Exploring Routes - Day 3 (S2)

This morning we woke up and went for a morning swim while the lake was still calm. We ate breakfast on the porch, got ready for the day, and did our morning chores to make the house feel more calm and tidy. Before we left, the campers learned about contour lines. Contour lines are lines on a map that can help us to understand elevation changes and determine which hikes we want to do.

Once we arrived at the trailhead, we looked at the map and determined which trail we would take and whether it would be steep or gradual. The campers took turns leading the group during today’s hike and learned the importance of stopping at trail intersections to make sure everyone knows where we are going.

During the flatter portion of the hike, we split up into pairs and spent 5-10 minutes talking with our partner and learning five new things about them. Then, after the time was over, we shared out the things we’d learned with the group before switching partners. This allowed us to learn new things about people we may not have had many conversations with yet this week.

While hiking along the trail, we noticed a LOT of toads! Todays pace was relatively slow and meandering because of all of the talking and pausing to observe nature and the wildlife around us. We talked about bog bridges, stones, and other features along the trail that are put in place to help preserve the trail and the surrounding habitat from erosion.

It was damp in the woods, but not rainy, and the moisture was just enough to exaggerate the beautifully contrasting colors surrounding us — one of the benefits of hiking on a wet day! When we reached the summit, everyone immediately climbed all the way up the fire tower. Once back down, we relaxed on the rocks (sturdy ground!) and ate lunch while enjoying a cool breeze. After a while we saw some rain clouds starting to roll in, so we decided to begin our hike back down before getting wet!

At a small clearing along the way down, we paused to snack on dried oranges and talk about what different types of blazes mean. A double blaze means pay attention! It can mean a turn in the trail, the trail is ending, or just that the trail might not be super clear in that area. This helped us learn about where the trail was and where we needed to go. From here, the campers once again took turns reading the map and leading the group down.

A short while later we reached the car and on our way back to the cottage, we stopped for some DELICIOUS homemade ice cream by the river! It was a lovely end to a great hike.

When we got home, we went swimming in the lake and then enjoyed free time before dinner. For dinner we had rice bowls with tofu, salmon, fresh veggies and some other very tasty toppings. We had blueberry pie for dessert (with the blueberries we picked yesterday!). We then talked through the options for our hike tomorrow.

The counselors had individual check-ins with each camper and talked about what they were wanting to do for our hike tomorrow, and if there was anything they were nervous about and anything we could do to support them. As a group, we decided on doing the relatively challenging trail which meant an early night and an efficient morning tomorrow. With that decision made we then did our shout out and gratefulness circle, drank tea, and listened to Nancy Drew before heading to bed.

Now time to get some sleep for our adventure tomorrow! Goodnight!