Girls Sleepaway Camp in the Adirondack Mountains in Brant Lake, New York
Yesterday campers were challenged by orienteering, a sport of cross-country navigation with map and compass.
As part of the advanced Wilderness, Adventure and Discovery (WAD) Hunger Games competition, the campers learned how to orient a map and use a compass to take bearings (compass directions). They then successfully completed an orienteering course that utilized their skills to navigate to locations around camp.
This week several happy campers finished building a “Huck Finn” style wooden raft that they had gleefully worked on for the past three weeks.
A team of campers, led by co-captains Peaker Jennie and Peaker Cori, worked together with a crew of Sailor Arielle, Sailor Lily and Sailor Gillian to develop the first POP log raft (that we have seen). The craft was made from logs reused from the farm and planks that had been the deck of the dining room.
The unique eight foot square raft, an advanced Wilderness Adventure and Discovery (WAD) project was launched and paddled with lots of joy and zest by the campers who were each given a sailor cap and a blue and white scarf for their enthusiastic efforts. They even gave two small passengers a ride.
Viva La Fiesta is a evening dinner event at the Point, celebrating the fun-filled culture of Latin America with food, dance and many festivities. The celebration starts with festive decor prepared by the campers in arts and crafts and continues with a special buffet dinner, usually on the beach, where we enjoy delicious cuisine from Latin America. Campers prepare festive traditional dances and entertainment for our enjoyment, including a special piñata brought to camp by one of our parents.
Every summer there is a 5K Charity Run in the Adirondacks to benefit local children’s healthcare. The run is sponsored by the Hudson Headwaters Healthcare Network which operates 13 walk-in clinics from Glens Falls to the Canadian border. The run takes place very close to camp and finishes at Suzie Q’s right here in Brant Lake. Camp sponsors all Point O’Pines runners that qualify. Campers quality by completing an in-camp training program that is part of our “Stay Fit for Life” activity in which all campers participate.
We enter campers from ages 7 to 15 and staff as well, who run with the campers. We usually enter about 175 campers and every camper is capable of finishing the run. Not only is this run good for the community but it is a major accomplishment for most campers. We are very proud of our girls and believe that this worthwhile event elevates the self esteem of all the participants. It also encourages good eating habits and body training.
This years race was this morning, and the campers has a great time. Congratulations to all the runners!
Our trip to Marcy Dam was quite an adventure. We left camp at 10:30 am, backpacks filled with our water bottles, clothes, sleeping bags, flashlights and utensils, and our excitement building with every minute. The car ride to the trail was an hour and a half. We stopped by a nice, wild meadow for lunch on the way. Once we got there we we more than ready to go after singing to the radio for an hour and talking about how much fun the trip would be.
We hiked up the mountain, 2.3 miles and all sang and cheered to pass the time as we went. Once we got there we walked along the river for a little and then found a lean to to sleep in. After we had unpacked and set up our lean to we played cards on the rocky beach at the river. While we were playing a hiker passing by showed us the bear tracks of a mamma and cub that he had spotted! It was really cool to see.
At about five we found a clear area and found some logs to make a little campfire circle and started dinner. For dinner we had mac & cheese with sausage. For dessert we had some hot chocolate. We then hung out around our campsite and fell asleep at about ten. We were all super tired from the adventure of the day. We woke up at around eight and had oatmeal with dried fruit for breakfast. We then packed up and headed back down the mountain.
We were back at the van by about twelve and then went to eat lunch at the ADK cafe which was delicious! We are now in the car writing this and will be back at camp in about 20 minutes. The trip was super fun but we are excited to sleep in our beds tonight!