It’s been a while since I found something blogworthy to post about, but yesterday was an excellent adventure.

    I have been trying to be more active with the Junior and Devo programs at APU, finding that not only is it good to volunteer and help out with my club, but it is incredibly fun for me too.  These kids have so much energy, and they seem to respond well to my fairly immature sense of humor.  I am not sure that they look up to me that much because I think I relate to them as kind of a kid anyway, but it’s a blast to play soccer with them, teach them spenst exercises, and go on adventures with them.   Another thing that is very cool about working with them is how much they respond to enthusiasm, so if you’re psyched about skiing, they will be too. This was an excellent afternoon with them!

    As a massive herd of around thirty or forty kids, we descended on the Glen Alps parking lot and started biking up the trail to Powerline Pass.  I had never even been all of the way up it, and I never really mountain bike, so it was a fresh new experience for me as well.  When the trail got really hairy and steep we dropped the bikes and hiked up to the top, and then part-way up Avalanche Peak to the north of the pass.  It was a clear day, and when we were not in the shadow of a mountain it was the perfect temperature as well.  Biking back down in the shade was pretty darn cold, but some awesome parents (it is really incredible how involved and supportive they are) made us all breakfast for dinner so we had hot pancakes and sausage shortly afterwards.  Just hanging out with the kids and telling stories was a blast.  We watched some gnarly back-country videos as well, and all in all it was a superb way to spend the second half of my day.

    I wish we had a group like this when I was growing up!  Going on adventures on in-service days like yesterday would have been super exciting, and if there is a huge group going, it always seems to be easier to get it together and go.

    Here are some pictures from the hike/bike: