Huge smiles, bountiful joy, and an amazing number of stories were shared by campers and counselors as they returned from their Week Two trips last Thursday. These trips are designed to be more challenging than the cabin trips; they last four days, go to locations further from camp, are a co-ed mixture of kids from different cabins, and are created knowing that all campers have had a chance to learn and review basic camping skills. In addition, there is always the unexpected . . . Counseling skills are often what make these anticipated and unanticipated occurrences into important “teachable moments.” Based on how campers looked when they came back to camp, and what they spoke about in our evening circle, the challenges they encountered during these Week two trips became VERY POSITIVE learning experiences. Some of the nuggets of wisdom that brought smiles to our faces and convinced us that the “magic of SAM” was being transmitted, are written below:
“You know the saying, ‘you can’t tell a book by its cover,’ well, it is really true. All of us stereotype to some degree. But, on trips, we have a chance to really meet people and get to know them beyond how we might just have thought of them when we first met them.”
“I learned that teamwork was really important for our group. By working together we were able to deal with the challenges on our trip.”
“Amelia (a SAM counselor) has a saying that ‘There is no such thing as bad weather or good weather, just different weather.’ I found out that that was true on our trip. One of our best hikes was 4-1/2 miles done in the rain.”
“I was scared when I found out that I was on the Mt. Abe trip, because I didn’t think that I could do the hard hiking. But, I found out that if I worked really hard at it, I was able to accomplish more than I thought that I could.”
Whether they were hanging onto a rock face, on a peak above treeline, or on the Connecticut River in the valley of the mountains, campers on all trips were also touched and spoke about the natural beauty they encountered. One camper, while packing up the food for his Week Three trips, remarked, “Now that I know so much about camping, I am going to take my family on a camping trip.”
These Week Two trips have had a great impact on developing our community and our in-camp life. When we are at SAM, some of our morning is spent doing “Asanas”—SAM speak for chores. Additionally, some of the senior campers are given the role of Asana Guides, and after doing their own chore with their cabin, check up on how a specific other chore was completed. Their findings are reported out each morning following Silent Meeting. One of the Asana Guide responsibilities, held by three campers this session, is to be the camp “Social Barometer,” reporting on how campers are living and acting as a community. Their assessment following our trips: “People seem to be getting along much better. There is much less bickering, picking on people, and staying just with one group of friends. Campers are really going out of their way to help someone out.”
While relaxing and fun, the in-camp experience was a short one this time around in order to have a third round of trips go out and return before Visiting Day. Still, we were able to fit in a “Beach Day,” active games in the field, beading and bracelet making, as well as a night of group building games and an evening of male/female discussion groups. Additionally, a group of 11 campers were able to visit the F&W’s Barn Day Camp in Plymouth to help with barn chores, hang out with the animals, and do some incredible hill rolling at the F&W fairgrounds.
As we write, campers are again out of camp. There is one four-day trip to a section of the Long Trail in Vermont where they will stay two days on a pond, and day hike up a mountain with a fire tower that, on a clear day, affords incredible views of Southern Vermont. (Back in camp, this group will be treated to a somewhat secret 24-hour set of adventures). The other two groups are on five-day trips to points further from camp. One group is canoeing in the Adirondacks. (“Wow, we get to go back to New York,” was the humorous reply from a couple of New York City-dwelling campers.) The last group is hiking in the Franconia Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, on a trip that will provide both wonderful views and exciting swimming.
We will have everyone back in camp by Friday evening, in time to welcome our visitors and guests this weekend. For everyone else who will be here, we are really looking forward to spending some time at camp with you while you visit with your child. It is still a few days out, but the weather is forecasted to be great. Hope you have a good week. We sure are!