Hello one last time from Jackson Hole!!!
July 8, 2025
We have had such a blast over the last two weeks and are so grateful to have shared this amazing experience with your children. Everyone has learned what it means to live in the moment, has left their comfort zone, made new friends, tried new things, and has had tons of fun. We are so proud of every single person in this group.
Since our last update, we have spent a long time in the car road-tripping back to Jackson Hole. After leaving rafting, we detoured through Washington and Oregon due to a road closure, which turned out to be a beautiful drive through pine tree forests, a huge valley, and farm fields. We stopped at an overlook in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, and Fiver and Slade piled out of the van and parkoured around the fence and parking lot while enjoying the view. We kept moving along to Boise, and Jake led several rounds of Uno in the backseat. We could hear Ava giggling in the back as she fought her way though the high stakes Uno game. We stopped in Boise to drop Jake off at the airport, and we were all so sad to say bye but we’re so glad he could join us! We motored on through more potato fields to Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park and were all singing and dancing with music blasting through the car. Greer, Hadley, and Finleigh were leading the charge with their dance moves and enthusiasm. Someone requested “Let it Grow” from The Lorax, which was a hit and began a long list of singing to movie songs. Somehow the Home Depot theme song, trap remix version, made it onto the list-Sam and Evie were cracking up from the front of the van when everyone cheered for the song. We arrived at Bruneau as the sun was setting and headed to bed.
In the morning, we woke up early and went over to check out the sand dunes. Everyone sprinted up the hill and then flopped and rolled down, throwing up sand clouds. Dillon loved it so much that he climbed right back to the top and did it again! After some time playing on the dunes, we made breakfast and hit the road for our last big day of driving. On the drive, Caroline took the biggest power nap of all time-she is the queen of car naps! We stopped in Pocatello for lunch and the thrift store to pick out fun outfits for our last night banquet. We split into groups of two and everyone picked out a funny outfit for their partner. Flynn was rocking a huge pineapple shirt and fluffy iceberg hat. Zoe was wearing huge sunglasses, big green shorts, and a ruffled scarf. We were all cracking up at each other’s outfits and put them on for the rest of the day. We made our way back into Jackson in the late afternoon, got one last ice cream stop, and headed to banquet dinner. After dinner, we went out to Mormon Row (location of the famous Jackson Hole barn with a stunning view of the Tetons) and played frisbee, hacky sack, ran through the field, laughed a LOT, and watched the sunset. We concluded with a beautiful final Moonup in front of the sun setting on the Tetons. What a way to end the trip! We woke up early this morning and made our way to the airport to drop everyone off. We are so sad to say bye to this crew. This has certainly been an unforgettable experience and we are so blessed to have shared it with this group of amazing individuals. Yeehaw one final time! 🤠 🌄
With love,
Evie + Sam
Rappels, Road Trips and River Rapids
July 6, 2025
Howdy, Big Wild families and friends!
It’s been a while since you’ve heard from us, but we have sooo many new and exciting updates to share with you all after we last wrote an update!
After our backpacking excursion, we got back to Jackson Hole and set up camp-everyone’s favorite campsite so far. The Tetons loomed on the other side of the valley, and we got to watch the sun set on the jagged peaks. We cooked ramen with steak and vegetables and then circled around a fire, cracked each other up during Moonup, and then headed off to bed after a long but awesome day.
We woke early the next morning for our first day of climbing with Exum Mountain Guides! We packed up camp and headed into Grand Teton National Park as we listened to AC/DC and Aerosmith to hype us up for the day ahead. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and everyone was excited but nervous about climbing. We met our guides and then hopped on a tour boat across Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls, where we set up to climb for the day. We practiced bouldering and learned how to tie knots, and then split into two groups for multipitch climbing. Flynn zoomed up the rock and attempted (and crushed!) an extra hard pitch with a black striped rock-all of the guides were so impressed. He has a natural talent for rock climbing! We all made it to the top of the rock where we ate lunch with a beautiful view of Jenny Lake below. After lunch, we practiced a rappel down the rock face. A lot of the group was nervous, but everyone did it! We are so proud of everyone for giving it a try and stepping out of their comfort zone. After we finished the rappel, we walked 2.5 miles back along a lakeshore trail to get back to Exum and then headed to town to prepare for our evening activity-a master chef cooking competition!
We split the group into two teams-Fiver, Hadley, Caroline, Greer, and Flynn on Team 1 and Slade, Dillon, Ava, Zoe, and Finleigh on Team 2. The first group cheffed up pasta with garlic bread and meatballs. Caroline was in charge of garlic bread, which was the highlight of the dish! The second group, “Pork Perfect”, cooked a delicious pork and pasta meal, complete with pineapple lemonade and a charcuterie board! Zoe’s homemade pasta sauce was so yummy, and Dillon’s pork grilling skills tied the dish all together. We finished off the evening with a campfire and s’mores in front of the sunset, and everyone went to bed feeling so full.
