The Crazy Caterpillars of Montana Mini has been off to a great start!
Our journey started with beautiful drive into a foreboding cloud. We watched as mist rolled over the mountains, awestruck by the beauty but slightly apprehensive about setting up camp in the rain…
Our band of caterpillars were absolute troupers, embracing the rain with open arms and smiles. We learned to set up tents before huddling under our rain tarp with the classic first day Alpengirl Welcome Burritos. Still chilly, our spirits remained high as we crowned our first Alpenolympic winner: Piper, for her beautiful front flip summersault toothpaste spray! Settling in for the night, we went to bed excited about rafting the next day!
On day two we woke up to sun! Such a gift after a night of rain. We had a lovely chat with our LOD (Leader of the Day) Heidi before waking up the rest of our crew. Our morning was spent finishing up teaching, as we learned about bears and lightning and even how to poop in the backcountry! Our crew of friendship bracelet making wizards absolutely crushed it.
We had a great skill bead talk and decided what we want to accomplish this week. Lola and the rest of the crew jumped right in during dinner to start working towards their cooking beads!
After a lunch wrap, it was time for rafting! We got to suit up in some beautiful wetsuits and bright blue splash guards and red helmets, to mixed reactions from the crew. Rafting was so exciting! Brynn, Dagny, Scarlett and Del were our fearless leaders, at the front of our boats taking the waves and Nella even went for a swim!
Two lovely hours on the river later, we returned to Borris Charles the First (our trusty van). Riding the high from rafting, we came back to camp for some much needed rest time and an appetizer of caprese on toothpicks. Dinner was a chicken rice noodle salad, and we were all excited after a long day in the sun.
Next up it was time for our fire! Our fire bead crew did such a good job with less than ideal circumstances, because the rain had made all the wood wet. Blake did a great job gathering small, dry sticks. We still managed to make smoky s’mores and a tiny but mighty fire, before closing out our night with some reflections, or at least we thought…!
Right as we were headed to bed it started to thunder! And then lightning came! We were so ready to be done with the rain after last night but the weather did not cooperate! We made our way to Borris to wait out the storm. Music playing, friendship bracelets being made and string lights hung, we played games and watched the lightning pass.
Half an hour later we emerged, ready to move some tents away from the rain. Del, Flynn, Addie and Nella had taken up puddles in their tent but jumped into action! We decided to move the tent to flatter ground and managed to have such a good time doing it. Under the glow of headlamps and to the sound of laughter, we emptied the tent and used all the towels in sight to mop up puddles. Even with the rain our spirits were high, and our wet tent crew still keeping the stoke high, we did our best to dry everything before heading to bed.
Day three! Backpacking! It was an earlier morning with our LOD’s Addie and Brynn, who we shared coffee with before waking the rest of the crew. We fueled with pancakes and peanut butter and chocolate chips (with a few sprinkles too!!) to get us ready for our packing party. We learned how to pack backpacks for backpacking, how to open bear cans, and how to fit a pack! The caterpillars did such a good job and can’t wait to hit the trail!
We’re super excited to explore the backcountry together and can’t wait for so much more laugher, glitter, smiles, and girls crushing hard things in the woods!
This post was beautifully crafted by co-leaders: Julia and Clara 🙂