Summer Camp News
Jul 06, 2024
Woodcraft Update!
We are exactly one week in to camp and our Woodcraft camp family is having the best time! Here’s a snapshot of 4th of July happenings in and around camp:
On July 4th, the Auroras & Wenonahs spent the 3rd night of their backpacking trip at a beautiful lean to in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness which spans 46,283 acres. The group began their journey at the northern end of the preserve and hiked through to the southern end after looping over Pharaoh mountain (2,546′) on day 2. Together, they worked through the heat toward the reward of great views from the top and excellent opportunities to cool down in the lake once back at their lean to. We were impressed with their preparedness and organization from start to finish. They really set a high standard as the first trip out this summer and did an excellent job representing Woodcraft!
At the same time, our OLTDs (our outdoor leadership in training program for our oldest campers) set out on a two night canoe traverse from Little Tupper Lake to Lake Lila in the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area. Fresh back from their trip, we just got the full debrief from our Trips Director, Henry who lead this traverse together with our OLTD Director August. The OLTDs camped at Little Tupper the first night and at Hardigan Pond the second night. Reportedly, the campsite at Little Tupper was amazing — filled with huge Hemlocks and White Pines with the perfect soft bed of pine needles to set up tents on. Henry described Rock Pond, on the way from Little Tupper to Hardigan, as one of the most beautiful lakes he’d ever paddled, noting that it felt remote, untouched and pure. From Hardigan Pond, the OLTDs portaged to Lily Pad Pond and then again from Lily Pad to Shingle Shanty Brook which feeds into Lake Lila. Their last carry was the final stretch from Lake Lila to the parking area where our camp van met them to bring them home. Henry felt the total mileage of portaging was nearing equal to the mileage of canoeing, and reported that at times it felt like they were traversing through unexplored territory, especially when they carried through chest-high bushes on the way. This adventure was clearly a great challenge and one that the OLTDs met with determination! It was an excellent skills-building and team bonding experience and they should feel very proud of their accomplishment.
The Trail Camp, Rangers, Iroquois Village and Hadarondah divisions spent our first “regular” Day Trip Wednesday out exploring on classic Woodcraft Trips like “Hike Bald,” “Canoe the Moose,” and a mountain biking/hiking combo trip to Inlet. We also spent the 4th of July together at Woodcraft. As a fun surprise, we decided to spring a secret evening hike on this crew so we could enjoy the fireworks together at a spot that was remote enough to avoid crowds and close enough to get to and from easily. The outing proved to be a great success and together we enjoyed beautiful views of 4th lake with boat lights and fireworks illuminating the Adirondack skyline.
Today is Saturday and the Trail Camper and Auroras set out on a day hike to the high peaks where they summited Big Slide mountain. Tonight, all Woodcrafters will be back at camp for pizza night dinner and everyone will participate in camp wide games — a Saturday evening tradition and a Woodcraft favorite. Tomorrow, we will celebrate our second Special Sunday together: 4th of July, Woodcraft style! Campers are collecting frogs today to represent their cabin in tomorrow’s famous frog races. We also look forward to hearing every cabin’s Declaration of Independence from Woodcraft which a representative from each cabin will proudly recite from the high dive. Afterwards, we’ll have cardboard boat races and General Swim followed by Sunday dinner and a full camp campfire.
We hosted a handful of local Woodcraft Day Campers this week from Monday through Thursday and we really enjoyed introducing them to Woodcraft. They did a wonderful job jumping right in to activities and they brought great energy with them around camp--thank you!
Rather unbelievably, we are still out of connectivity at the office. Our provider has assured us that they will complete the repairs by Monday, but to say we are disappointed and frustrated at the office is an understatement! We hope our messages and photos are helping you to feel very in touch with camp. We continue to check emails and text messages as often as we can while we wait for the repair to be complete so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email and texting.
Sending our best to you from your favorite summer camp in the Adirondacks,
Christina & Doug and the 2024 Woodcraft Staff Team
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