Camp Dates

Jon Weiser

Nickname: “Weis Guy”

Cabin: Massive

Hails from: Chicago, IL

Schooling: Studying Environmental Policy at Colorado College

Years at Sanborn: 9^th Year

Favorite Fruit: Banana

Best Skill: Singing like Diana Ross

Most exotic place I’ve visited: Tierra del Fuego

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Ocean Breeze

Biggest Fear: Crocodiles and Alligators

Favorite Disney Character: Russell (the boy from “Up”)

Strange Habit: I only sleep on my left side

Favorite Circus Performer: Trapeze artist

Dream Adventure: Backpacking across Southeast Asia

Biggest Influence: Sam, my friend

Silly Fact: Had tonsils removed twice.

Most excited about this summer: Spending time with the Massive Mavericks.

Favorite Quote: “It’s a great day for hockey.” -Bob Johnson

Jake Gulliver

Cabin: Massive

Hails from: Tempe, Arizona

Schooling: Studying Life at Arizona State University

Years at Sanborn: 1^st Year

Favorite Fruit: Tangelos because they’re always a surprise, usually a delicious surprise.

Best Skill: Drinking massive amounts of coffee

Favorite movie: Badlands

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Strawberry-Mint

Biggest Fear: Falling into a ravine

Favorite Disney Character: Pluto

Strange Habit: I like the taste of plastic.

Favorite Circus Performer: The elephant

Dream Adventure: Exploring all that Alaska has to offer.

Biggest Influence: Taylor Swift

Silly Fact: If you have to ask, you haven’t met me.

Most excited about this summer: Hanging out in beautiful Colorado and opening kids’ minds to the wonder of Nature.

Favorite Quote: “What doesn’t kill you probably hurts an awful lot.”

Max Gurley

Cabin: Massive

Hails from: Louisville, Kentucky

Schooling: Studying at the University of Louisville

Years at Sanborn: 2^nd Year

Best Skill: Beat-boxing

Favorite movie: Forrest Gump

Most exotic place you’ve visited: Egypt

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Irish Spring

Biggest Fear: The Unkown

Favorite Disney Character: Simba (from “The Lion King”)

Strange Habit: I’m very organized.

What you’d be in a circus act: The circus freak.

Dream Adventure: Trying through the rainforest to find exotic animals.

Biggest Influence: My grandmother.

Silly Fact: I have webbed toes.

Most excited about this summer: Opening my mind and meeting new people.

Favorite Quote: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” -Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Zach Smith

Cabin: Massive

Hails from: Parker, Colorado

Schooling: Creative Writing Major at Colorado College

Years at Sanborn: 1^st Year

Favorite Fruit: Star fruit because of it’s unique shape.

Best Skill: Dislocating my shoulders

Favorite movie: Winter’s Bone

Most exotic place you’ve visit: Alpine Valley near Mt. Sherman

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Anything “Tropical”

Biggest Fear: Loneliness

Favorite Disney Character: Woody (from “Toy Story”)

Strange Habit: I love eating black licorice.

Favorite Circus Performer: The elephant tamer

Dream Adventure: Touring Iceland on a magic carpet.

Biggest Influence: My parents

Silly Fact: I once dyed my hair purple with a not-so “temporary” spray.

Most excited about this summer: The Juniors.

Favorite Quote: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” Jackie Robinson

Parker Lyman

Cabin: Redcloud

Hails from: Fort Collins, Colorado

Schooling: Studying it all at Colorado State University

Years at Sanborn: 1^st Year

Favorite Fruit: Peaches because they’re delish.

Best Skill: Snowboarding

Favorite movie: No Country for Old Men

Most exotic place you’ve visited: Spain, England, Wales, and France

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Whatever cleans my hair

Biggest Fear: Drowning

Favorite Disney Character: Buzz Lightyear

Strange Habit: Using words out of contacts [sic].

What you’d be in a circus act: The World’s Tallest Midget

Dream Adventure: Traveling the world in a hot air balloon.

Biggest Influence: My mommy.

Silly Fact: Me

Most excited about this summer: Everything Sanborn

Favorite Quote: “Never a borrower nor a lender be.” -William Shakespeare

Gianin Bardill

Nickname: “G”

Cabin: Redcloud

Hails from: Pany, Switzerland

Schooling: Studying Education at PHGR in Switzerland

Years at Sanborn: 1^st Year

Favorite Fruit: Nectarin

Best Skill: I speak Swiss-German

Favorite movie: The Green Mile

Most exotic place you’ve visited: Colorado

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Woody woods

Biggest Fear: What is “fear”?

Favorite Disney Character: Dumbo

Strange Habit: Biting my skin.

What you’d be in a circus act: The clown

Dream Adventure: To go BASEjumping.

Biggest Influence: My dad.

