Telluride Academy

That went by rather quickly. Owen finished up his final day at camp and was awarded the best reptile handler at the awards ceremony. That honorable recognition was due to having caught the most creatures during the past two weeks: 5 lizards, a snake and countless crawdads.

The name of his camp session was The Mighty Miguel and the theme was water. The San Miguel River rises out of the San Juan Mountains and is a major tributary of the Dolores River. The headwaters can be seen above Telluride to the west in the form of Bridal Veil Falls

Most of the weeks' activities took place in or near the river. The weeks' activities:

Monday: canoe Trout Lake and bouldering in Illium

Tuesday: meet w/ Nature Conservancy to learn about the watershed ecology, make slip-n-slides.

Wednesday: hike to Bridal Veil Falls and drive to overnight camp area in Miramonte

Thursday: crawdad fishing and ropes course

Monday: paint tubes and then float through town and play water relay games

Tuesday: white water rafting

Wedneday: drive to overnight area down river, water games, learn to make bow drillfires

Thursday: Rock climbing at Bilk Creek

But really, Telluride Academy is as much for us as for Owen. It is well worth the $400/week to have from 9-5 off-duty and hiking, riding and enjoying the mountains. Can't wait until next year.