The next day was level two of climbing school, meaning higher and more challenging climbs. One of our guides, Garrick, started the day off by quoting “summit or plummet”, which was our mantra for the day. Greer and Finleigh were nervous for the big day but did so amazingly and made it all the way to the top with a smile on their faces. We are so proud! Ava also crushed it and made it through a challenging section called “the chimney” with grace and confidence. On the side of the rock wall, we could hear everyone hyping each other up and cheering each other on-it was awesome to hear and see everyone’s positivity, enthusiasm, and support for each other! To celebrate a successful day, we surprised everyone with an afternoon ice cream treat in town! We ate our scoops in the town square and then got souvenirs-Hadley and Zoe found red white and blue festive socks for the 4th of July! Slade and Fiver bought raccoon hats, which they have barely taken off since. We headed back to camp and cooked barbecue chicken and rice with carrots, broccoli, and green beans-another group favorite meal. We ended the night with Moonup and dozed off to bed.
The next day, Evie woke the group up with Life is a Highway playing on the speaker to get the crew pumped for ROADTRIP DAY! We got an early start and headed off on our way to Idaho over Teton Pass. Slade and Fiver sat in the front row of the van the whole way (still wearing the raccoon hats of course) and entered into a pillow fight, followed by card games that they played with an Idaho Potato card deck from a gas station. We motored on through the potato fields of Idaho and pit-stopped in Twin Falls for a Chick-fil-A picnic at Shoshone Falls. We then hit the road toward Boise, where we made our way to the airport to pick up Jake from HQ, who came to visit our trip for a few days! After a few more hours in the car, we finally made it to our campsite in McCall for the night. We made a nachos table for dinner, played hacky sack, and did Moonup in front of the lake as the sun was going down.
Another early morning wake-up led us to Riggins, Idaho, where we met our river guides for our first day of our four-day rafting trip! Kellan, Jaden, and Lila met us and then we headed down to the Salmon River to put the rafts in. Our first day of rafting was the longest and hottest, which gave us several awesome opportunities for swimming and floating along the boat! Sam led the pack with a double bounce off the front of the raft, which made us all laugh. Flynn was also stoked on swimming and basically became part fish! At lunch, we stopped at a sandy beach and ate yummy chicken salad, which everyone loved. Zoe finished lunch and sprinted right into the water as she giggled and flopped around-she’s been the first to swim at almost every spot! After lunch, Jake surprised us all with water guns, which initiated a water gun war once we got back on the water. Caroline was loving it and would swim over to the other group’s raft and spray them all with water. After 23 miles of sun, swimming, floating, and fun, we arrived at our camp for the night, where we ate burgers and salad and cowboy camped under the stars.
The next morning was the 4th of July! Evie and Sam woke the crew up by playing American Pie on the speaker-everyone was so tired from the day before that it took some more festive 4th of July songs to wake everyone up. Everyone dressed up in red, white, and blue clothing-bandanas, bathing suits, sunglasses, and American flag socks (with Chacos!). We ate pancakes and bacon, packed up camp, and had a giant dance party to get hyped for the day. We got on the river and hit a lot of big rapids in the morning. Everyone took turns “riding the bull”, which means that one person sits on the front of the raft and holds on to the front rope to stay balanced. On one of the rapids called “Bodacious Bounce”, Dillon was riding the bull and got bounced out into the water! He looked up, laughing, and got pulled into the boat, asking to do it again. We pulled over on another beach for lunch, where Evie and Sam pulled out face paint to celebrate the 4th of July. Everyone decorated their arms, legs, and faces with stars, flags, and fun designs. In the afternoon, we kept rafting along as we tried to solve riddles and played word games. It was quite windy and cold, so Hadley and Ava made a bungalow-they curled up in the back of the raft and hid under a rug to take a nap! In the evening, we arrived at camp and had a Spikeball tournament on the beach. Flynn and Evie took the crown after a hard-fought battle. We ate fajitas for dinner that our guides cooked, and then Sam and Jake took the boys for a hike up the mountain behind the beach. It was such a hit, and they saw crazy views and a coyote at the top! Once they got back, Evie and Sam surprised the group with glow sticks and sparklers, which turned into a glow stick party! Finleigh had the most decked-out glow stick outfit-complete with glasses, bunny ears, a ring, bracelets, and a necklace. We went to bed tired after an amazing 4th of July-complete with 5 bald eagle sightings along the river!
