Water in our Bottles, Water from the Sky | August 6, 2022
It has been quite a dry summer here in Vermont, and across New England generally. On the one hand, we are grateful–clear skies mean lots of time for outdoor camp fun here at SAM: games in our field, swimming in Lake Ninevah, harvesting in the garden, arts and crafts at our many picnic tables, andcomfortable conditions for trips!
On the other hand, water is of course essential for us and for the environment around us. We keep our water bottles full to hold dehydration safely at bay, we water our SAM Camp garden to help our veggies, berries, and flowers grow, and we do need the rain to keep the streams and springs our trips rely on as water sources flowing.
Yesterday, our Minerva trip experienced both the challenges of water running short, and the exciting bounty of water that pours out of a midsummer thunderstorm! Hiking on the Long Trail Green Mountains west of SAM Camp, the group was transiting a ridge over an area called White Rocks. Unfortunately, the clear weather of the past few weeks has left the few streams in that area dry, and the hot weather of yesterday kept the group drinking their water steadily until they ran short.
The Minerva group got in touch with SAM Camp, and we made the decision to have them retrace their steps to a water source. Once they had enough water, a SAM Camp van could meet them and leapfrog them around to hike to their next campsite, located on a very reliable stream. Campers were delighted to fill their water bottles when they met the van and surprised by a treat of cut melon–an excellent snack when you’re feeling thirsty!
As campers were loading their gear into the van, thunderheads loomed over the western sky, wind picked up in the tree-tops, and the air began to feel heavy with the coming rain. We had only been on the road for about five minutes when the skies opened, and a summer deluge began to pour down around our van. Secure and dry, campers were in high spirits and full of wonder at the dramatic lightning arcing across the sky–thunderstorms make quite a show when you can watch them from inside!
With the weather still roiling, we changed our
plans for the group’s return to the field. Rather than go back on trail and straight into lightning drill, the group made their camp for the night in Townsend Barn, an F&W structure near SAM Camp. Even as the rain continued to stream down, campers helped each other ferry packs from the van to the barn, and worked together to set up their tents, secure their food, and settle in for a night under cover.
This morning, in a world rinsed by the rains, a smiling and laughing Minerva group packed up their gear, reloaded the van, and returned to the field right on schedule and on itinerary. While this leg of their trip did not go to its original plan, they have had a grand adventure, learned how to take care of each other and themselves, and demonstrated immense humor and resilience along the way.
We all raise our water bottles in a trail-cheers to Minerva and to each of the SAM Camp and other F&W trips in the field this week:
May your Nalgenes be full, may your water sources be plentiful, and may the thunderstorms hold off until you’ve made camp!
Stay cool, stay hydrated–
Sara
Summer is a Season for Spinning Some Silliness | July 29, 2022
In a world full of Serious Issues, sometimes we all need a bit of silliness to tickle the laughter and joy out of us and into this Serious World. At SAM Camp, we take silliness seriously, incorporating it into our schedules, our activities, our mealtime rituals, and of course our games and songs. Here’s hoping you can gain some inspiration from our SAM Camp shenanigans to bring a little more silliness into your days!
Perhaps the most legendary silly SAM Camp tradition is the Spinnaker Contest, which occurs before every meal here at SAM. The Spinnaker organizes how we wash our hands before meals, controls the pace at which we proceed from our circle to our tables, concludes the main mealtime, and selects campers for post-meal chores. Quite a lot to accomplish for some campers spinning in circles! We begin the Spinnaker Contest in the circle with a drumroll, clapping hands on our knees as the whole circle calls, “And now–it’s time–for the SPINNAKER CONTEST!” As the call and the drumroll concludes, all campers start to spin.
Some opt for subtlety and spin only a finger in the air. Others utilize props and spin a shirt or hat around above their heads. Some team up with fellow campers to create elaborate team spins. Someone always lays down and begins to roll down the hill. And many go for the classic spin: solo with arms outstretched, the one-way ticket to dizzy-town.
From all these, the leader of the circle selects a winning spin. But the silliness does not stop there! The winning Spinnaker is now tasked with coming up with a silly walk to lead the circle in two lines up the hill toward the taps where we wash hands before meals, and from there down the hill again toward our tables. The silly walk–in addition to being hilarious–helps moderate our pace in both directions so that the entirety of SAM Camp doesn’t go pelting up and down the hill at a full run, risking trips, falls, injuries, and squabbles over places at the tables.
Whew–our Spinnaker has done a lot of silly work already, but they still have one more task ahead. At the end of the meal, the Spinnaker must spin again–this time at our Hello Scraper! wheel in the SAM Camp food shelter. This wheel determines who at each table will be completing each of three post-meal chores: scraping dishes, scrubbing dishes, and returning scraped and scrubbed dishes to the kitchen. (All these roles also have silly names for them, but lest we lose the current thread of Spinnaker silliness this blog post is tracing, we shall save those for another time.)
