Camp Wendy

I had the brilliant idea, if I do say so myself, that what Idaho Falls is really missing is a viable, outdoor based, adventure option for kids in the summer. There is not a single day camp in IF (that I am aware of) where kids are outside all day playing while their parents are working for a living. I'm not talking about contrived "outdoor experiences" for short durations each day either. It's really absurd because, god know, there are a LOT of children in Idaho Falls. I mean a lot. Families with 5 or more kids is not unusual in the part of the country!

How did I get this brilliant idea? Plagiarism. This will be Owen's second summer doing a 2 week day camp at Telluride Academy http://www.tellurideacademy.org/ , which happens to be the ultimate in outdoor fun and I got to thinking, "Why can't we do something cool with kids in Idaho?". We have the outdoor playgrounds necessary to make it work: mountains, rivers, national forests.

So I am starting small, out of necessity. Five weeks, five different themes and lots of fun. This is how Telluride Academy started, word of mouth, kids of friends. Now the academy has celebrated 25 yrs and has over 50 programs that offer epic outdoor adventures for kids both locally and abroad.

The Lowdown on our first week.....

Mountain Beaches: The weather did not really cooperate for us enough to truly enjoy immersing ourselves in water. That is not to say we remained dry. It rained on us plenty at pleasantly hypothermic-inducing temperatures of mid 40s-50s. Did that hinder our fun? You bet not. It just made for copious quantities of mud. (Just ask Hollis; sorry again Hollis). As we all know, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices. That was my mantra for the week. Here are some photos of our fun.

Day 1: Packsaddle Lake, Driggs




Day 2: Upper and Lower Mesa Falls, Ashton/ St Anthony Sand Dunes









Day 3: Wolverine Canyon and Happy Birthday Carly

Day 4: Lower Palisades Lake

This was our hardest and muddiest day. Unfortunately my camera's batteries died. We successfully hiked 8 miles. Owen was disappointed not to be able to go on his favorite hike but he was paddling in snow flurries with the Jackson Hole Kayak Club this day. By the end of the day the only kid not dragging was Carly. That kid is amazing.

Here is a photo I took the morning of the hike.
Day 5: Falls River, Swan Valley