We woke up on day three of rafting and stopped at some cliffs in the morning to swim. Greer jumped off the big rock after some hesitation and nerves at first, and loved it so much she did it many more times. Fiver was also jumping off over and over again, and looked like he was a bird flying through the air. We stopped for lunch at the confluence of the Salmon and Snake Rivers, where we sat on a sandy beach and looked at bighorn sheep grazing on the mountain behind us. At lunch, we connected all of the rafts into one mega-raft (called a flotilla!) and attached a motor, since we made it to the part of the river nicknamed the “Snake Lake” since it is flat water and hard to paddle. We made it a few more miles down the river to our campsite and set up a slip-n-slide with the upside-down raft. Everyone pushed one end of the raft up to create a ramp. Slade went flying and stood up mid-air! He got launched! Our guides cooked us a feast of pork tenderloin, potatoes, carrots, bread, and salad. We went to bed so full and so happy.
This morning, we finished the last 13 miles of the river with the flotilla and are now on our way back to drop Jake off at the airport 😢We have had such a blast with him here the last few days and are so glad he could join us! Our time on the river was so fun and we are so grateful to have shared the experience with this group. We still have a couple days left and are cherishing our last bit together with all of these amazing individuals. Stay tuned for our next update! Yeehaw! 🤠🌄
With love,
Evie & Sam
Fiver: Thanks Mom and Brad for sending me on this Moondance trip. So excited to see y’all!!
Zoe: Thank you Mom and Dad for buying all of my gear. Also big thanks to Grammy and Poppy for my flight and to Gigi and Gramps for sending me. Love you all!
Flynn: To Parents,
Having a great time, thanks.
Greer: Thank you Mom and Dad for letting me come to Big Wild this year. I’ve had so much fun doing crazy things with all my new best friends. Love y’all!
Caroline: Thank you soooo much for sending me, I’m having blast!
Slade: Thanks for sending me on this trip!
Ava: Thank you Mom and Dad for letting me have the opportunity to go on this amazing trip. I’ve had sooo much fun. See you soon, love you.
Hadley: Thanks Dad for letting me do this amazing trip! Miss & love ya.
Dillion: Shout out Mom and Dad for sending me on this trip. It’s been awesome and I can’t wait to see you.
Finleigh: Hi everyone!!! Thank you sooo much for sending me on the most amazing Moondance trip! Love you!!!
Wild Fun On Big Wild
June 29, 2025
Hello Big Wild families and friends! We have had a great start to our trip so far with some action-packed days and good times! We are so excited to share with you all what we’ve been up to.
On our first day, we picked everyone up from the airport, headed to set up our campsite, had a pizza picnic dinner in the park at the base of Snow King mountain, and then headed straight to the Jackson Hole rodeo! It was a busy evening to start the trip off. We surprised the group with bandanas, so we all pulled up to the rodeo in matching outfits. Fiver was excited to share with everyone about the different rodeo events and activities and was teaching everyone about it. The whole group was loving the bull riding and was excited to see more! After a long flight delay, Caroline made it to Jackson Hole and headed straight to the rodeo where she immediately joined the action and was impressed with the different events and horses. After the rodeo ended, we spent our first Moonup in front of the Tetons and shared our hopes and goals for the trip. Everyone was exhausted from a long day and fell right asleep.
The next morning, we woke up and prepared for backpacking! We started our day with a big breakfast of eggs, hash browns, bacon, and fruit and then Sam brought some of the group to swim in the river nearby. Everyone learned how to pack their backpacking bags and how to stay safe in the backcountry. Then, we ate lunch and hit the road for fly fishing! Our drive was beautiful and followed a narrow canyon along the Hoback River and everyone was so impressed with the views. Our fishing guides, Jack and Colby, met us at the New Fork River for our casting clinic. The group learned about how to set up rods and had an opportunity to practice casting into the river. Greer was stoked on finding the different bugs and was super excited to learn about fly fishing. Zoe impressed us with her natural fishing skills and was casting like a pro! Everyone did so well and learned a lot in our short time with the guides! They left excited to bring the rods on the next leg of our trip.
After fly fishing, we headed into the mountains down a long bumpy dirt road to our campsite-known to most as Whiskey Grove Campground, but to us, the “bug farm”. From the second we got out of the car, the mosquitoes flocked and were swarming EVERYWHERE. We all piled out of the van and immediately sprinted to put on our long pants and head nets to avoid the bugs. Ava found a useful strategy of her head net tucked into her hoodie and was rocking the look! We cooked burgers, hotdogs, Mac and cheese, and salad as we swatted away the mosquitoes and then sat around a campfire for Moonup. It was a beautiful sunny evening and we heard the sound of the river rushing by as we fell asleep.
