Summer Camp Week 1: Hidden Tiles and Rope Races

Hello Adventurers!
​Week 1 had us trekking through the woods to find compass pieces that were needed to spell out their next clue. We followed paths, jumped over fallen trees and occasionally waded through water until all eight pieces were discovered. 

The Rangers work to carry Reagan across the water without getting her wet.

Once all the clues were found, it was obstacle course time. The Ravens were split into two teams to compete against each other, while the Falcons, Coyotes, and Rangers were aiming for speed. Each team then explored the woods in order to find somewhere to fill their milk jugs up with water. No one was afraid to get wet, and some even jumped right in the stream in order to fill them up. 
When all the jugs were filled, each person picked a obstacle in the course that they wanted to tackle. Then, like a game of telephone, the water-filled milk jugs were passed along person to person as they completed their obstacle. On Wednesday, the Falcons opted for speed, while the Coyotes on Thursday focused on not spilling any water from their jugs. Each team went through the course like pros and used great teamwork the entire time.

Liam and Charlie pass milk jugs through the obstacle course

Next was the climbing wall. The rules were simple; touch the top first and you get to paint a kitty-cat face on the loser's face. Two at a time, the racers started at the bottom of the rope wall, waiting for the signal to start. The competition was fierce, and before you knew it, nearly everyone had whiskers and a nose painted on their face. In the Falcons group, Tenly dominated and remained undefeated. Kennedy of the Ravens had the opposite fate, and was running out of places on her face to paint. The battles were so close that the Coyotes even had a photo finish one round!

Kennedy gets her face painted like a cat after a loss on the climbing wall

After that, the groups were each given a clue to head down the West Wood path towards Beaver Creek. Everyone zigged and zagged throughout the woods in search of the right path. They crossed Charley's bridge, ran through the meadow and slid down muddy hills until they finally reached their destination. Once at the creek, the next challenge began. The objective was to get as many people from one side of the water to the other without getting them wet. The Ravens tried using rope to carry someone across, while the Falcons tried the piggy-back approach. No matter what they tried however, everyone was full of mud. No one was afraid to get down and dirty, and even after their attempt to get across the water clean had failed, they would stay and splash around in the muck. The Ravens set the bar high at the start of the week for most points, leaving the rest of the groups to play catch up. 

The Ravens know how to play dirty!

Once everyone was sufficiently muddy, the final clue, "Follow The Stream", was given. Each team then had to locate the stream and follow it to their end destination. They waded through grass that was taller than them, and leaped over rocks on the way there. Finally they arrived at the swimming hole where one last challenge awaited them. Each member had to get in the water and unearth buckets that were buried deep down in the mud. Once the buckets were located, they drug them to the shore where they could open them to see the treasure inside. It was t-shirts! Each adventurer got a brand new camp shirt that is perfect for getting dirty and having fun. After the shirts were found, the Falcons and Coyotes each had a biggest splash competition. Lots of cannon balls and belly-flops were made and some record-setting splashes also occurred.

Nolan makes a winning splash in the swimming hole

Looking forward to Week 2, and we can’t wait to see you there!

Yours in adventure,

Nathan, Brooklyn, Ashlyn, Carrie, Sophie and Jesse