The Hello Scraper! Wheel is ringed with greetings in multiple languages, all of which are also carved into the meal tables at each seat. The Spinnaker (or Spinnakers, if a team won the contest) greets everyone with a rousing, “Hello SAM Camp!” and everyone choruses back, “Hello Scraper!” The Spinnaker spins the wheel three times: once each to select a greeting and therefore an individual at each table for their post-meal task.
Our Spinnaker silliness complete–for this meal at least–we can move on with our day here at SAM Camp. There is always a lot of very serious silliness still to be sorted!
Peace,
Sara
P.S. A very Happy Birthday to our Zaylie, who returned from her cabin trip today to warm birthday wishes, a package from home, some delicious chocolate cake, and an epic turn as the Spinnaker!
Stretching ourselves and our smiles at SAM | July 15, 2022
On Monday, July 11th Long Trips set out from SAM to locations up and down the Long Trail here in the Green Mountains, to White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, and to the Adirondacks in New York. Long Trips are not only a highlight of the SAM Camp session, they are also a core example of how each member of our community stretches their comfort zones at SAM and learns that they and their peers have more in them than they knew a few weeks ago.
While each day on trail starts with a stretch circle to limber up tight or cold muscles, campers are also stretching their personal comfort with hiking, living on the trail, sharing responsibility for their food and shelter, and relying totally on each other. As a stretched muscle occasionally aches or twinges (but should not hurt!) campers routinely experience challenging times on trail. A slippery ascent, a long hiking day, a campsite with few level tenting locations, a disagreement in the group, an overcooked pot of pasta–all these challenges and more call for flexibility, for stretching the capacity to adapt and thrive. And as a stretched muscle grows in both flexibility and strength, so too do our campers!
We stretch a lot at SAM, not least the wide beaming smiles that stretch across campers’ faces in both moments of achievement and moments of pure, buoyant joy. In our next newsletter I hope to share some pictures of the former with you, after trips return from the field. Today I have the latter, photos from our Waterfront Fun day last week, held in lieu of the Interdependence Day gathering. While SAM campers were understandably disappointed not to meet up with other camps and perform their Interdependence Day skit (the Kraken is amazing!), they were delighted to enjoy an afternoon of pure camp fun with each other. Slip and slide, face painting, and laughter ruled the day, and in the evening SAM campers performed their skit for our beloved kitchen staff. Truly a day for some face-stretching smiles!
Peace,
Sara
And We're Off! | July 5, 2022
“And we’re off!”
On Saturday, July 2nd, campers and their cabin staff shouldered packs and sized paddles, ready to head out on their 3-day cabin trips. These trips are great opportunities for cabin groups to bond, for campers to practice their wilderness and camp craft skills, and for tasters of exciting long trips later in the session.
As each trip group gathers at the entrance to SAM Camp, they raise one foot in unison, in readiness to
set off on their adventure. Together, everyone calls, “And we’re off!” sets their foot down in the firststep of the trip. Staff and other cabins cheer each group on their way with expressions for “good-bye” from several languages, selected by our Goodbye Scraper! wheel.
Here at SAM Camp, the trips campers embark on twice a session (once as cabin groups and once for long trips) are prominent examples of the challenges and adventures our community undertakes together, but they are far from the only examples. Before sitting down to every meal here at SAM, we also chorus, “And we’re off!” as an entire community. Whether climbing mountains or sharing food together, SAM campers and staff are journeying in community.
“And we’re off,” on this summer of 2022: ready and eager to make some SAM Camp magic together!
Peace,
Sara
Friendships, Challenges, & Rhythms! | June 28, 2022
What a busy few weeks it’s been! Our first Saltash Mountain Camp staff arrived three weeks ago on June 5th to begin their lifeguard training. Since then, we’ve been training for trips, learning Wilderness First Aid, preparing SAM Camp for campers’ arrival, and immersing ourselves in the 
traditions and rhythms of a SAM Camp Day.
Pre-camp can feel like a session before first session, as staff new and old come together in this special place, to make new friendships and develop existing ones, to challenge ourselves to take on new skills, to embrace new routines and rituals throughout our days, to revel in the silly and reflect in the serious, and to hold our burgeoning community in love and light.
As staff have opened our hearts and experiences to each other over the past three weeks, we are so excited to welcome our first session campers into the new SAM Camp community that we all createtogether each summer. Friendships, challenges, the rhythms of our days in camp and on trail–staff have been in rehearsal for the epic skit that is a magical summer at SAM Camp, and we can’t wait to share it with you!
Peace,
Sara