Gratitude For You & For Summer Camp in Colorado

by Ariella Rogge on November 24

With all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails filling our inboxes this week, and with many of us trying to finalize Thanksgiving preparations, we wanted to take a big breath of the crisp, Colorado mountain air and share a moment of calm and gratitude with and for you.

Every Sunday, each camp community hikes together to a high point to sing songs, read quotes and watch the sun set. After our time together, we read this as a closing:

“Nothing is simple and alone, The breathing mountains, the living stones Each blade of grass–the clouds, the rain– Each star, the beasts, the birds and the invisible spirits of the air. We are all one–indivisible–nothing that any of us does but affects us all.”

It is a reminder to recognize we are all part of something bigger and–this week, as we gather with family, friends, loved ones and others in our communities–to say thank you for all of the moments and memories that we have shared over the last year.

From sunrise mountain summits, to laughing around campfires, to riding horses through aspen groves, to floating down a river, to finding a perfect fossil, to playing card games in a tent, to passing dessert around the table in the lodge, to catching a huge trout, to pushing through the last move of a challenging climbing route, to making friends and cultivating friendships that will last the test of time, we have shared incredible moments both in 2025 and throughout the 78 summers of camp.

So we wanted to say thank you.

Thank you for believing in a screen-free space where kids can be kids and where they will learn about themselves and others while recognizing they are a part of something bigger.

Thank you for believing in the wonder and beauty of the natural world and its ability to make a positive impact on the bodies, hearts and minds of all those who immerse themselves in it.

Thank you for believing in the growth opportunities that abound in a place where kids deepen self-efficacy and independence through responsibility, leadership and humility.

Thank you for believing in the 78 year legacy of Sanborn and to the deep, connected, committed network of former, current and prospective campers, camp families and alums. We have loved seeing so many new and familiar faces at our Road Shows this fall, and we cannot wait to see all of our new and old friends during our Texas Road Show in January.

Thank you–from all of us at Sanborn–for believing in the power of camp.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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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 sons, Lairden and Karsten.