Zen Divas in the Flat Tops Wilderness
Spend a week in the wilderness with someone and you’re bound to develop a special bond and share some pretty memorable moments with them. We’re proud to say this happens a lot on the Big City Mountaineers youth expeditions. There was one story in particular from this past story that really made us smile. Jennifer Weibracht was a mentor on a Big City Mountaineers youth expedition through the Flat Tops Wilderness in Colorado. She shared the below story on how her group became the ‘Zen Divas.’
Zen Divas… That name basically tells you all you need to know about our trip! The name began on our first night. We were sitting around our camp stove finishing our dinners and discussing how to clean our bowls in a LNT fashion. One of these cleaning options is to put some water in your dinner-soiled bowl, clean all the food particles off with your finger and then drink the water-dinner-dregs combo. We all agreed this was the best way to be a ‘Zen-Master’. Another group member spoke up, ‘It should be Zen-Dvias!’, and so we became the ‘Zen Divas.’ Throughout the trip, we came up with a long list of steps to become a Zen Diva. Those steps are listed on the back of our Big City Mountaineers flag that hangs in the office. Now, I cannot remember all of the steps to becoming a Zen Diva, but some include: using a pee rag, using natural toilet paper, making peace with mosquitoes, drinking the excess tuna water in tuna cans, poop soup (using a stick to ‘stir’ your poop, thereby helping it to decompose more quickly,) being a toothpaste sprinkler (spraying your toothpaste in a LNT way,) singing while hiking, and so much more.
The group of females really knew how to enjoy their experience in the wilderness. Check out a few more of the photos from their week:
One day, one of the youth was attempting to jump across a stream. She accidentally was thrown off her balance and ended up on her head, we deemed it ‘turtle-ing’, Here she is recreating it at the trailhead at the end of the trip
Celebratory Snicker bars!
