Greetings Flying Cloud Blog Readers!
Our boys have all returned home from their adventures beyond the clearing. I wrote last week to let you know about what the trips were and this week I am excited to tell you a bit more about all of them. There were six trip groups. Two of them were skill focused trips, two were canoe trips, and two were hiking trips.
Survival Skills: Taken to a site not far from Flying Cloud, our campers were led in learning all about different skills that make it possible to live with the land when you’ve brought little with you. The counselors created lists of quests for the campers to accomplish in order to get rewards for their hard work. They collected wild edibles, built shelters, made fire, and even started learning how to make stone blades.
Woodward Service: It was all a cover! Woodward Service was our incognito Scout Trip returned after not running last summer. The campers hiked to the Woodward camps under the guise of being a service trip. They first built up their team work by tackling our Farm & Wilderness Adventure Course. Then they hoofed it to the top of the ridge where they practiced their skills of camouflage, silent movement, and leaving no trace at all. On the last night of the trip they visited two of the camps. Hiding their bells and leaving curious puzzling clues for them to be found hidden in plain sight. Of course it wouldn’t be a Flying Cloud prank if we didn’t leave them bags of cookies!
Little Rock Pond: A hiking trip on a part of the Long Trail that overlaps with the Appalachian Trail. This session we upped the mileage hoping to reach some new sights. They started off at Little Rock Pond near Danby, VT, and hiked north from there. They were able to spend a day swimming at Little Rock Pond and then the next day made a quick summit of White Rocks. From there they continued north through Clarendon Gorge and on towards Shrewsbury Mountain. This was a fun trip made more fun by a few more beautiful spots.
Breadloaf Wilderness: This was our second hiking trip and it was a bit more rigorous than the first. Breadloaf Wilderness is the largest continuous wilderness area in Vermont, affording us the opportunity to really get out on the trail. Following a portion of the Long Trail (which runs from the Massachusetts/Vermont border all the way through to the Vermont/Canada border), this hike spends most of its time over 2000 ft in elevation on the bigger ridgelines at the center of the Green Mountain Range. The group summited Breadloaf Mountain, among others, and were able to crank out more than 7 miles each day to reach a total of 24.5 miles.
Raquette River: This is a wide meandering river through the Adirondacks in upstate New York. The river is wide and the water moves slowly allowing the group to explore both the shore and river comfortably knowing they’ll make the next shelter they were aiming for. After two days of river floating, they arrive at Tupper Lake where they were able to go fishing, meat up with an Indian Brook trip group, and watch the wildlife.
Green River Reservoir: Quickly becoming a standard at Flying Cloud, Green River Reservoir canoe trip gives campers a chance to learn the basics of canoeing. This was a lesson that the puddle hear at Flying Cloud rarely allots us. They spend the four days exploring the coves and breadth of the reservoir. It’s an incredibly beautiful lake — if you’re ever in northern Vermont I strongly recommend getting out there, if possible. There are regularly osprey and Bald Eagles in the sky and along the shore run mink and beavers. All of these are truly majestic sights.
As if trips weren’t enough adventure we brought them home and leapt straight into the quest. We had just finished our trip skits and were having an awesome Rock, Paper, and Scissors Tournament when the drum started beating. It was time for the last group of questers to leave for the mountain this summer. They were collected quickly as light fled from the clearing. By time they were ready to begin their walk into the woods, the only light that could be seen in the clearing were the dim cones of light coming from the candle cans that led them.
Of course, they’ve returned stronger than before. And the campers raised a beautiful final fire for this summer to honor these questers. So, without holding out any longer, I present to you the final group of Flying Cloud Names for this summer:
Hunter’s Orchard
Sunrise Roots
Shoreline Lynx
Northstar Dance
Lynx Whispers
Wolf at Dawn
Questing Coyote
And staff members…
Nathaniel (unnamed by choice, but undoubtedly, well honored by his community)
Michael as Sparks Warmth(the Ninevah Nurse)
Please join me in honoring and welcoming these new folks to the Flying Cloud Community.
With only a handful of days left in camp, it’s becoming clearer and clearer what a wonderful and magical summer we’ve had. The weather has been kind and the adventures, plenty. Check back soon to hear how the season finishes off.
Be well and much love,
~FF~