OUTDOOR ED ACCOMMODATIONS

        Some people think that riding in a bus with 30 middle schoolers is a bit much. Well it gets better.

        We would do one overnight trip with each of the classes. We stayed in youth hostels. There are  hostels with very few amenities and other hostels more like a hotel. We stayed in the limited hostel. It would be heated with propane and had a propane stove. There was a kitchen and a few very basic pots and pans.

     The overnight stay was to get kids to practise what they learned about food. What we found out is that they had poor teachers, Food  was a riot. So pork and beans, ichaban soup, soup, tuna, sandwiches, hot dogs. Now remember there was only one stove so the operation took a lot of time. You'll never believe how many pieces of cutlery could be lost. They would leave their stuff in a place waiting for their turn on the stove and somebody would move it. So you he kids cooking. Others eating and some looking for their  food.  Bedlam is a good word to describe the scene.

    There was always a male female hostel. We did have girls in out door ed.

    They got water in a little stream close to the hostel.

    Now sleeping accommodations? There were  6  bunks . We had around 20  kids. We had  a couple  of volunteer supervisors. So the kids got to sleep on the floor. It was some job trying to navigate through the bodies. 

    And in the   morning we went though the same routine again except you  add quite a few lost clothing items.

    We had fun and the kids certainly did. 

    I'm not sure how much anybody learned.

A STRANGER IN THE NIGHT

         This morning I was up at 5 AM to visit the bathroom. When I'm up I usually look out one of the windows for a few minutes. Usually I see nothing but an empty street. Interesting eh! But sometime people or one person is going by.  And sometimes the  critters are around.

       This morning I looked out and all seemed quiet. There was a strange car parked on my side of the street. Then all of a sudden the security light came on. So I thought is someone walking around yards checking for things. All of a sudden a head popped up on the other side of the car. It was a mule deer doe. She gave me a very disgusted look for about 5 seconds  and left

      Deer have been coming in my yard and eating the white blooms. That's bad enough but when they started on my  tomatoes that was too much.

     I do not have a camera set out in my yard, but if I  did, I think I would be surprised at what I see.

EAT YOUR WORDS

            The best of us must sometimes eat our own words.

                                                        J.K. Rowling.

           Well, I can say I've found myself in this situation

OUTDOOR ED HIKES

A few posts ago I wrote about all the fun on field trips singing 99 bottles of beer on the bus. Now real fun began once we got off the bus .  

We were very careful to be organized because you wouldn't want to lose somebody's kid. Instructions were given. The kids were told where we were going and what we might see. When the teacher said "listen up" they listened. 

       We also had parent supervisors who were not just along for a day's outing but had responsibilities.        So at the end of the hike we took a photo. We usually wanted it to be funny and these kids are all about funny. The other tradition was to have the school flag with us and include the school flag in he photo. 

       And then it was back down the trail to the bus and on the road again. We had to make sure everything was on the bus and nothing was left in the parking lot. Oh yes , everybody had to go to the bathroom. 

      One time all the kids were on the bus and a squirrel got on the bus. All hell broke lose. We took all the kids off the bus and I was appointed to search the bus for the squirrel. I could just  see  finding a squirrel under one of the seats. I had to look under all the seats. I think the kids saw the squirrel get on the bus but the squirrel decided to get off the bus and in all the confusion the kids didn't notice. 

The ride back home was much more subdued. Some kids actually slept.

 

 

 

PR0GRESS

       Progress isn't made by early  risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

                                                                                     Robert A.  Heinlein

                  This turned a common phase backwards and it makes more sense.

A FOOL

        A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts in either one of them.

                                                                                         P.J. O'Rourke

          I like this as it has a lot of truth in it

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIKES

Stream coming from snow above us.

Venturer scouts hiking from Sunshine village to Mt Assiniboine which is one of the highest peaks in the Rockies

        I recently wrote   about students on a bus trip. I intend to wrote about their out door ed. experience  once I get some photos.

            Instead I'll write about some of the scenery that we have for hiking.

              The Rocky Mountains are roughly 100 miles from here. The Rockies are a range on the eastern side of  the mountains of north America. The Rockies are not a giant range of mountains. Very few of them are more than 10000 feet. However they are beautiful with colors shapes and snow.

       I  was fortunate enough to go on some back packing trips with friends. Very few areas actually required climbing. Mostly we  followed trails until we reached a peak.

      In one area we drove by what we thought was a peak. We looked at it for several years and finally said lets walk up there. We got up only to find that it was the end of a ridge.  We had to scramble up the las 300 ft of altitude. The ridge carried on for several miles. A gust of wind caused us to flatten out on the ridge as it was very narrow and we could have been blown off.

    So we took the kids up Whirlpool Point Ridge many times. This was our name for the area.

    So here we are in the beautiful Rockies looking at where we were going.

Cairn on top  of one of the peaks

Watching some mountain caribou

Posing on a peak

July seventh snow 

scrambling over  rocks

Nice lake below.

Cross over the bridge