Outdoor Leadership, Environmental Stewardship, and Adventure Shaped a Year of Growth for our 2025–2026 Changemakers Outdoor Leadership Corps
Written by Erin Angel, Senior Instructor, Changemakers & Alumni Coordinator. From the first hike in Chautauqua in August to the capstone trip to the summit of Mt. Sopris, our 2025-2026 Changemakers were always aiming high. Our year of adventure, environmental stewardship and outdoor leadership began with bonding over many people’s mutual dislike of beans, which, for some reason we had every meeting.
Our first big trip in September was a three-day service trip working with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado to repair _____ trail (forgotten name), which had been loved to death. We survived blowing tents, hauled rocks, and peeled logs to build steps and build new relationships with each other. We followed up that trip with a backpacking trip to Taylor Mountain. We spent the weekend learning outdoor skills, playing games, making burn spoons, and enjoying truly spectacular views of Longs Peak.
In December we had our holiday party at a warmer place than our gear room – the Louisville Library, where we did a scavenger hunt to get us primed for action project research. When we came back from break, we spent three days learning Wilderness First Aid. We were joined by some Changemakers alumni and the Cottonwood Institute founder, Ford Church. In between bandaging bloody limbs and building improvised splints, we planned our Winter Snow Camping Trip.
Last winter was historically short on snowpack, but we finally found a place with enough snow to build our quinzees. We pulled sleds and hiked deep into the woods at 10,000 ft and spent the whole day building our snow shelters. The next day a gray jay kept us entertained by stealing our cheeseballs while we chose our action project focus – wetland habitat loss.
We co-hosted a Career Fair with Environmental Learning for Kids in Aurora. During the fair we updated our resumes, had mock interviews and chatted with environmental and outdoor orgs that were hiring for the summer. In between trips and classes and fairs, we tried to also stay focused on our project.
Just about the time we really locked in on the project, we helped Changemakers Alumni host our third annual Cottonwood Ancestral Skills Gathering. Almost 100 people from all over the area spent the day together teaching and learning things like spinning, felting, mending, navigation, friction fire and more. As that wrapped up, we began really planning our week-long capstone trip in earnest.
We finally got snow in mid-May, which completely blocked the trails in Flattops Wilderness where we planned to go. We’d spent all that time planning routes only to have to switch to a backpacking trip in Carbondale at the last minute. Our disappointment was short-lived as we frolicked in the wildflowers and gazed in awe at Mt. Sopris. After backpacking up to our gorgeous lake-side basecamp, we woke up for a 3am alpine start to summit the mountain, slipping and sliding and breaking through the snowpack up and up. It was challenging, and sometimes a little scary (thank you rocks, for not sliding down the mountain) but the views from the top and the sense of accomplishment were worth the struggle. We carried that determination with us to 4M Ranch in Meeker, where we completed our action project of building beaver dam analogs to welcome beavers back to a spring-fed stream. Disgustingly muddy, we rinsed off in the River. (We did NOT swim!) The next day we said goodbye to our amazing host, Deirdre MacNab.
We finished our year with a goodbye circle at Rifle Falls State Park. The year had flown by, and now the summer has too. It’s time to begin another cycle of making new friends and deepening old friendships, hiking hard and learning new things. See you all soon!
A big thank you to the funders and supporters who help make the Changemakers Program possible, including: Larrk Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, Thorne Nature Experience, and Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program.
If you, too, are passionate about getting students outside for environmental stewardship and adventure, please consider making a donation or becoming a monthly donor! You’ll help invest in our students, programs, and long-term sustainability and success.
