Last summer I photographed a CMH Summer Adventure for Families in the Bugaboos of British Columbia.  Even when compared to the spectacular Bugaboo Spires jutting from the ice of ancient glaciers, the kid’s natural way of having fun in the wilderness stole the show.  Here are five surprising photos from the trip that reveal just how much fun kids can have out there in the mountains.

When this boy caught a fish with his bare hands, during a squirt gun fight at the lush meadow surrounding Dead Elk Lake, it surprised the boy as much as the fish!

During the winter, we watch our guests having a lot of fun skiing in the snow, but no skier ever had more fun in the snow than the kids do while sliding down cool snowfields under the warm sun and the watchful eyes of the mountain guides.

Sue Arlidge, one of the most inspired child education specialists you’ll ever meet and one of the experts CMH brings in for our family programs, brought a kit to make ice cream using the chill from the snow.  The kids used their own hands and energy to make homemade ice cream while sitting in the sun-drenched tundra next to an alpine snowfield.  Nobody complained.

Lunchtime on this rock demonstrated just how healthy it is for kids to spend time outdoors.  The all piled onto this rock, helped each other to find comfortable spots to sit, were courteous to each other, shared without a word of displeasure, ate hungrily, and stepped off of the rock better friends than when they climbed on.

Every kid loves the helicopter.  Some parents are nervous at first, but once they realize how reliable, stable, and confidence-inspiring it is to ride in the twin-engine Bell 212 with its top-notch crew from Alpine Helicopters, even the parents start to have as much fun as the kids.

The CMH Summer Adventure is perhaps the world’s most accessible deep-wilderness adventure travel experience.  It is also about the only trip you’ll ever take where age, fitness and skill have no bearing on how much fun everyone will have.  You can be a marathon runner, and bring your father, your grandmother, and your kids – and everyone will be able to exercise as much or as little as they want.  Most importantly, the entire family will have the best vacation they’ve ever had – on the same trip!