Follow One Student’s Day-by-Day Recap of Their 2026 Changemakers Capstone Outdoor Adventure
Written by Changemaker (and Ripple Effect Award-winning) student Kay Young. At the end of each year, Changemakers has one last week-long trip. Some years the trip is only for fun, some years it ties into our Action Project—this year it was half and half. The original plan had us hiking around Trappers Lake in Flat Tops Wilderness for the first half, then going to 4M Ranch outside Meeker; however due to snow, the Trappers Lake route became impassable. Instead, we copied the Alumni and hiked around Mt. Sopris. Below are two versions of a recap of this unique, week-long Changemakers adventure.
Changemakers Adventure Recap – Short and Silly Version
Day 1, May 31st:
Time mix up! Get a packing. Munch munch lunch. Drive to 1st campsite. Competitive My Cows. Let’s explore! Log bridge…Perhaps log bed? Dinner. Sly campfire resuscitation. Log bed! and star gazing.
Day 2, June 1st
Wakey wakey Oatmeal and fake bakey. Crackly camouflage. Bones and bones and bones. Do we trust the van door? Time to get a shmoovin. THE HILLLS ARE ALIVEEEEEEEE WITH THE SOUND OF MUUUUUSSIIIIIIIIIC. Head down, feet moving, 321CONTACT! Ooooh a lake- hey don’t shop at Costco. Set up and dinner. Bear canisters…We made it work.
Day 3, June 2nd
Wakey wakey no eggs nor bakey, get walking! Hold on to your hats! and micro spikes! and water bottles! and trekking poles! (Thank you Caroline). A sheer clif, sunrise, and Pat Benetar. Finally going the right way. Hasta luego snow shoes! Goodbye friends, hello scree! Thank you rocks.The top: remembering Rocky Mountain High. The decent. Butt sliding. Ohhhhh this is where we were supposed to be. Reunion! and nap. Suspiciously timed rock slide. Watch the taters kids.
Day 4, June 3rd
Down we go, much faster! WITH A SONG THEY HAVE SUNGGGGGG FOR A THOUSAND YEARRSSSSSSSSSS. Eye on your footing, eye on the clouds. Eating in the van. Do we trust the van door pt 2. Short My Cows interlude. Dear shoppers, please ignore the feral mountain children invading the place. Stop by the Ranger Station—I think Alex could win against a bear. Long My Cows interlude. Wow I wonder who chose The Sound of Music. The woman, the myth, the legend, Deidre Mcnab + the wonderful Rio. Honk mimimi under the stars.
Day 5, June 4th
Rise and shine, load up prospective beavers! Frogs, and birds, and vegetation oh my! Beaver reconnaissance. Lunch time. Time to beave! Dirt, grime, and a job well done. Run for the river. Din din.
Day 6, June 5th
Goodbye 4M Ranch, goodbye Deidre, goodbye Rio. EXTREMELY competitive My Cows. Lunch! Rifle falls. Medals. Mushy mush. How many teenagers does it take to devour a tub of ice cream in 5 minutes? Comparatively less competitive My Cows and song guessing. The dreaded deissue.
The (Almost) Full Version:
Day 1, May 31st
We started off strong with a miscommunication on start times. All the Changemakers arrived about 30 minutes before the Instructors. While this may not have made the best impression on parents, it was a testament to the responsibility and organization skills we had learned over the year; we began packing our personal gear without instruction.
Once the Instructors arrived, the rest of the packing went rather smoothly, aside from an impromptu run to the grocery store. We decided to eat lunch before going on the road, picnicking on the asphalt outside the Gear Room.
On the road, we began our trip-long game of My Cow; the rules of this game are simple: see cows, yell “My cows!” and whoever has the most cows wins. Once we arrived at our campsite, an established area a few minutes from the Mt. Sopris trailhead, we set up tents and took some time to explore. The area had a quiet sort of beauty: short, shrubby trees with a nearby stream providing more foliage if ventured into. It was by this stream that our group discovered a bunch of logs that formed a sort of deck over the water. It was quite the spot, so about half of us spent the time before dinner relaxing there.
Dinner itself was pleasantly uneventful, and afterwards we managed to speedily resuscitate a fire left by another group. The weather was nice enough that more people slept outside their tent than in; three of us even went down by the stream, two on the crude deck and one on the bank.
Day 2, June 1st
Our wake-up time was reasonable, but if we wanted any time to play games we’d have to hustle. Breakfast was oatmeal; due to the time constraints, it was more individual than normal: get up, get your oatmeal, get packing. After cramming our gear into our bags best we could, we had time to play Camouflage. After Camouflage, we loaded into the van for a rickety drive to the trailhead; many wide-eyed sidelong glances were thrown at the van door, but it thankfully did its job. The hike was around 5 miles, but it was as taxing as it was beautiful.
Personally, parts of the trek brought the Austrian Alps to mind, and the others can attest to the number of times they heard me gasp out “the hillllllssssss are aliveeeeeeeee with the sounddddd of muuuuusiiiiiic” in between huffs. We stopped for a lunch of walking tamales in a grove of aspen trees. The details will be spared, but I would refrain from asking us about the walking tamales for the chance of producing an a-thousand-yard-stare. We will not be packing them on trips again. Once we had convinced our legs to move again, we continued.
After reaching the first set of lakes, we gleefully shed our packs and searched for paedomorphic salamanders (think axolotl). Sadly, we did not find any salamanders, but we did find a rather heated discussion on grocery stores. Will Erin ever forgive Costco for kicking a herd of deer from their homes? We eventually made our way to the campsites and picked one out for ourselves. Although before setting up tents, stoves, or water, another trip to the lake was necessary. This lake was smaller and more shallow than the previous, but, being derived only from glacier melt, was a marvelous crystal blue color. We ate dinner with gusto, then went to bed early in anticipation of our early start.
Day 3, June 2nd
Our 3rd day started with a 3 AM wake-up call. We got ready by the light of our headlamps and ate breakfast on the trail. For more details on Days 3 – 6 of the Changemakers adventure, see the above Short and Silly Version of the trip recap.
A big thank you to the funders and supporters who help make the Changemakers adventure possible, including: Larrk Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, Thorne Nature Experience, and Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program.
If you are also passionate about getting students outside to have unique learning experiences, please consider making a donation or becoming a monthly donor! You’ll help invest in our students, programs, and long-term sustainability and success!