Silly Fact: My hat.

Most excited about this summer: Seeing how camps in America differ from camps in Switzerland.

Favorite Quote: “Wer geduld nat und hann warten, dem bluhen die Rosen im garten.” -Translation coming…

Kyle Kotzman

Cabin: Redcloud

Hails from: Kansas City, Kansas

Schooling: “Rock Chalkin’” from University of Kansas as a recent graduate.

Years at Sanborn: 2^nd Year

Favorite movie: The Patriot

Most exotic place you’ve visited: An island off the coast of Belize

Biggest Fear: Lions, tigers, and bears. (Oh, my!)

Favorite Disney Character: Rafiki

Strange Habit: Not completely filling out my Staff Bio.

Dream Adventure: Bushwhacking through the Amazon Rainforest in search of undiscovered tribes.

Biggest Influence: Coach White and Ms. Kincaid

Silly Fact: The word “hello” was invented because no one knew how to start a telephone conversation.

Most excited about this summer: Going on adventures with the Redcloud Roughriders

Favorite Quote: “Dont’ stop, won’t stop.”

Paul Guinn

Cabin: Redcloud

Hails from: Lafayette, Louisiana

Schooling: Stufying Finance at Louisiana State University

Years at Sanborn: 1^st Year

Favorite Fruit: Pineapple because it’s like a pine cone only delicious!

Best Skill: Swimming

Favorite movie: Almost Famous

Most exotic place you’ve visited: South Africa

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Clean Breeze

Biggest Fear: Drowning

Favorite Disney Character: Mickey Mouse

Strange Habit: Can’t sleep with any light on.

What you’d be in a circus act: Lion Tamer

Dream Adventure: Backpacking across South America

Biggest Influence: My dad

Silly Fact: I won biggest tongue at my high school all four years.

Most excited about this summer: Living and working in the mountains.

Favorite Quote: “All I can do is be me, whoever that is.” -Bob Dylan

Palmer Hilton

Nickname: “The all seeing eye!”

Role at camp: Junior Ridgeleader

Hails from: Las Vegas, Nevada

Schooling: Studying History and Political Science at Becknell University

Years at Sanborn: 3^rd Year

Favorite Fruit: Peaches because of the movie “Holes”.

Best Skill: I can fly…

Favorite movie: The Big Lebowski

Most exotic place you’ve visited: Scotland

Favorite Shampoo Scent: Peppermint

Biggest Fear: James Nicoll (STUW Counselor)

Favorite Disney Character: Simba

Strange Habit: I hibernate during the winter months.

What you’d be in a circus act: The guy getting shot out of the cannon.

Dream Adventure: Backpacking up (or down) the California coastline.

Biggest Influence: My high school history teacher.

Silly Fact: I used to be a T-Rex.

Most excited about this summer: Leading the Junior Program

Favorite Quote: “Don’t hesitate or allow yourself to make excuses. Just get out and do it. Just get out and do it. You will be very, very glad that you did.” -Alexander Supertramp

We had some great trips on Monday and Tuesday, including our first mountain climb of the session!  A very excited and proud group from High Trails reached the summit of 14,265’ Quandary Peak early Tuesday morning.  Many campers spent two days in the saddle on horse overnights while others camped out on the Ranch for the Wild Things Overnight and the Gourmet Overnight.

Our SOLE and CORE trips are having a lot of fun and challenging themselves on their 5-day adventures.  Two SOLE Mountain trips are working with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative this week, doing trail maintenance on one of our “Adopt-A-Peak” mountains in Missouri Gulch.  The CORE rock climbing trips have been climbing at our Wild Goat Mountain Site and the CORE Mountain Bike trip has ridden many miles on the camp trails.  The SOLE and CORE Horse Trips have learned a lot about riding and covered some beautiful territory.

Today, Unit All-days were on the program for campers at Big Spring.  Each living unit chose their own adventure and had a super time.  At High Trails, the girls chose from a variety of all-day trips—River All Day, Mueller Ranch All-Day, Find Your Way Back All-Day, Horse All-Day and many more.  The Sanborn Junior girls hiked through the Bat Caves to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.

Our Outbackers and Junior Counselors met up today for a “thrilling” rafting trip on the Arkansas River.  The JCs were at the end of their special three-day trip, while the Outbackers are just beginning their three-days together.  Both groups are visiting the Great Sand Dunes National Monument.

Tomorrow, most of Big Spring and High Trails will be heading out for two-day trips including three more mountain climbs, a Wheeler Trail Backpacking trip, a Puma Hills 2-day, a Canoe Overnight, and several Horse Overnights.

Sadly, our Sanborn Junior campers will be packing tomorrow and taking advantage of last chance activities, in preparation for their departure on Friday.  They have been a wonderful group and we will miss them.

Look for more news on Sunday, as well as photos from the week.

Using recycled materials such as the old concrete rock from the Big Spring pool (the now rock house), mud and straw from Witcher and our rock quarry, and some old roofing and poles from the woodshed, we are able to construct a pretty neat little cob oven here. It will be used for pizza parties, a new Gourmet Overnight camp site and baking/cooking all-days in the future. And did I mention pizza?

“Sometimes,’ said Pooh, ‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” ― A.A. Milne

July 22, 2012

We had some fabulous all-day trips on Thursday and Friday.  The weather was warm and sunny and the canoeing trips had “the best day ever” at Eleven-Mile Reservoir.  The High Trails Juniors loved their Thursday tubing trip on the South Platte River as did a group of older girls who chose this adventure on Friday.  Several groups climbed on the fabulous rocks at The Crags and Pancake Rocks on the west side of Pikes Peak, and others enjoyed rock scrambling on the camp property.

We had several trips to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, and campers found many leaves and insects at the special digging site we visit after seeing the huge Sequoia Stumps at the Monument.  One girl even found an insect that has not been discovered before at that location!  The Big Spring Junior campers enjoyed this trip on Friday.

High Ropes Course, Horseback Riding, Mountain Biking, Fishing, Cripple Creek….these were also some of the great trips campers participated in last week.

We have had a full weekend with Saturday Special Activities yesterday morning and Hike the Pike in the afternoon.  For Hike the Pike, campers may choose to hike up to 6 miles, and the camp makes a donation to charity for each mile walked.  Many campers participated and some even did the route twice, walking 12 miles!  Last night we had a coed ice cream social and dance, which was fun for everyone.

Sunday is always a day to clean-up, organize and get ready for upcoming adventures.  Today was warm, so the pools were also very popular places.  Tonight, each camp celebrated our traditional Sunday Rocks service at dusk.

We had a little excitement this weekend with a mother bear and her cub roaming nearby looking for dinner.  Many campers and staff caught a peek of the small brown bear and her tiny baby.  We have been working closely with Colorado Wildlife officers who brought a live trap in order to relocate the pair.  We are also extremely careful to pick up all of our trash three times a day, and this has apparently made all the difference because we have not seen the bears for 48 hours—apparently they have moved on in search of a better diner.

We have a lot going on this week.  Both camps have many overnight and all-day trips this week including mountain climbs, horseback 2-days, Capture the Flag Overnights, River trips, canoe trips and much more.  This is also the week for our SOLE (Sanborn Outdoor Learning Experience) and CORE (Community Outreach Experience) Trips, offered to campers who have completed the 8th and 9th grades.  Campers choose from trips specializing in mountain climbing, horseback riding, technical rock climbing, and mountain biking.  Each 5-day adventure includes a service component as well as a great deal of learning in the chosen activity area.

Our photographers are hard at work uploading this week’s photos to our website.  You can check them out tomorrow morning.  We’ll have another written update next Wednesday.

July 18, 2012

Everyone is back in camp tonight after very successful cabinside and unit overnights.  All groups are reporting that they had many adventures and explored some beautiful countryside.  The girls returned yesterday for dinner, and then had a fun evening of Cabinside Skits recounting the high points of their trips.  Today, after a morning in-camp program, the girls had a special afternoon program—the Adventure Relay.  Each team is composed of a girl from every cabin and the teams compete in a variety of fun short camp activities.  It is a wild and crazy afternoon which helps campers get to know girls from the other cabins and helps to build community.

The boys returned from their overnights this afternoon and are looking forward to their skit night tonight.  Tomorrow, both camps will begin some super all-day trips including Horseback All-days, River Trips, Canoe Trips, Rock scrambling on the West side of Pikes Peak, Fishing and Technical rock climbing.

The Big Spring Juniors will be doing a lot of horseback riding tomorrow and, on Friday will hike through the Bat Caves (which don’t really have any bats) to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.  The High Trails Juniors are looking forward to their trip to the South Platte River for tubing tomorrow.  On Friday, they will be riding, hiking, and swimming.

We are looking forward to our adventures over the next few days.  We will send another update on Sunday and will post photos from the week on Sunday night.  Jane

Cedar Lodge West Cabinside Overnight

By Anna S. and Carter J.

Cedar Lodge wet went to Bull Springs campsite on July 16, 2012. We walked the seemingly long two mile hike. Our packs were heavy, the sun was hot and the path was mostly uphill, yuck! Once we got to our beautiful campsite, we immediately set up camp and prepared for rain, and rain it did! We were stuck in our tents for two or three hours, sitting, reading and sleeping. Once the rain finally ended, we sat on a rock and told stories. Later I went rock scrambling with my two friends. It took a mile to reach the top, just in time to see the breath taking Colorado sunset. I have never seen something more beautiful! When it started to get dark we knew it was time to leave. Luckily we made it down the mountain just in time for a delicious batch of crepes. After our long journey and sweet reward, we settled down, got ready for bed and prepared for another amazing day!

