#HikeThePike Challenge

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As the first event in our 2020 #FindYourSummerSelf series, we are launching a #HikeThePike challenge for our campers, camp families, alums and friends of camp.

Many of you know, Hike the Pike has been a “traditional” part of the summer for multiple decades. Originally started by Laura Sanborn as a way to promote philanthropy and giving back to the community, the activity provides campers the opportunity to hike up to 6 miles on the road from Leo’s out to the Witcher Ranch and back, with camp donating $1 for every mile hiked by each camper to an organization–often of the JC and Outbackers’ choosing. It is an opportunity to raise money for local, regional and national organizations while also getting our whole camp community together for a good, long Saturday afternoon hike at camp.

Since we won’t be wandering the road the same way we normally would this summer, we thought it might be fun for families to use the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend to plan their OWN #HikeThePike and share their routes, experiences and photos with us via social media (tag us on Facebook @sanbornwesterncamps or on Instagram @sanbornwesterncamps during the weekend and into next week. We encourage camp families and alums to even try and connect for a TRUE Sanborn (socially distanced) #HikeThePike in their own neighborhoods, parks or open spaces.

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In addition to all the fun, exercise and togetherness an outdoor hike will bring, we think it would be awesome if each family or camper/s would choose a charity and commit a dollar for each mile hiked by each family member. These charities can support COVID efforts in your communities, support struggling schools in your region, or even support some of the partner organizations we typically work with during the summer.

In the summer, not all campers choose to hike all six miles and making a donation is NOT a requirement of the #HikeThePike experience. We just want to know, as we are hiking the trails of camp over the weekend, that we are sharing the outdoor experience with each of you–just like we would be if we were hiking/running/skipping/talking/laughing/catching a ride back in vans/waiting out a storm on the road to the Witcher Ranch on a Saturday afternoon around 2.

If you would like to make a “dollar-per-mile” donation to one of our partner organizations, please consider donating to:

  • Colorado 14er’s Initiative (CFI) We are Adopt-A-Peak partners with CFI and our oldest campers typically provide over 500 hours of trail work to the central Collegiate mountains during their SOLE trips.
  • Coalition for the Upper South Platte CUSP has supported all of the trailwork projects we have done on the Sanborn Western Camps property over the last few years with our JC’s, Outbackers and CORE trip participants.
  • John Austin Cheley Foundation JACF provides full, multi-year camperships for campers who would otherwise be unable to afford to attend camp. Our partnership with JACF has increased both our ability to offer scholarships and created a richer, more diverse camp community.

Let us know how many miles you hiked, where you hiked, who you hiked with, and–if appropriate–the organization that motivated you to #HikeThePike this Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Hiking!

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Ariella Rogge
About Ariella Rogge

Ariella started her career at Sanborn when she was twelve. After five years of camper and five years of Sanborn staff experience, she continued her work with kids in the high school classroom. Ariella and her family returned to Sanborn in 2001 to take on the Program Director role which she held til 2012. She and Elizabeth Marable became co-directors of High Trails in 2013 and then Ariella became the High Trails Director in 2020. In the fall of 2022 she became the Director of Sanborn Western Camps, overseeing the director teams of both Big Spring and High Trails. She lists mountain golf, Gymkhana, climbing mountains and making Pad Thai in the backcountry as some of her favorite activities at camp. Ariella received a B.A. in English from Colorado College and is a certified secondary English educator,an ACCT Level 2 Ropes Course Technician, an ARC lifeguard and NREMT and WEMT. She lives in Florissant in the summer and in Green Mountain Falls during the school year so she can stay involved with the busy lives of her husband, Matt, and two teenage sons, Lairden and Karsten.