These are a few of my favorite things... to do in Colorado!

In a few short weeks I will be heading back to Denver, Colorado for a short vacation to visit my family. My parents typically come out Nevada to visit once or twice each year however, I usually only get to see my siblings and niece and nephew once a year, when we travel home for the holidays so,  I really  look forward to any and all opportunities that I get to go home and see my family.  All of my immediate family lives within 45 minutes of each other, which makes it easy for me to spend time with everyone when I go home.  When I go home to Colorado, I always look forward to eating at some of my favorite restaurants, visiting my favorite boutiques and breweries, or maybe even seeing a band play. During this upcoming trip in September, my family will most likely have a few family dinners/ movie nights at my sister’s house, and I will definitely spend some quality time with my niece and nephew. One of things I look forward to most when I go back to Colorado is spending time enjoying the outdoor spaces which sparked my love of the outdoors in the first place.  

Whenever I go home, I usually try to plan at least one outdoor adventure.  On one of my first trips back home after my move to Nevada, I hiked Grays and Torreys peaks (for the First time ever).  Colorado has 53 fourteeneers (mountains exceeding 14,000 feet in Elevation) and Grays and Torreys are two of those peaks which you can summit on one day by hiking across the ridgeline from one peak to the other.  We left Denver around four in the morning in order to arrive at the trail head by five AM. It is essential to start high elevation hikes early so that you can avoid the afternoon thunder and lighting, and risk of lightning strike. Early starts also help you to avoid the crowds on popular hikes. Unfortunately, when we reached the summit, we were socked-in by clouds, so the views were not fantastic, but the feeling of accomplishment was still well worth the early morning start. 

On the way up Grays and Torreys, before I had an appropriately sized day pack.

Another memorable outdoor adventure I had while visiting home was going skiing for the first time! Growing up in Colorado, I (shamefully) never learned to ski, so conquering the slopes had been on my bucket list for a long time. Luckily, I have an awesome big brother and sister in-law who were willing to devote an entire day to teaching me how to ski. We went to Mary Jane resort in Winter Park, CO and even though I crashed pretty hard a few times, by the end of the day they had me going down a blue! I can absolutely see how people fall in love with the sport, and I am kicking myself for not taking advantage of the wonderful skiing opportunities in Colorado while I lived just 45 minutes from the slopes. 

Taking in the view with friends during a ski break.

I also had the opportunity to go mountain biking with my brother during one of my visits home to Colorado.  The Mountain biking is Colorado is pretty different from the biking that I usually experience here in Nevada. I am a pretty novice mountain biker, but the routes I usually ride here in Nevada are extremely narrow single track with rolling hills. In Colorado my biking experience was wide well maintained trails with Long climbs followed by long descents. Both experiences are uniquely fun, but the long climbs in Colorado kicked my butt!

I also love to go for short day hikes with my sister and her family whenever I am back in town. We usually head up to evergreen, where we all grew up and hike one of the trails our dad used to take us on when we were kids. I love being surrounded by the big Pine and blue Spruce trees, and exploring the areas that I grew up with the next generation of my family. There is something so special about experiencing the outdoors through the eyes of a child.

Exploring the hole left in the ground by an up-rooted tree with my nephew. He is convinced it is a troll house.

Even though I will only be back for about 3 days this trip, I am hoping to go on at least one family hike, and maybe even to learn how to rock climb/belay with my brother. Even if I don’t go on any epic outdoor adventures, I know that it will be a great time spent with the people that I love. 

Happy Trails!


-Katie

 

10th Annual Buckaroo Dutch Oven Cook-Off Fundraiser!

