One of the goals of the #WEOUTSIDE program is to challenge the participants – not because that’s how it was in the olden day and all that, but because sometimes the greatest rewards in the Maine outdoors come from challenging ourselves to reach the end of the trail or the summit of the mountain. With that in mind, we once again enlisted mountaineer and professional challenge-seeker Mardi Fuller to take this group of kids up Caribou Mountain in the Maine portion of the White Mountain National Forest.

And it was a tough one! The weather was humid and all day the threat of thunderstorms was there, but Mardi did a great job of motivating the kids while also making sure that everybody took breaks, was hydrating, eating snacks, and above all having fun. That is the most important aspect of the #WEOUTSIDE program! There can be a fine line between facing the challenge and achieving a goal versus suffering through a hot slog up a mountain you no longer care about. Fortunately, this group of kids was able to have the former!

Caribou is a 6+ mile hike and this group summited – not an easy feat considering we just got them outfitted a few months ago. They were rewarded with ice cream post-hike and they were so tired they didn’t want to swim for the first time on any #WEOUTSIDE excursion.

Thank you again to Mardi Fuller for making this happen.