This week was a brand new Audubon camp for middle school campers, and it has been a blast! We created this camp to get us outside and comfortable in nature at Audubon, while also exploring new areas in Vermont and gaining more advanced skills.

Monday, we started the week traveling to the UVM ropes course in Burlington where we, played games, got to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and laughed and smiled. We learned about how we work as a team, and then ended our experience with a high ropes activity.  We had to climb up a tree and walk on a wire to the other side!  We all did a fantastic job!

Tuesday we traveled again, but to the Waterbury Reservoir, where we went canoeing in the morning and afternoon.  We paired up and got on the water right when the park opened.  We had races, splash challenges, built a canoe raft and a canoe train where we paddled all together as one big boat!  We had amazing weather, and an even more amazing time. When we got back to camp we found a turtle nest and some hatched eggs too!

Wednesday was all about survival. In the morning, we collected materials for fire and talked about how to make a great fire.  We then played some communications games to get used to working together in small teams.  Rae taught us about orienteering, we learned how to read a map, use a compass, and put both together.  Once we felt confident we sent the campers off on an orienteering challenge, many campers felt like it was a scavenger hunt, and they all did great! 

Thursday is our campout, and Rae and I are ready!  We will hope that it doesn’t rain too much and we can explore more of Audubon.  Even if it does rain, we will be running around the Sugarbush having a blast and ending our day camping out (or inside the clubhouse) with s’more-filled bellies.

Friday we will end our week taking a trip to the Birds of Vermont Museum and learning all about the beautiful birds we have in Vermont!

What an incredible week!