Another update from Big Wild!
July 9, 2024
What’s happening, Big Wild 3B families! We are back again to update you on our big wild adventure. What a ride it has been so far! After wrapping up our backpacking adventure, we hit the ground running with our rock climbing section. The group started the adventure with an amazing hash brown breakfast whipped up by Frances! We then rolled into Grand Teton National Park and were immediately impressed with the views! We met our Exum rock climbing guides and learned how to stack ropes, tie a figure-eight knot, and set an anchor! After brushing up on some safety and rope skills, we headed further into the park and took a boat ride across Jenny Lake. We started off with some bouldering, where Paige and Hunter showcased their talents and flew up those boulders. We then had an unexpected guest—a black bear. After saying goodbye to our new friend from a safe viewing distance, we headed onto our next challenge: a multi-pitch climb. With some butterflies in our stomachs, the group set up and attacked it with confidence. Hunter and Annabelle demonstrated their newly learned skills and absolutely crushed the climb. After finishing up our climb, we had a quick lunch on top of the rocks and planned the following day with our incredible guides. The group had a full day of climbing and headed back to the campsite. Frances made her famous stir fry for the group, and man, was it a crowd-pleaser. James led the group in sharpening the kiddos’ hacky sack skills!
Day two of rock climbing was quite the day! With some experience under our belts, the group was ready to take on some bigger peaks. The group split up into smaller teams in order to cover more ground. Pierce and Cassie put on a clinic and flew up the wall on a multi-pitch trad climb. Trevor and Jane put it all on the line, channeling their inner Alex Honnold, and spider-monkeyed their way up the wall. After some top rope and multi-pitch action, the group ended the day with some rappels, including a nearly 80-foot overhang wall! The group then hiked back and said goodbye to the park. There is only one way to celebrate a successful activity on Moondance: ice cream! We headed to Moo’s in downtown Jackson Hole, and the group got some well-deserved ice cream after crushing those climbs. The group got the opportunity to explore Jackson Hole on a town day and gathered some souvenirs. James and Jackson whipped up some delicious flank steak gyros for the group. After a few quick games of death-sack, the group went to watch the sunset over the Tetons, which was absolutely stunning. We then got some much-needed rest for our pilgrimage to the Salmon River for our rafting section.
Idaho travel day was unlike any day we have had so far, but it sure was a time. With an early breakfast of sausage and eggs, we filled our bellies and hit the road! We drove through the newly renovated Teton Pass and were all amazed by the views it had to offer. After many jam sessions, dance parties, and some intense name games, we took a break to stretch our legs and get some much-needed grub. With many miles left to cover, Trevor and Hunter displayed their knowledge and dominated the group in the name game. Many of us were able to cross a new state off the map as we made it to Idaho!
We woke up early the next morning full of excitement for our first day of rafting and the Fourth of July! We met our guides at the river and were already blown away by the views of the Salmon. After dividing into our respective rafts and having a safety talk, we were off on the river! We spent the holiday enjoying this gorgeous river and occasionally cooling off by pushing each other into the water. James brought a huge water gun on our rafting adventure, which proved to be a crowd-pleaser and kept us all entertained! After we stopped for lunch on a nearby beach, we continued on to our camp for the evening. We spent the evening playing spikeball and hacky sack, where Jackson and Glynn Rachel proved to be the best players in the group. For dinner, we celebrated the holiday with a classic American cookout filled with burgers and fries. Julia stepped out of her comfort zone by trying her first-ever burger! It was an amazing Fourth of July!
We hit the ground running for our second day of rafting with an early start and a yummy French toast breakfast. Today’s adventure on the river consisted of several class 3 rapids that required disciplined paddling. Before we headed down each rapid, we stepped off the river with our guides to scout the best route. All of our group enjoyed learning about the different types of rapids and how to best navigate them. After we completed the rapids, we took a well-deserved lunch break. We spent the afternoon competing in a spikeball tournament and building our very own slip-n-slide with the rafts. Trevor, James, and Hunter helped make the slide extra fun by lifting it up to make sure everyone caught air before hitting the water. We spent the evening enjoying fajitas and a new group favorite dessert, pineapple upside-down cake, before getting some well-deserved rest.
After an amazing night of sleep under the Idaho stars, we set off for our third day of rafting. This day was extra special as we traveled to the end of the Salmon River and crossed into the Snake River. While doing so, we also traveled through the gorgeous Green Canyon, filled with beautiful high cliffs on each side of the river. While in the canyon, Hunter and Julia impressed us all with their backflipping abilities off the raft. After a yummy taco salad lunch, we continued on our journey down the river to the Snake River. Along the way, we crossed into Oregon, which was a new state for much of our group! My raft stopped on the side of the bank to fill up water for the group, and we were able to take our first steps on Oregon soil! After finding a nice shady campsite, we spent the evening swimming and exploring. Cassie found a cool new bouldering spot, and Hunter was able to collect some sweet rocks! We enjoyed a final dinner together along the river before heading to bed early for our final day of rafting.
