We had a huge day at sleep away camp today! We began our morning with a fortifying breakfast, and then split into two groups. The older campers headed out with Counselors Jasmine, Pete, and Phil for a second day of climbing, while the younger campers headed out with Counselor Lily, Program Director Jen, and Nurse Sarah for an exciting day of hiking, bug catching, trail discovery, and more! The climbers headed directly to their climbing site, and had an awesome time working out the best way to climb the different routes. Some campers even began to learn the basics of belaying! The older campers did a wonderful job of cheering each other on and supporting each other throughout their day of climbing.
Meanwhile, the younger campers headed out to the Colorado Trail, where they explored good portion of the trail. During our fun hike, we saw some beautiful scenery–check out our camp Photos to see where we hiked!–sang some fun hiking songs, including “Down in the Jungle” and played a great game of “Flash Flood.” During “flash flood,” the counselor at the rear of the hiking group calls out different scenarios, to which the campers respond in a certain way. For example, if the counselor calls out “Flash Flood!,” each camper has to find a rock to stand on. It was great fun, and the campers enjoyed coming up with their own original commands and responses! Counselor Lily led us in a great game of the Hiking ABCs as well–we found different things on our hike that corresponded to each letter of the alphabet.
After hiking for awhile, we stopped to catch some bugs and build some animal shelters. Campers had a great time building a shelter for a deer against a fallen log, and also enjoyed catching and then showing each other various bugs. Then, we headed back to camp to have some delicious lunch out in the gazebo! Meanwhile, the climbers had a yummy snack lunch at their climbing site, and enjoyed relaxing in the shade while eating. After lunch, the younger campers headed to Alpine Park in Salida, where they completed a teambuilding challenge with our camp Toobeez. Toobeez are basically a giant connector set–the challenge was to build a structure that all of the campers could fit inside of using every single toobee! While it was slightly difficult, the campers managed to suceed, and even through the tarp over the top of their structure so that it was rainproof (“just in case”). The younger campers then did a quick debrief of their teambuilding activity–we talked about including everyone on team projects and about how important it is to listen to our friends’ ideas. Then, we headed back to camp for some delightful rest time!
The younger and older campers met back up at camp around 3:20, and headed to their respective cabins for a nice cool rest hour. We had some serious nappers this rest hour! Everyone enjoyed having a chance to take their shoes off and stretch out for a bit. After rest hour, everyone headed up to the path between the Opera House and the gym, where Counselor Jasmine helped campers order and receive their GORP, and Program Director Jen led tie-dye! Each camper got the chance to tie-dye a white bandana, and everyone really enjoyed putting on some plastic gloves and really working the dye into their fabric. After tie-dying, we poured water over our bandanas to get the excess dye out, and then hung them up to dry. They all look amazing–see our camp Photos for proof!
(Parents, you will want to wash your camper’s bandana by itself in the washer the first time it goes through. After it has been washed once by itself, it is fine to go in with other clothes.)
After we completed our super-cool tie-dying project, we all washed our hands and headed down to Grizzly Jack (the camp dining hall) for some yummy dinner. We had such a big day–everyone filled up on the delicious camp food! After dinner, we headed back to the Opera House, where we held a talent show! It was great fun–several campers participated in skits, and several more showed off their gymnastic and karate skills. One camper even burped the ABCs! Counselor Jasmine showed off her amazing headstand, and Counselor Pete jammed on the guitar. Director Tommy ended our awesome talent show by reading an old camp story out loud, “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” Then, we headed back to our cabins to brush our teeth, shower, and SLEEP after our big day at camp!