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

Another reason I miss Idaho

There are not many places left that you can go out on a mountain bike ride and come across a scene such as this. I actually came upon a similar scene years ago on a bike ride to Bone, ID with my friend Heather. This time I was with her husband, David. This took place in Wolverine Canyon, south of Idaho Falls. A few years back Doug and I were riding further back in this same canyon and came upon about 600 sheep being herded back to their summer grazing area.

I was back in Idaho for a week for a job interview and to get my garden planted. It was a great visit. I got to spend every day with Ben. I had planned on including a photo of him that I had taken but I notice he was flipping the camera his IQ, so I won't be including that photo. At what age do teenage boys grow out of flipping off the camera? By and large, girls just don't do that. Come to think of it, plenty of boys don't do it either. I guess my kid is just a neanderthal.

This is the only bike ride I had the opportunity to take on this trip. Wolverine Canyon is my favorite area near Idaho Falls. It has trees, rushing streams, cliffs, caves and abundant wildlife. Very unlike mosts of the open space surrounding Idaho Falls. We were turned back from our final destination by snow pack on the rode.