Last week at Indian Brook was very much about “farm” and “wilderness.” Our senior lodge campers were out on their 5-day wilderness trips – backpacking, canoeing, and rock climbing in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and the Adirondacks. Trips are often one of the more challenging aspects of a camper’s summer because people are out of their comfort zone in new environments that are sometimes physically or psychologically challenging. In order to meet all campers’ needs, we offer trips that have different levels of physical demands and require various types of skills. Some campers were challenged on the Stratton Mountain trip, which offered the opportunity to backpack for two nights to Stratton Pond, then climb to the top of Mt. Stratton and enjoy the view from the fire tower while leaving packs below at a base camp.
Our Camel’s Hump and Mahoosucs hikes, by contrast, 
offered the reward of spectacular views after accomplishing some very technical hiking (sometimes climbing ladders up rocks on the trail) with packs. Some campers on the two Adirondack canoe trips were waterfront apprentices and had lots of canoe experience on Woodward Reservoir. These campers got to practice their paddling in new surroundings, and share their paddling knowledge with fellow campers as all learned new strokes. Rock climbing is a full-body workout that requires mental preparation as you work out a route up the rock face and overcome the fear of being up high (knowing you are safely on-belay).
While the senior lodgers experienced “wilderness” first and big lodge got to farm during IB’s garden afternoon. The IB Garden is one of the highest points of IB with a beautiful view of the lake. Even though Vermont seemed determined to rain, we persevered because there’s nothing like harvesting strawberries in the rain. All the campers also got to meet the newest member of our community, little Harley, a two-month old calf that now lives with our goats.
We also painted signs for the garden, because finding the garden KYBO is an adventure of its own. The campers all discussed the newest friendship at the farm, which is that between Phyllis our pig, and Florence the chicken who spends her days in Phyllis’s pen. When campers weren’t in the garden they were helping Barn and Garden staff spruce up our barn and knock cobwebs from boots and beams. Lastly, we fired up the cob oven which was built by our community a few years ago, and everyone got a sweet treat to munch on while they weeded.