We woke up on our fourth day of rafting excited to finish our journey but also sad to leave Idaho. After filling up with some delicious pancakes and sausage, we boarded our rafts for our final day on the river. Today was also a special day as we crossed into yet another state, Washington! At one point during the day, we were rafting between Washington, Oregon, and Idaho—how cool! After we finished the last 10 miles of our rafting trip, we made it back to our van and stepped foot into wonderful Washington! Excited to be in some dry clothes, we jumped back into the van to start our journey back to Wyoming. We spent the afternoon listening to some amazing music suggestions from Pierce while cruising through the Idaho farm fields. We enjoyed some lovely pizza for dinner and had a great final Moonup in Idaho as we reflected on our time on the river. After Moonup, we all made sure to head to bed early to prepare for our final day together!
-James and Frances
Julia – Thank you so much for sending me on this trip, I’m having the best time ever. I love you guys, see you soon! love Julia
Jane- Thank you so much Mom and Dad for letting me go on Moondance! I had the best time ever!
Cassie – Thank you so much for letting me go on this trip!!! It’s been such a cool two weeks.
Paige – I can not thank you enough MoM and Dad for this amazing opportunity! I had the best time with the best people ! I tried so many new things that I thought I would never be able to do and I had a blast! Love y’all so much!!
Pierce- Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to have the best time here and meet so many new people! love Pierce
Annabelle- I don’t know how to start my thank you letter. I’ve never learned more in two weeks or had more fun. Thank you so much for this trip!
Hunter R – Thank y’all so much for sending me to Moondance. I have never had this much fun in 2 weeks before. Love y’all both and am so excited to tell y’all all my adventures.
Glynn Rachel- I am so grateful that y’all sent me on this trip. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to have this much fun and do so many new things. Can’t wait to tell y’all all about it! Love y’all so so much!
Hunter Hines-Thank you so much for giving me this amazing opportunity to come on this trip. I’ve had so much fun!! Thank y’all so much!!
Jackson Reynolds – Thank you mom and dad for giving me this great opportunity! I had so much fun and made many new friends! Love you all!
T Mac- thank you so much mom and dad for sending me on Moondance. I had a great time and made many friends and memories I will tell you about when I’m home.
Shoutouts from the kids
July 3, 2024
Glynn: Hey Mom and Dad!!! Love y’all sm and I miss y’all! I am having so much fun and I am so excited to tell you everything I’ve done. Can’t wait to see y’all again! Thanks for taking care of my cats!
Jane: Rachel Hi Mom,Dad,and Sloan!!! I am having so much fun! We have already seen a moose and a bear! Sloan good luck at volleyball I know you are going to crush it! I love y’all so much!
Cassie: Hi Mom, Dad, and Fetus! I’m having the best time and have lots of stories to tell you. Please inform any friends I forgot to tell my location to that I am not dead. Tell Fetus I saw a bear and lots of marmots and that I have a present for her
Paige: Hey Mom and Dad!!! I am having the best time ever!! I love y’all so much and I can’t wait to tell y’all about all my adventures when I get home. Give Bruce and LuLu my love. See y’all soon!
Annabelle: Hey everyone back home, I can’t say enough good things about this trip, I’m having so much fun. I miss you all so much, and I’ll have lots of stories when I get back. I love you guys so much!!
Julia: Hey mom, dad, and Elizabeth! I’m having the best time and having so much fun. I’m going to have a lot of stories to tell when I get home. I miss you guys, can’t wait to see you in a week! Love you!
Hunter Hines: Hey mom, dad, and Hadley!!! I’m having a great time. Hope y’all are doing great. Can’t wait to tell you about it when I get back. Thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity. Miss y’all so much. We are on a 8 hour drive to Idaho right now. See y’all soon. Love you!!!
Jackson: Hi mom dad griffin Calder and Ellie. I am currently on a 8 hour ride to Idaho to go rafting. I have made many new friends and having lots of fun! I can’t wait to hear all about dad and Calders trip when I get home. I love you all so much and can’t wait to go home and tell you all the stories of this trip!
Pierce: Hi everyone, I miss y’all so much! I am having so much fun and am enjoying the awesome Tetons. I am excited to talk about all the fun adventures I had when I get home. I have met so many fun new people. I love y’all so much and can’t wait to see you guys at home!
Trevor: Hi mom and dad, I am having a lot of fun on Moondance. We just finished up our rock climbing section. Now, we are on an 8 hour drive to Idaho to go rafting. See you soon.
Hunter R: Hey mom and dad, I am having such a fun time out here in Wyoming. Thank y’all so much for giving me this amazing opportunity. We just finished our rock climbing section and are on the way to Idaho. Love y’all both and looking forward to telling you all about my trip.
Safe arrival in Jackson!
June 27, 2024
Hello Big Wild Families!
We heard from our leaders yesterday evening that the group landed safely in Jackson Hole! The trip is off to a great start, and we cannot wait to hear more stories from their adventure!
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next two week! This will allow you to follow along with the trip. You can also follow us on Instagram, @moondanceadventures, to see more of what we are up to!
-Moondance HQ
