Aspiro Adventure!

I just got back from a 2 week adventure last night (I worked an extra shift to make up for the shift I missed earlier this summer). Both weeks were spent in Ouray, UT. Ouray is like an oasis in a desert! It is gorgeous there. All kinds of animals live in the many canyons: wild horses, buffalo, eagles, elk, deer, etc. My first week we back packed in Wednesday through Sunday a total of about 26 miles. The students did really well especially the newbies. Only a couple melt downs, but it was so much fun nonetheless. We saw some buffalo and horses grazing in a field (they weren't wild sadly, a lot of horse ranchers bring their mules and horses to Ouray to run them and graze). Sunday was an intense hike up a gigantic hill and we hiked about 4 miles that day (about a mile every 30 minutes). I was really proud of our group! My second week I switched to a new group and we headed to Ouray again for some light backpacking. We back packed in Wednesday evening for 6 miles and we booked it in, our pace was 20 minutes per mile. We camped at a nice area with a big meadow. While we camped there we did some day hikes, fished, played some baseball (we carved a baseball bat out of a branch, I should have gotten a picture of it. It was pretty legit. We found a tennis ball along the way and used bark from the trees as bases.), and went swimming in a cool waterfall. I didn't think fish could actually live in such small streams, but we had some about a foot long or less. I believe they were Cut Throat Trout (their bellies were a bright neon orange!). It was a pretty relaxing week because the group I was with were pretty accustomed to Aspiro already and very chill (not a lot of bickering, which wasn't really the case with last week's group so it was really nice).
Here are some pictures:

A beautiful Aspen we camped next to. The trunk was massive for an Aspen tree!

A view down East Willow Creek Canyon in Ouray, UT.

(Another view)

A toad in my shelter which I thought was a massive tarantula...I had saw one earlier that morning. Scared me to high heavens. (taken in St. George at Gunlock Reservoir, a climbing trip with Kairos the young adults)

The sun setting at Base Camp in Spring City, UT

One of many trail dogs, Porter. He came with us to St. George. He belongs to Brandon, one of the lead guides. He is so awesome and loveable. The students love having a dog come along, it's therapeutic for them.

In Welcome Springs campground outside St. George.

And we repelled off this! It was so fun. The students were a tad scared, but they all did it! This is with Kairos (young adults) in St. George at Welcome Springs.

A gorgeous cactus flower in St. George.

And we did some rock climbing in St. George. It is in a small canyon at the top of the Bear-Claw Poppy mountain biking trail. They had some decent 5.6 to 5.9's.

Other than that I am in love with my job. I love being outside, I love the students, and I love my co-workers. So far so good! :)