Dear Treetops Families,
At this point in the summer, the sun is setting earlier, the nights are turning cooler, the mountain-ash branches are heavy with berries, and the foliage on Cascade and Pitchoff is transitioning from the lush green of early summer to a faded one, tinged with yellow; autumn is on the way, and Camp is coming to a close.
By this time tomorrow, our campers will have departed and will be reunited with their families. I feel immense gratitude for our time together over these seven weeks. This summer, I’ve watched your campers return from summiting their first High Peak, or completing the last of their 46ers. I’ve had the chance to see the bonds of friendship built that I know will last decades, to witness their growth in maturity, independence, autonomy, self-confidence, and skill, and to find their place within the larger Treetops community—it has truly been a privilege.
This final week of Camp is a celebration of all we’ve accomplished this summer, both individually and as a community. The end of last week saw the return of our five-day trekking trip and another of our Super Seniors summiting her final 46th High Peak. We also welcomed back our triple-overnight hike in Senior Camp and a double-overnight hike in Junior Camp. With all campers back on campus on Saturday, we celebrated our campers and staff with August birthdays in festively decorated dining rooms, where we sang the Treetops birthday song and enjoyed hand-decorated birthday cakes with berries, herbs, and edible flowers from the gardens. We finished off the night with our annual Senior Camp play, providing our resident thespians an opportunity to take the stage one last time.
Sunday kicked off a series of celebrations, beginning with our annual community-wide Bean Carnival in the afternoon. Originally named for the dried beans that campers would receive and use to “pay” for the various carnival stations, and though we’ve done away with the beans (the errant beans ended up taking root on the main field), campers have the chance to move freely between a variety of activities, including the Slip and Slide, Sock Wrestling, Tidal Wave dunk station, Sponge Toss, Gladiator, Face Painting, to name a few. Refreshments were offered at the Pavilion in the form of yummy fruit smoothies created by our own Super Senior campers.
Monday marked our final Community Morning, working in the gardens for one last big communal push to tend to our abundant crops and harvest string beans and carrots for our special Harvest Banquets celebrated later in the week. It’s been an incredible summer for the gardens thanks to sunny days and plenty of rain. Each season we see so many of our campers fall in love with the gardens and relish tending our crops throughout the summer. From the satisfaction of helping the plants to grow through weeding and composting, to harvesting our crops when they’re ready, and, finally, experiencing the satisfaction and pride of seeing the homegrown veggies and herbs as they’re prepared by our kitchens and incorporated into various dishes that end up on our plates at mealtimes—it is truly full circle.
Tuesday was a long, exhausting, and extremely memorable day for our campers and staff who proudly wear the “Idiot” moniker! The Idiot Trips (so named because those who attempt them must be idiots!) embark on these 15+-hour paddles or hikes, beginning and ending in the dark and traversing an incredible number of miles in a single day. Junior Camp “Idiots” hiked around twenty miles, while senior camp “Idiots” hiked twenty-four, with one of the hikers, a Super, joining the 46er club along the way! Our “Idiot” paddlers also portaged and paddled all day, with Junior “Idiot” paddlers covering nearly twenty-five miles and Senior “Idiot” paddlers going over thirty-three miles! Reports back indicated that, although very challenging, participants were enthusiastic and maintained a positive attitude despite the rigorous physical demands and an extremely long day.
Midweek, senior and junior campers were all in Camp, spending their final periods finishing up their art projects and squeezing in their last horseback rides, and Round Lake swims, sails, and paddles. There was also a flurry of activity in our gardens, Camper Kitchen, and Teaching and Learning Kitchen (TLK), as staff and campers prepared for Thursday’s Farm Fest, a community celebration of all the work we’ve done on our farm and garden this summer, and a recognition of the contributions of our animals and garden plants.
One of the most favorite events of the summer, Thursday’s Farm Fest kicked off with a parade of our animals, featuring our horses with carefully braided manes and tails, adorned with flowers from the annual flower garden, and even our chickens, sheep, and a turkey joined the parade! Campers were then free to rotate through the various stations, including the hay bale toss, cornhole, horseshoe toss, farm art and flower-crown making, an unplugged Treetops version of a photo booth, as well as the various snack and food stations featuring the summer’s bounty from our farm and garden.
For the food stations, our campers and staff made garden dips, salsas, and scallion pancakes over an open campfire. They pickled various garden veggies, cooked special syrups for refreshing cold drinks, made dough for bagels to be baked in our wood-fired bread oven, prepared sauces and toppings for pizzas made in our pizza oven, and harvested veggies for the garden sushi station.
The morning wrapped up with Camp songs at the Children’s Garden and recognition of our campers who shined at the barn and in the garden this summer—from stepping up to take on difficult tasks when help was needed, offering assistance to their less-experienced peers, to always doing a little more than was asked. These campers received a golden horseshoe, golden bone, golden egg, and even golden manure for their efforts.
On Wednesday and Thursday nights, campers and staff donned their nicest outfits and celebrated at the Harvest Banquet. The dining room was adorned with beautiful flower arrangements, the tables decked with tablecloths, candles, and carefully handmade name cards. Together, we feasted on a meal of vegetables from our gardens, our homegrown potatoes, and pork chops from last season’s pigs. The kitchen recognized campers and staff who consistently stepped up to offer help in the kitchen, from prepping vegetables to washing dishes, rewarding these individuals with the inaugural Silver Spatula award! From the banquets, we headed down to the beach to hold our final square dance of the summer, our talented musicians accompanying from the nearby hay wagon, as the setting sun tinged the western sky with shades of pink, grey, and gold over Round Lake.
Today our Super Seniors are having their last day as campers at Treetops. They’ve really grown into their leadership roles this summer! Many have taken full advantage of this final season: embarking on five-day and Idiot trips, handcrafting their own canoe paddles, spending multiple periods at the barn to complete the new horse wash station Super project, volunteering to help whenever needed, lending a hand to their younger peers, and savoring these last days as Treetops campers. It’s truly been a privilege to watch so many of these Supers grow from new-to-camp junior campers to become the skilled, responsible stewards of the community that they are today.
Although I am sad our summer together is coming to a close, I’m also filled with excitement for you all to welcome your children home, to see how they’ve grown and changed, and to hear the many stories of all they’ve experienced this summer at Treetops. Thank you, truly, for giving your child the gift of a Treetops summer, one filled with wonder during seven weeks in the mountains where they have discovered, explored, created, and grown. Though they will leave their mountain home, the friendships they’ve built, the skills they’ve learned, and the memories they’ve made will be with them always.
With gratitude,
Hannah Edwards
Camp Treetops Director