will be provided in the cafteria; lunch will be eaten near the river.
- Film: "Gasland"
August.9.2012
[NATURAL GAS RIG TOUR, CULTURAL VIEWS OF WILDERNESS]
Rifle/Parachute, Colorado
- Breakfast will be provided in the cafteria. Lunch provisions will be provided to take with us.
- We will explore the topic of shale gas through a tour of a natural gas field in the Pisceance Basin. We are scheduled to visit an active drilling site at 10am where we will be given a tour of a drilling rig to view the process while it is taking place [long pants and hiking boots required]. Afterwards, we will visit some homeowners in the area [2pm] to get their perspective of the process.
- Lunch is in the field.
- Returning to campus to wash up and pack.
- Dinner and fun.
August.10.2012
[REFLECTIONS, PAPERWORK, DEPART]
New York City
- Breakfast is in the cafeteria, after which we will finish the necessary paperwork.
- Lunch will be provided before participants depart for NYC from Aspen airport.
- Snacks for the trip home will be provided before the flight.