Silver Spruce West

By Mollie A.

We went to Aspen Springs yesterday and our backpacks were so heavy – it was not even funny! When we got there we felt so light that we felt like we could fly to the moon! We had bagel sandwiches for lunch and for dinner. It rained on us, but after the rain we pulled out dead trees from the ground. We made a fort from the trees we pulled out! YEA us!!! Then we went to top of the world and played some awesome games. We had so much fun on that trip! Yea us!

Colorado is such a beautiful place. It is so much different than my home in Seattle. I love the mountains, big gorgeous meadows and the red rocky ground! I love the hot sun and all the horses and cows running around. I really like not being able to text people as well! I feel like I am so free and can be myself here. I want to ride the HORSES!

By Katelyn

I love being back home in Colorado! I have been waiting all year to come back to Sanborn. I have had so much fun at camp already! I love being a JC to my home girls at Ponderosa East! Our cabinside overnight was so fun. It’s amazing to be able to see/ spend time with all my old friends! I’m so excited to see what my adventure will be at camp!

By Madeline L.

Silver Spruce Wests’ Cabinside Overnight

Our cabinside overnight was the best! The hike to our campsite, Aspen Spring, was beautiful and took less than an hour. Aspen trees and towering pines lined the path and it was the perfect temperature. When we got to our campsite, we had the gourmet classic… bagel sandwiches! After our growling stomachs were silenced, we set up our tents. Right after that, as if on cue, it started raining so we all went and relaxed in our tents. Fajitas were for dinner. They were delicious! The best part of them was the onions, they were the best I’ve ever had! Hanging up the bear bag was next on our list, we ties Kelsey’s water bottle to the string and threw it over the branch of a very tall tree. Then we hiked to Top of the World and watched the beautiful Colorado sunset!

If you have ever though that you have seen true beauty, you are wrong – unless you were on our cabinside overnight. Everybody was at Top of the World and we stared at the clouds, were enchanted by the mountains, and discovered integrity, resilience, and courage within ourselves with grow strong. They the moment that really snatched our breath away was when the sun started to sink beneath the mountainous horizon. The sky was flooded with breathtaking shades of red, yellow, orange, and a delicate pink. Then our jaws all dropped and we were all just staring at the sunset at Top of the World.

By Elizabeth M.

Today we got back from our cabinside overnight, on the way back a cat named Yo-Yo followed us home. When we were on our cabinside overnight we played an acting game where two people went back to back, and take three steps and turn. Then someone shouts out something, for example: Justin Bieber. The people act it out and whoever has the best imitation, wins! We played all night and when it was raining we would throw shoes from tent to tent with notes in them, and that was my cabinside overnight.

Grace M.

My Cabinside Overnight

Today I came back from my cabinside overnight. My cabin, Crystal Palace East, hiked up to Witcher’s Pond. All of our backpacks were really heavy and full of food and tents. When we got to our campsite we put up our tents and had lunch. It started to rain a bit after we had eaten lunch. I got in my tent and tried to zip up the rain fly, but it was stuck, so me and two other girls went to the next tent as quick as we could. We were in there for an hour and it still hadn’t rained very much. Another girl joined our tent and we talked for about three hours. It was fun because I got to know more about people that were in my cabin. After a while it got really hot in the tent, so we went outside and played games. It was super fun and it made me laugh a lot. It got very windy after that, so we layered up and went to go have dinner. It was a great dinner, Mac and Cheese with a vegetable stir fry – YUM! For dessert we had “crepes” with chocolate and fruit. We were all super full afterwards and felt like we were going to barf. We gathered up all the dishes and pots and went to the spring tank to clean them. It was actually really fun. We had an awesome method where when it was clean we would spin in circles really fast to get the water out. We came skipping back to the “kitchen”and our counselors and AC were really confused. We brushed our teeth and put everything smelly in the bear bags.

We went up to a really high tree and my counselor and AC climbed the tree to put the rope in. Everyone helped to pull up the bear bag. After that we went back to our campsite and laid out our sleeping pad and bag outside. Our counselor told up we couldn’t sleep outside unless we could find 200 stars. We did and it was really fun sleeping outside and the stars were really pretty. At three in the morning we heard a cow, a really annoying cow! It kept coming closer every moo! It was the most annoying sound ever!

Breakfast was delicious! It was chocolate chip pancakes. YUM! After that we packed up and headed back to High Trails. On the way back we saw Big Spring Boys hiking to their campsite. Over all, my cabinside overnight was an amazing experience! Everyone in my cabin was really excited!

By Stephanie B.