Adventure at Camp

Zip Line - Definitely the most popular element of the Ropes Course, Zip Line offers an introduction to our elements. This wild ride takes campers all the way to the Back Pastures and right over Malachi the Camel!

Rappel Wall - Campers will learn to safely descend from the top of the taller Ropes Course tower to the ground on their own! With the instructions from both Facilitators, campers gain confidence in the skills of rappelling.

Big Swing - Also called the Giant Swing, a group of campers will work along with the Facilitator to help hoist each camper into the air using a pulley system! Once the camper being lifted has reached the desired height, they let go of their end of the pulley system, and go for a great swing!

Leap of Faith - This element is the most daring on the Ropes Course! Campers will be placed in a full body harness, balancing their way as they walk out a horizontal pole, 30ft high! If they are able to make it to the end, they can take their leap of faith at hitting a ball hanging 6 feet past the end of the pole! Campers who take the Leap of Faith and hit the ball, get a special surprise! Because this element requires campers being able to safely fit into a body harness, it is only offered to **Senior Campers**.

Crate Stacking - Starting from the ground up, campers are challenged to stack crates beneath them... as they balance on their own tower! The current standing record for most crates stacked by a camper is at TWENTY SEVEN! Can you beat that?

Climbing Wall - With both beginner and advanced options, the climbing walls in the Ropes Course offer campers a chance to practice a popular outdoor hobby. Campers who can make it to the top of the wall, can ring the bell, letting the whole camp know!

Archery 101 - Campers will learn the basics of archery. They will be able to identify what the parts of the bows and arrows are called and how to use the range safely.

Aiming Methods- Campers will continue to practice their archery skills, discover their dominant eye, and learn proper aiming methods.

Skills Test- Campers will practice shooting skills using balloons while learning the importance of precision and accuracy.

Archery Games & Atlatls - Campers will continue to practice their archery skills while playing some engaging games. Campers may also learn how to use the atlatl.

Archery Tournament- Campers will demonstrate the best of their archery skills they've learned this week.

Rifle Safety - The entire first day of the course is dedicated to safety. Campers will meet with the Instructors at our Range to go over commands, ear and eye protection, and handling rifles.

Shooting - After the first day, campers will practice their marksmanship. With a target downrange, they will practice bettering their accuracy and score. Like Archery, the goal of Riflery is gaining skills and noticing your strengths. Riflery takes patience and a positive attitude!

Rifle Cleaning and Care - Campers learn the importance of taking care of their rifle while in the class. This involves handling when both shooting and not, loading properly, and cleaning. Each camper is assigned a rifle during the week so that they take special care of it.

Fire Starting - TThe goal of this class is to learn how to start a fire with nothing but what you can find in the woods. Campers will learn that a sustainable fire takes knowledge, time, and a whole lot of patience.

Shelter Building/Knot Tying - Using sticks, leaves, and tarps, campers are challenged to build a strong and sturdy shelter. With different methods, campers learn how to protect themselves from all the elements during a night in the woods.

Camo Concealment & Knife Skills - Campers will learn to blend in with their environment by using woodland camouflage, then they'll spend some time learning some essential outdoor knife skills.

Orienteering and Signaling - Spending time in the woods requires attention to detail and knowledge of how to guide yourself without the help of a modern GPS! Campers will learn how to use a map and compass to find different objects hidden around camp.

Searching for Food and Water - Finding food and water in the woods is critical to long-term survival. In this class, campers will learn to differentiate between edible and non-edible plants. Additionally, they will learn of supplies and techniques necessary to make water safe to drink.

Caving - Spencer Cave is a huge cave located on our extended camp property. It is about a 1/2 mile hike from base camp, but well worth the trip! This cave is lots of fun to explore and involves as much or as little mud as you like. Because of its vast size and side chambers, we offer two levels of cave exploration: basic and extreme caving. Both are two hour classes that allow campers to see and enjoy the cave formations as well as a variety of cave inhabitants, including bats and salamanders. For the basic caving class, campers can walk through the cave with very little need to bend and not need to crawl, unless campers choose to explore the Banana Room, at the very end that requires a short crawl. Extreme caving explores a side tunnel and involves crawling through 3-4 foot tunnels that lead to a massive echo chamber room. Did you know that wintergreen lifesavers spark when you bite them, and that you can create sparks from static electricity when you rub a balloon across your hair? We try several short experiments while we have the advantage of complete darkness.

Survival Campout - Campers who are ready to test out the skills mastered in the Survival Skills are able to spend a night in the woods putting those skills to the test! Campers will build their own shelter, create and sustain a fire, and cook their dinner over their fire. ** Senior Campers Only **

Geocaching - Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game. Campers follow clues or navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache container hidden at the location.