The Tons Brother... The Tons

This post is going to be about  Forest Green...

There is a lot of green in the forest, and a lot of forest in the Tons.
Yes brother, the Tons. They are not the Tetons because if you call them that it would be disrespecting America. (you would only know what that meant if you were cool and went to Tons!)

Any way it was kinda really cool. VERY cool!

My mom signed me up for this week long school trip.

I was going with one of my best friends, Anna (she has a blog too).
When I got to school the Monday that we were leaving I found out that my friends Holly (HB) and Serena (she doesn't have a nickname) were also going on the trip.

While we were waiting to get on the bus Holly made up a song:

Tons...

Tons...

Thanks Hazel Grace Lancaster

Your welcome Augustus Waters

The song doesn't really make any sense at all, I don't know what she was thinking. Anyway, The Fault in Our Stars reference is kind of a shoutout to Mr. Parker because we are reading that book in English. 

Then we were on our way to the Teton Science School, where we were spending the next 4 days. The bus ride was okay, I stole some chips, played on my phone, and slept a lot.

When we first got to Jackson Hole, WY the people at the Teton Science School had us put all of our phones and food in this big black bucket and we weren't allowed to have them back until we left on Friday! I knew it was happening, but I was kind of annoyed.  I think I went through withdrawal for the first 24 hours, and I don't even really consider myself tied to my phone.

Phoneless and a little unsettled, we met with our field groups for the week. HB and Serena were both in my group and there were a few more kids who made us the party group for the week.  I know I do not appear to really be the party group type, but the trip really brought out a whole new side of me.

To get more comfortable, we played a game called Camouflage where you have to hide three different times and each time the "prey" holds up a number, you (the predator) have to be able to see it. Then at the end of the three times if the prey didn't see you you have to run and try and tag them, if you do that and tell them all of the numbers you win. Holly and I hurt ourselves a little trying to hide.

That first night, going to bed was hard.  The room I shared (with Anna, lucky me) was 70+ degrees and stayed that way for the entire trip; it was pretty rough. On the plus side I was in the largest bed and stretched out like a starfish.   The next day there were eggs for breakfast, and we were on our way.  Time to go get dressed for cross country skiing.

Cross country skiing in the Tons
Photo Credits to Mr. Stoughton (I think)

We skied until lunch, which we shared in a field, sitting on butt pads in the snow.  It sounds strange, but as you can see from the photo above, it was quite pretty.  Skiing afterwards we saw an elk that some wolves killed; it was kinda gross. Then we skied back to the school and went to a museum with lots of taxidermied animals (also kinda gross).

Slightly nasty
Photo Credits to Mr. Stoughton (Maybe??)

The second day we went snowshoeing. We dug some snow pits around our lunch spot so we could learn about the science of snow. We had to do all of these test on the different snow layers.  Did you know that during the winter, some animals actually live under the snow?  There is a lot of detail to snowpack and snowfall too.  Another long and tiring day outside that went by way too quickly.

On our third and final day of activities we went out behind the dorm buildings and did a low ropes course. We were pretty good at it *insert sassy emoji here*.

That person with the hat on, yeah that's me.
Photo Credits to Mr. Stoughton (I am 100% sure this time)
Other stuff credits to me

The Teton Science School is a worthwhile experience.  I can say that prior to going I was not sure I'd like it.  Leaving, I felt that I appreciated the world around me, myself, and my friends in a different way.  The activities are interesting, build confidence and understanding, all with people who you otherwise just pass in the halls.  

Well that about sums up my three days in the forest... but you should really go there yourself.