If you’ve already read this week’s Camp Journal:
Midsummer arrived at Treetops this week with a spell of brilliant sunshine and bluebird skies, and the timing couldn’t have been better. On Sunday afternoon, senior camp held their annual water carnival, complete with our homemade “slip ‘n slide” down the lake hill, sink-the-counselor in a peanut shell, and the ever-popular sinky boat races. As the week progressed the temperatures rose, creating terrific opportunities for all-camp general swims, extra triangle swims and diving practice, as well as a myriad of boating.
Meanwhile, Treetops campers have been been paddling the Adirondack waterways and exploring the High Peaks on foot. The trip program is in full swing with nearly thirty off-the-property trips this week, including a blueberry pancake supper on a mountaintop, a canoe-rock climbing trip to Lake Lila, a multi-day sail across Upper Saranac Lake, and a duo of five day trips for the Supers. Campers have been honing their outdoor skills and are putting what they’ve learned to the test, whether mastering the j-stroke in a canoe or belaying a friend up a challenging climbing route. Campers who’ve been working diligently on their horsemanship headed out on a trail ride and returned to the barn for a sleepover in the hayloft—an old tradition brought back just this year.
Larger-scale craft and wood shop projects are coming to fruition as well. A massive barn-red Adirondack chair, crafted over countless hours in the junior camp woodshop, will soon be installed in the Children’s Garden. Campers are donning their brightly colored tie-dyes made with family and friends over visitors weekend. And homemade hammocks can be seen strung between trees all over campus—inviting campers to enjoy a quiet breeze, read a book, or watch the clouds pass by overhead. At Treetops, children have the opportunity to be as busy or leisurely as they like, taking the opportunity to learn, explore, create, or just simply let the days unfold, one at a time.