I had the privilege of joining the Crickets (a high-energy, wonderful First Lodge cabin) for their trip. On Thursday afternoon, we met at the waterfront and fitted each other for paddles and life vests. We played a couple of group games and then loaded all of our gear into six canoes. The group chirped and giggled as they helped each other get into canoes. It was a perfect day: Sunny with puffy white clouds and very little breeze. I couldn’t believe the alacrity of the First Lodgers as they pushed off from shore and paddled out to the middle of the reservoir. As we paddled, the group sang name songs and told stories. At one point in our journey across the lake, we weren’t too far from a loon and her young.
We emptied ourselves and packs out of the canoes on the far side of the reservoir and sat in the shade for a water and GORP break. After our rest, we hiked the short distance to our campsite to begin making dinner. A few campers took on the task of planning and making dinner (including learning how to operate our stoves). A couple of campers came with me to hang the rope for the bear bag. We attached a small rock to the P-cord we were using to hang our food. Taking turns trying to launch the cord over a tree’s branches, we finally succeeded and everyone gave a loud cheer. My bear-bag helpers were strong, determined and cheerful. We came back to camp to find the rest of the campers involved in making a fairy house in the woods. After dinner, we were all tired. Sarah, one the counselors, read us off to our dreams.
On Friday morning, we woke up (some of us earlier than others), had breakfast, packed up our packs, cleaned up the campsite and hit the trail. I couldn’t believe how strong these 9- and 10 year-olds were. We hiked up some steep hills to reach our beautiful ridge line where we stopped for a lunch of hummus, cheese and pita bread. For some campers, this was probably one of their first experiences of pushing through an uncomfortable situation. Even so, the group remained so positive and cheerful. We finished our ridge hike after many “are we there yet” and “how much further” questions. We set up our sleeping areas in the new shelter and had a little rest hour (most campers chatted and played games–I actually fell asleep). Then, the evening rituals began under the pitter patter of rain.
As I hiked back down to camp after spending two days with the Crickets, I was so thankful to be at a place that offers these experiences to young people. These campers might not know this today; but they will realize when they face their next hard obstacle in life that they CAN. Our ridge trail hike is a difficult one, especially when you’re carrying packs (some with two stuffed animals inside).
Through my years of studying education and designing experiential education programs, I truly believe that people (adults and young people) grow/authentically learn/change their opinions when they are in situations of discomfort. The discomfort could be social (realizing, while living in a small community, who you really would like to become), or maybe the discomfort is physical (pushing yourself to stay with your group on a difficult hike), or maybe the discomfort could be purely cerebral (if there’s a gap between what you’d like to know and what you currently know).
Discomfort forces us to become stronger, smarter, kinder; it forces us to form our own ideas about who we are and what we want to know to navigate through this world. It was beautiful to see the Crickets chirp their way through this trip.
I’ll always remember it, and I hope they will too.