At the top, we were awed by the lake and the view! We spread out and ate our lunches, and spent time taking pictures and exploring the area for a while. On the way back down, we met a local who gave us some information about other hikes we could do. The leaders decided to give our students the option of either going on another two-mile hike or exploring the historic gold mine village (i.e. “Boomtown”).

Ed, Beck, Rose, and Grant explored Boomtown with Isa, Norah, Allison, January, and Sofi. The historical buildings were interesting, but did not compare to the fun of pushing each other on an old piece of a mine cart and prospecting for gold in the stream. As we walked through the village, a low cloud came floating through, too! A few of us high stepped so we could say we walked on clouds. 🙂 

The rest of the gang – Amanda, Dave, Aaron, Paige, Anthony, Ruby B., Ruby S., Chloe, Luke, Jude, Tate, Oliver, Cooper, Anaya, and Bryson – did an out and back hike on the April Bowl Trail, where we saw breathtaking views of the alpine lakes and even hiked through a cloud! The views felt like a little slice of heaven.

• We played in the snow… in July!
• Gummy bears are the best hiking fuel.
• Going over road bumps are a lot more fun (and bouncy) in a 15-passenger van