The first week of the second session at Red Spruce Grove has been a soggy one, yet the campers had a chance to prepare for camp while staying at the Lower Lodge at Indian Brook for a few days.
Despite the downpours, the campers practiced ax safety skills, honed their carving abilities by making chop sticks and built some big, hot cooking fires.
We hiked out to the Red Spruce Grove site yesterday. When the sky opened up in waves throughout the day, soaking everyone to the bone, we celebrated that the air was warm, which made the wetness easier to embrace and enjoy. When campers reached their destination, Tori and I were waiting for them with guitars and we all sang our camp’s Interdependence day song. This song was written by last session’s campers and has become somewhat of an anthem for RSG 2018 so far!
Today is full of site orientation, which includes learning about chores and how the community works. We also covered how to cook over an open fire, sharpen tools, gather dry firewood (even when everything seems saturated), and use the Kybo!
We also welcomed some visitors from IB who were passing through on their trip this afternoon and joined our programming. Tomorrow we expect our neighbors from Saltash Mountain Camp to join us and help us pick ripe blueberries.
We look forward to the next stretch of days, which will involve diving in to some workshops on preparing for solo trips, learning creative wilderness crafts, and maybe even visiting a nearby waterfront!
Be well,
— Sarah Maney
Red Spruce Grove Associate Director