To kick off the beginning of the school year, Glenwood Springs High School students were treated to an outdoor orientation Friday. Students spent the day either rafting on the Colorado River, at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park or Sunlight Mountain.

Unfortunately, not all of these adventures can cater to students with disabilities. This is where Tim Burr and Return to Dirt came in.

Return to Dirt is an adaptive motorsports program service of the High Fives Foundation that puts disabled individuals behind the wheel of their own adventure. Tim Burr is wheelchair bound after breaking his neck in a skiing accident, and started Return to Dirt trips in 2018.

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“Glenwood Springs High School asked us to organize a Return to Dirt experience for the students that wouldn’t be able to participate in the other adventure activities that the school was providing,” Burr said. “This fits our mission to make nature accessible to all physical capabilities, so of course we made it happen.”

Five GSHS students spent the morning and afternoon enjoying a thrilling ATV ride up Transfer Trail, taking in the views high above town.

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“My favorite part about this trip specifically was when (GSHS student) Moi (Gallegos) was my passenger and was obviously loving the ride,” Burr said. “Moi is nonverbal, and the fact that I could feel his excitement still was a testament to his experience.”

Burr thoroughly enjoys sharing outdoor experiences like this with others that might not have ever been able to.

“I do this because I get so much pleasure out of seeing others enjoy the dirt,” Burr said.