The next morning, we woke bright and early to get started down the rest of the long bumpy road to the trailhead for backpacking. On the way, we got stuck in a traffic jam (even in the back roads of rural Wyoming!) because a huge group of cows were blocking the road and we couldn’t drive through for 15 minutes! We finally continued on our way and met our guide, Morgan, at the trailhead and began our backpacking journey. Hadley helped hype the group up for the backpacking section since she had backpacked before, and was a great source of motivation for the group. We hiked about four miles past a guest ranch, along a river, next to big red rock cliffs, and up to a waterfall for lunch. The group was zooming and did such a good job pushing over the big hills. After lunch, we hiked another two miles to our campsite for the night alongside a beautiful meadow with views of a snowy mountain in the background. The wildflowers just bloomed here so there are purple and pink flowers everywhere! Everyone kept remarking about the views. We made it to our campsite in record time and Morgan, Sam, and Evie were so impressed with everyone’s perseverance and positivity throughout the day. Finleigh sang her way through the hike with one song after another the whole way-all six miles!!
At camp, we had a beautiful view of another waterfall and meadow. We cooked pasta with chicken and vegetables for dinner and then surprised the group with chocolate to celebrate making it to our campsite. We started a fire, which Dillon was helping fuel and would have continued fueling all night if we let him-he was running around grabbing sticks left and right and has become our fire master every night! We did Moonup and then dozed off to sleep after a long day of hiking.
The next morning, we woke up a bit later than usual and cooked scrambled banana pancakes for breakfast, which were a hit. We then headed off on our day hike (about two miles) up to an alpine lake, where we posted up for the day. We laid out in the sun on the shore, swam (more like a polar plunge!), played hacky sack on the rocks, and explored in the woods. Flynn got out the rods and spent the majority of the day fishing-he caught our first fish of the trip! It was a beautiful and relaxing day and everyone was enjoying the warm sun, cold alpine water, and beautiful views. We headed back to camp in the evening and everyone helped us with dinner-Thanksgiving in the backcountry! Slade was in charge of cooking the chicken, which he had been so excited about, and has helped with almost every meal so far! We made stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, and chicken. The meal was so yummy and everyone was stuffed after. We finished up dishes, sat by the campfire, and did Moonup in front of the sunset on the snowy mountains in the distance. It was a lovely relaxing evening to a lovely day.
This morning, we woke up early again and got started off on the trail back. We walked the six miles back to the trailhead past the meadows, meandering stream, and mountains. Everyone was so excited to see the van and was happy we made it-we are so proud of everyone’s hard work! We got burgers for lunch in town and are on our way back to Jackson Hole for the next leg of our journey. We can’t wait to share the rest of our adventures in the next trip update! Yeehaw! 🤠🌄
Sending love,
Evie & Sam
Shoutouts:
Caroline: Hey fam, rodeo was so fun. Love y’all. There’s so many pretty views!
Zoe: Hi Mom and Dad! We have been backpacking, fly fishing, and went to a rodeo! Love you guys!
Hadley: Shoutout Mom & Dad! I just went backpacking out in the most beautiful meadows. We also went to the rodeo!
Greer: Hey Mom, Dad, Mill, Aubrey, I have been having so much fun! I miss y’all. We went to a rodeo….it was SO fun!! Tell Marianna I said thanks for the letter! Love y’all. ❤️Greer
Finleigh: Hey Mamma and Dad! I am having soooo much fun! I miss everyone and shoutout to Leila and Lola and Poppy. I love you guys! – love Finleigh! -my leaders are awesomeee! 🙂
Fiver: Hey Mom and Finley camp has been awesome. We backpacked 12 miles total over 2 hikes. It was awesome. – Fiver
Slade: hi Mom and Dad camp is so fun and the nature is so pretty. We just backpacked 12 miles it was awesome.
Ava: shoutout Mom and Dad. The rodeo was super cool. Backpacking was super hard, y’all wouldn’t have liked it. lol. See you soon!
Flynn: Having a great time. Hope y’all have a good time at Red Rocks! Shoutout Mom and Dad!
Dillon: Hey having a great hiking trip hope I can do this with Liv when her knee heals. Love Dillon
Safe Arrival!
June 26, 2025
Hello Big Wild Families!
We heard from our leaders that the group has landed safely in Jackson Hole! The trip is off to a great start, and we are so excited to hear more stories as they begin their adventure.
Please remember our leaders and students will be unplugged during their trips, but we will be posting trip updates throughout the next 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
