Camp Blogger

The past few days have been packed with adventures. Two days ago we had obstacle course night. Many of the campers were saying that it was their favorite one in years. Some of the obstacles included sliding down a soap slide, answering a riddle, muddy tire runs, kayak hurdles, canoe rack army crawl, and running through kiddy pools. Each cabin got a chance to go through the course together and then individuals could choose to redo it if they wanted to. Sebago won for the overall fasted cabin. The night ended with an all-out counselor run where the campers got to throw mud at some of their counselors.

Yesterday was beach day, so we all packed up camp and went to Reid State Park for some sun and surf. We had two groups get to try surfing for the first time this summer. Many of them got to stand up and a few really started to get the hang of it.

While those groups were surfing the rest of us were enjoying the beach and the rocks. One of my favorite things to do at the beach is explore the rocky tide pools near the shelter. For lunch we had grilled chicken sandwiches and then headed back out for another few hours at the beach.

The evening activity was supposed to be campfire but while the rain held out for the beach it did not wait for the activity to be finished. We decided to still do campfire night and have it in the lodge instead of outside. We sang campfire songs and made s’mores with marshmallow fluff. Everybody had a blast and we ended the night with one of everybody’s favorite songs: Swing Low.

There’s a famous tale in Maine, the story of a 12 year old boy named Donn Fendler who got lost on Mount Katahdin, in the largest wilderness of Maine. For 9 days, he survived on nothing but stream water, wild strawberries and prayer, struggling through treacherous terrain, until he finally stumbled upon a camp and was rescued.

This week ten lucky campers from Chop Point, inspired by Donn’s story, embarked on their own – much safer – Mount Katahdin adventure! They hiked the first leg of the journey to Chimney Pond, and then started the grueling ascent on Saddle Trail. The path winds up the beautiful mountainside, through trees and over streams, until it becomes a sheer scramble with hands and feet up a rock face. When they arrived, out of breath and sweaty, at the plateau a mile from the highest peak in Maine, they were greeted by winds gusting up to 40mph, fog, rain, and temperatures hovering around 40 degrees, conditions identical to those faced by Donn Fendler 80 years ago. A less hardy crew might have given up, but these campers pressed on, well protected by fleece jackets and rain coats, encouraged by chocolate and jokes from their counselors, until they reached the 5,268 foot summit.

The climb back down was slippery and cloudy but unlike their predecessor, these campers stayed together, followed the trail closely, and made it safely back. It was a tired and wet gang that returned to the tents that afternoon, but there was no shortage of laughter and pride.

The next day, instead of simply returning to camp, the hikers decided to tackle another peak: South Turner Mountain, a 3,177 foot beauty with an alpine forest at the top. The distance was only 2 miles, but it was 2 miles of intense climbing up natural rock stairs that culminated in a final “mountain goat” scramble over boulders to the top. South Turner offered phenomenal views of Mount Katahdin and the surrounding backwoods, and everyone was content to sit and stare at the raw beauty. To make the day even better, on the hike down, the group stopped at a pond where 2 moose happened to be feeding! You’ve never seen a troop of teens fall silent so quickly.

During his days lost in the forest, Donn Fendler always dreamt of a doughnut with a glass of milk. So in honor of his courage and their own accomplishment, the campers stopped off for doughnuts and milk and a quick dip in the river, before returning to Chop Point, singing all the way.

Where did the time go? It feels like the campers only just arrived yesterday and yet we are wrapping up the first week of camp. Already the campers are talking like they have known each other for years instead of a few days.  Everyone is signed up for four daily activities that range from sailing, windsurfing, and kayaking to tennis, yogalates, and ultimate Frisbee. During each activity campers are given the chance to learn a new skill and have fun while doing it.

I have already mentioned the sailors, but it is worth mentioning again how well they are doing. The have advanced from simply going back and forth to the more complicated maneuvers, such as jibing and docking. The windsurfers have also been steadily improving.  Windsurfing is a hard thing to learn and the campers this year have all been doing a great job. A lot of them can get in and out from shore without any help at all.

On land improv has been experimenting with different characters. Yesterday they were each given the opportunity to come up with a character to play and then they were sent out to interact with other campers while staying in character. Campers met old sea captains, young southern belles, and other characters from their imaginations. Yogalates, a mixture of about 2/3 yoga and 1/3 pilates is made up of entirely French girls. They have been working on core strength, balance, even breathing, and meditation. Photography classes spent the first few days taking pictures around camp and today started developing the film in the dark room.

Mountain biking  activities are taking advantage of the nicer weather this weekend and exploring the trails in the nearby woods. Ultimate Frisbee, a camp favorite, has continued its tradition of drawing in almost all of the free campers into a huge game almost every afternoon right before dinner. One camper told me yesterday that it is even better in the rain because you can slide even farther. Variety played an extended game of “The Floor is Lava” in the dining hall. I wasn’t there to see it, but I am sure that it was an interesting sight.

For more updates and pictures check out our facebook page!

First Session is in full swing here at Chop Point. All of the campers have arrived and we have had some spectacular bonding nights so far. The past two days have been guy’s night out, girl’s night in and girl’s night out, guy’s night in respectively. On the first night the girls all gathered in the dining hall and made 85 cookies while telling embarrassing stories and ended the night with a dance party. The guys decided to spread out across camp for an all-out game of capture the flag.  For their nights out, a few cabins went to get ice cream in the city of Bath while others made hobo dinners by the fire pit and followed it up by some s’mores. For those of you reading this that have never had the pleasure of having a hobo dinner it is when you wrap up hamburger meat, potatoes, carrots, and onion in tinfoil and set it in the coals of the fire to cook. It is always fun and one of my favorite camp meals.

Activities are also getting to full swing. We have had some rainy days, which are to be expected in Maine in June, but also some really nice days. Yesterday was beautiful and all of the activities got to go out. The sailors and windsurfers were doing amazing. During sessions we try to teach as many people as possible to sail on their own, instead of having a counselor sail with them. In the afternoon I saw at least three new sailors docking their boats for the first time and that is no easy feat. Variety was able to use the low ropes course yesterday and they all had an amazing time! Variety is an activity in which a group of about 20 campers does a different thing every day. Activities have ranged from extreme dodgeball to kite flying in the past.

The fourth is quickly approaching and with it the heat. The forecast this weekend reaches into the mid-80s. We are excited for the foreign campers to get to experience American pride at its finest. More updates to come!

And we’re off! The campers are arriving from all over America and all across the world. We have campers from France, Spain, Nicaragua, and from England coming in today. As usual we had a few early birds show up before the one o’clock check in time. After that they came in a steady stream until almost all of our American campers had arrives. We have two large groups of French and Spanish campers coming in later tonight. For those here at camp we had activities running all afternoon, ranging from arts and crafts to ultimate Frisbee and the swim test. Before dinner, a bunch of campers got together on the steps of the lodge and were already talking like old friends.

Tonight’s evening activity is get to know you games. Everybody is outside right now playing evolution, which is an advanced form of rock paper scissors where each time someone wins a round they evolve. First they evolve from an egg to a chicken, then to a velociraptor and a princess and finally a rock star. Before that they learned each other’s names with cheers and trains of people and played “switch if”. All of the campers and counselors are having a blast and meeting a bunch of people in the process. This seems like an amazing group of campers and the staff can’t wait to spend the next three weeks getting to know them all.