Mietzke's POST Holden Adventure

I woke up this morning and took a hike with the Holden Elementary School which consists of five children and their teacher. We hiked up to Honeymoon Heights and then on up to the upper tailing piles above the village. We walked around in the woods amid the rubble that had once been homes and lives. We found old bottles and plates as well as beds and stoves rusted and flattened from the weight of winter snow. The thought that kept occurring to me as we walked was that the people who thought making a home up on the mountainside between two avalanche shoots was a good idea must have been crazy. The view was amazing and on the hike up we saw many different species of mushrooms. It was fun to listen to the kids as we walked sharing their amazement and discoveries. Olaf, the five year old mayor of Holden Village is the newest member of the school and the whole way each of the others took turns making sure he was safe, well fed, that he wasn’t too tired. It was neat how they all care for each other, and each take time out of what they are doing to acknowledge each other’s finds.
When we got up to the top piling we had a little picnic and looked down on the valley and across at Martins Ridge. There are little patches of red and gold creeping into the hill sides and the trees. Then the kids tuck turns throwing rocks off of the tailing pile. From that height you could see the village a long way off and down the valley in both directions. There were clouds in the west and they made a patchy circle around the mountains letting in light right over Holden Lake as if it were protected from any darkness, illuminating it. The whole trip took a couple of hours and we were back in the village by lunch. I enjoyed getting time with Steve the new teacher and the children seem to also really be enjoying him.