We hope you enjoyed challenging yourselves up here in the mountains. You guys went big on high ropes, zipline, and the day hike. Two groups summited the twin sisters and another two went up to gem lake. The view from gem lake of the Estes Park valley is one of the best and from atop twin sisters we could see all the mountains from RMNP down to the front range. In the picture below you can see Lumpy Ridge in the middle of the picture, Gem lake is located on the far right of the ridge.
Hiking to the very top of the Twin Sisters
We hope you enjoyed learning about some rocky mountain ecology on your hike. You can continue to explore the natural world, especially since your school is right near the river it is named after. The Cache La Poudre actually starts on the north side of the Mummy Range in RMNP at 9,000 feet, the same elevation as Covenant Heights.
Resting at Treeline, the Mummy Range is in the background
Check out this video from the summit of twin sisters then click on comment and let us know how outdoor ed helped you grow and what you learned.
We had some great weather this week to go with a great time. You guys work hard, challenged yourself and learned a lot.
We went on two different hikes, one around lily lake and the other up twin sisters. One group of highly motivated students made it up to the summit and back in three hours. We’d say that’s easily a covenant heights record. We also seemed to have many injuries, this may have something to do with that speed you demonstrated (or darkness + good acting at campfire).
We hope you guys enjoyed tree ecology, not many schools learn about trees for an entire class. Now that you are experts, try to identify trees at home and at school. If you want to review the ones you saw up here, check out our Plantlife Page.
Let us know what you enjoyed about your time up here.
We got to do some cool things this week. On our day hike in RMNP autumn started showing its colors, we now have lots of yellow aspen trees that go nicely with the green conifers (and the brown ones compliments of the pine beetle). During the hike one group came face to face with a black bear on the trail only a few hundred feet from the parking lot. This time of the year, bears are stocking up on berries for the long winter.
After the hike we headed over to play at alluvial fan. This waterfall area has thousands of giant boulders deposited during the massive lawn lake flood in 1982.
Climbing up the rocks at alluvial fan
We also received a special visit from Hans, Frans, and Schnitzel, you all know what they like and we would like to hear what you liked from your week.
And lastly, with all the crazy zipline action going on this week, we posted a video, so you can relive the experience. (Minus the screaming and freaking out)
The highlight of the week was definitely the hike to Loch Vale. It was chilly and windy when we left the trailhead, but in between the thick clouds and a bit of hail we had sunshine throughout the day.
After passing some beautiful cascades along the trail in Glacier Gorge, we made it to the shore of Loch Vale in time for lunch. The Loch is fed by glaciers and is icy cold, but that didn’t stop one brave parent from taking a swim. Loch Vale is almost three miles from the trailhead at an elevation of 10,180; that’s a thousand feet higher than covenant heights.
Lunchtime on the rocks at Loch Vale
Two groups continued on another mile and a half to Timberline Falls right below Lake of Glass. The trail turns into a waterfall itself as we neared the top. At the base of the falls we touched some leftover snow pack that survived the summer. From atop the falls you can peer up into the cirque and see Taylor Glacier still carving the rock.
Timberline Falls
Lake of Glass below Taylor Glacier
The next morning many students got a glimpse of our resident bear as he was breaking into friendship hall, check out our wildlife page to see a picture of him. Leave a comment below and tell us your favorite memories of your week of outdoor ed.
I’m sure you remember the zipline, but you may have forgotten a few things you learned at Covenant Heights let us remind you.
We learned a lot about water; that Mr. Dawson can spit it really good, that its fun to soak Mr. Rogers, and that it is not so fun to get sprayed by rabid teachers during the survival game on a cold morning.
More importantly we learned about how to investigate our waterways and prevent pollution. This is really important thing to know where you guys live. Little Willow Creek runs right by your school and is part of the South Platte watershed. Run-off from your neighborhoods end up in the South Platte which is damned to form the Chatfield Reservoir which is part of the Denver drinking water supply. We encourage you guys to take care of the water in your area; maybe you can pick up litter on the banks of the stream or keep an eye out for anything that might pollute the water.
We also learned about geology. You can go explore rocks some more in your backyard at Roxborough State Park. We talked about how those big fins of sedimentary rock slid off as Colorado was uplifted by tectonic forces. We also saw the power of erosion and glaciation during our hike along the cub lake trail.
The awesome power of erosion
Lastly, we hope you learned one very important lesson, Beware of attack ducks!
Scarier than an eight legged centipede
Leave a comment telling us what else you learned up here and how it has changed the way you think about the world around you.