Nevada Outdoor School celebrated our 15^th birthday as we hosted our 10^th Annual Buckaroo Dutch Oven Cook Off fundraiser this past Saturday, August 11^th where World Champions and beginners came to cook together like old friends!  This year we had 11 teams compete in four different categories including 4 youth teams with team Pickachu West winning 1^st place in the youth category with his delicious and well cooked enchiladas. Teams “Bill & Jane’s Wagon Train” and “Prairie Dogs” from Newmont Mining came in strong to compete with their tasty culinary creations to walk away with 1^st place in both the Bean Master and the (International Dutch Oven Society (IDOS) categories as well as the most coveted “People’s Choice” Award.  

Team Prairie Dogs (Newmont) People's Choice Award Winner
Photo Credit: Third Eye Photography

Special thanks go out to Buckaroo Radio and Nomadic Radio for the super supportive radio coverage, Ferguson for the Yeti Cooler, Nevada Muleys for the Kodiak tent, Jerry Leon for the music and PA system, Jerry Hirsch and Tony Erquiaga for taking pictures and the Winnemucca Convention Center.  Thank you to all of our sponsor donors and team competitors that cooked at the event.  With your help Nevada Outdoor School raised over $7,800 for Outdoor Education opportunities for youth in northern Nevada! 

2018 Raffle Winners:

Yeti Cooler:  Dan Pangburn of Meridian, Idaho

Kodiak Canvas Tent: Travis Morgan of Winnemucca

   

2018 DOCO Winners:

Youth (1 dish)
1st Place: Pickachu West
2nd Place: Mario Brothers
3rd Place: Trever Heard
4th Place: Catherine's Cookin' Kooks

Catherine's Cookin' Kooks
Photo Credit: Third Eye Photography

Chuck Wagon (Main dish)
1st Place: C Bar M
2nd Place: Bree's Basque Café

Bean Master (Main dish and Dessert)
1st Place: Prarie Dogs
2nd Place: Super Cookers

International Dutch Oven Society (IDOS) (Main dish, Bread, Dessert)

Sanctioned category winners can go on to compete in the World Champion Dutch Oven Cook Off in Utah next year.
1st Place: Bill and Jane's Wagon Train
2nd Place: Cast Iron Maiden
3rd Place: Thompson's Dutch Oven Kooks

Thank you to all our cooks, volunteers and everyone in the community who came out to support us!  We really appreciate you all and look forward to seeing you next year!

What's Happening in Elko

It has been one crazy summer so far!  For the past couple of months we’ve been teaching our 1 hour early childhood program Nature at Noon three times per week, teaching the three hour Park and Recreation program Elko Explorers once per week, running three multi-day camps, and a variety of other activities.  It has been one fun and exhausting summer.  It has been filled with laughter and sweat, sunburns and dirt encrusted skin.  It has been fantastic so far and there is much still to come.  

Last week we had a little help with the funding for all of these activities in the Elko and Spring Creek communities.  Barrick asked Nevada Outdoor School to be one of the charity organizations for their 2018 Bob Smith Memorial Golf Tournament.   And as you could have guessed, we said yes.  For almost ten hours last Friday we sat on the tee box of hole #6 (a 535 yard par 5) greeting the Barrick employees and inviting them to play our game.  For a mere $10, teams got the opportunity to spin our “Wheel of Ethics” and answer the corresponding situation-based question about Leave no Trace or Tread Lightly! to gain a 100, 200, or 250 yard advantage.  

For those of you who are unaware, Leave no Trace and Tread Lightly! are education programs that teach people how to take care of the places they love.  Some of the golfers were hesitant when they realized that their yardage advantage hinged on a pop quiz, but when assured that the quiz was more about education and less about tricking them to get the wrong answer, all teams joined in on the fun.    

Golfers learned how deep to bury their poop if they had to dig a cathole (6-8 inches), what durable surfaces would be good for setting up a tent or bad for driving a golf cart (wet and sensitive areas), how they should leave gates (as they were), who should yield to horses (everyone), and important items to bring on a hike to avoid getting lost (a map, compass, GPS, and a clear head).  Overall, it was one excellent day of education and fundraising.  Thank you Barrick!