Hello again from Flying Cloud!
What an incredible week it’s been! Not only did Flying Cloud campers head out on trips, when they got back, we had our second naming of the summer.
This summer we sent out six trips, which ranged from jaunts through the Plymouth Valley and its surroundings, to hiking, canoeing, and tracking adventures in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The six trips this summer were:
White Mountains: A hiking trip through New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Clear weather meant that every time they climbed a new peak, campers could see exactly where they’d come from, and where they were headed next. Again and again such views were greeted with a “We came from there? We’ve already hiked that far?”
Self-Designed Trip: After the success of the Self-Design Day Trip, campers broke out the F&W area maps once more to come up with what they called “Hobo Quest 2012.” After getting dropped off at a nearby pond, they hiked back via Tiny Mountain. Even a broken stove couldn’t keep this trip from rolling back into camp full of new stories and jokes!
Tracking Trip: Traveling all the way to Montague, MA, this trip base camped at Erving State Forest and took advantage of the nearby sand plains to hone their tracking skills. Working up from the basics of animal gaits, prints, scat, and other sign, to a culminating mock evaluation, this trip had campers trailing animals like deer and foxes across the sandy terrain.
Green River Canoe: A new trip this year, campers traveled north to the Green River Reservoir, a lake in Hyde Park, Vermont, where the campsites and natural beauty are accessible only by boat. Paddling around this remote lake, campers enjoyed visiting a beaver meadow.
Wilderness Skills: While they expected to base camp nearby to FC and practice Wilderness Living skills, this trip had a surprise run-in with a logging crew and decided instead to strike out on a different adventure. They still got to practice making friction fires, identifying wild edibles and making shelters before hiking back to camp. They even made it up to Blue Ledges on Saltash Mountain on their last day.
Flagstaff: Our longest trip (six days as opposed to four for all the rest) took a crew of older campers all the way to Flagstaff Lake in Maine for a combination of canoeing and hiking. Campers spotted Bald Eagles from their canoes, and even got in a bit of sailing by using ponchos to catch the wind. After handing off the canoes to a Saltash Mountain Camp trip headed in the opposite direction, they climbed the Bigelow Range, which afforded them sweeping views of the lake they’d just traversed as well as the surrounding wilderness.
Once all the trips had made their way back to the clearing, it was time for another Naming Ceremony. Once more, 10 of our brothers set out on quests, and this time the party was even bigger than before, with guests from every single Farm & Wilderness camp in attendance. The names given at this ceremony were:
Standing Fox
Clearing Light
Ocean Heart
Tidal Embrace
Fox Reveals
Catamount Winter
Moonlight Wander
Kestrel Laughter
And two more of our new staff members were also named:
Mateo “Woodland Groove” Bjornsson
Myles “Lake Song” Ayon
The day after the naming we headed over to Saltash Mountain camp for a square dance, and some more time with our F&W brothers and sisters.
With only a few days left in camp, campers are finishing up crafts projects, practicing new skills a few more times, and making the most of their time out here in the woods.
Soon enough it will be the August session, and we’ll welcome a whole new set of campers into the community!
Be Well,
FF