Saltash Mountain Newsletters

Hi SAM Families!

It’s been an awesome week at SAM Camp, jam-packed with adventure and silliness! Cabin trips were very successful, with two cabins making the trek to and from Woodward and two cabins hiking to Buttermilk Falls, with lots of opportunities for swimming along the way. We were so glad to have them back in camp for several days of activities before sending them out on Long Trips!

We’ve been hard at work on our skit, a camper-led creation that is going to be incredible. This session, the story will be a western, starring a unicorn facing off against an evil billionaire. I can’t believe what these kids come up with! We’ve been having so much fun writing songs and planning props and costumes.

The campers and counselors all headed out on Long Trips across New England yesterday, with groups going to Maine for canoeing, the Adirondacks to climb and hike, and two groups setting off on different sections of the Long Trail. Everyone was in high spirits when we departed! I personally got to drive the Adirondack trip to their starting point, and really enjoyed hearing the kids laughing and singing (and playing kazoos) in the van—they were so psyched! Camp is quiet without them here, and we support staff are missing the hum of activities while our kiddos are out adventuring. They will return to an epic pizza feast, followed by all of our special, extra-fun last-week programming!

If you are in the area, I really hope we will get to see you at Fair on August 17! It is sure to be an incredible day of connection between all parts of the Farm & Wilderness community, and of course, SAM Camp has the honor of kicking off the event with the campers’ skit performance. I would love to get a chance to speak with you and welcome you into the fun!

Happy trails,

Adair

We are off to a truly great start here at SAM Camp! What an awesome bunch of campers you’ve shared with us—they are psyched on camp, fully bought-in, and ready to roll!

Our first night together kicked off with our traditional spaghetti dinner. Most tables had a challenge-by-choice skit assignment, so over dinner we planned skits to explain the rules and norms of SAM Camp to the rest of the community. They came up with such clever and creative ideas! We presented them after our first Singing On The Hill, which was a great time. We have so many talented camper musicians this session!

The next day, campers had their first opportunity to take a dip in beautiful Lake Ninevah to do their swim tests. The rest of the day was all about trip orientation—learning the skills they’ll need to participate in their trips this session, like how to pack a backpack and how to stay safe in the woods. It included a lot of opportunities for hands-on fun, like using their stoves for the first time and participating in the Poop Hole Digging Olympics! In the evening, the lodge was full of laughter as they did a Pillowcase Dig, where each cabin group fills a pillow case with random objects and then picks them out in response to prompts like, “Which item would be most confusing to your grandmother?”, or “Which item would Assistant Director Noah most want to borrow from you?” Each round’s funniest answer was rewarded with a coupon for fun camp privileges, like choosing the first song card at Singing On The Hill.

As I write this, our campers are rotating through pack-out stations as they prepare to depart on cabin trips tomorrow! Glastonbury and Killington cabins will be hiking between SAM Camp and the Woodward Camps in opposite directions, while Pico and Okemo cabins will be hiking between SAM Camp and Buttermilk Falls! These routes are exciting and rewarding, and they’re sure to enjoy the moment where they cross paths with the other SAM Campers. While they’ll spend a lot of time today checking their gear and their food bags and packing their layers, they’ll also spend time meeting as a group to go over each day’s itinerary, make a “Trip Contract” setting clear expectations for how they’ll support each other along the way, and submit anonymous fears/questions that will be addressed by their trip leaders. By the end of the day, we expect all of our campers to feel totally prepared, both logistically and emotionally. Wednesday morning is going to be very exciting!

It looks like we are in for a great session. Thank you for trusting your camper to the care of our staff. We already love them and can’t wait for all the fun that’s in store!

Happy trails,

Adair

Just like that, we’re in the last week of the session!

Our long trips came back in mostly high spirits and so excited for the luxuries of camp! It’s funny how 6 days in the woods can make you appreciate a three-sided cabin, a bug net, a camp mattress, and an outdoor shower. We feasted on pizza and thoroughly enjoyed our new tradition of the Sumble—a time to share our Toasts, Boasts, and Oaths post-trip! Hot showers were had by all and we slept like rocks.

It’s been great to have everyone back in camp and singing again, and our skit is nearly ready for performance! The campers came up with a West Side Story-inspired fairy tale starring dragons who eventually learn to work together (yes, a much happier ending than the original West Side Story!). All week they have been hard at work memorizing lines and choreography and making beautiful and creative props. We can’t wait to share it with the rest of Farm & Wilderness at Interdependence Day!

Last night was our beloved camp tradition, the all-camp game Wild People, a surprise activity where the counselors hide in the woods and chase the campers. This time we did it with a fun twist where, at the sound of a bell, the teams switched, and the campers got to chase the counselors instead! Tonight we will all be getting in character and putting on our sleuth hats for a murder mystery dinner party—an evening program “to die for”!

We are all prepping for our closing banquet and Appreciations, where each person gives and receives a special gift and a speech. It’s been awesome to see what our campers come up with to honor each other and what each individual brings to our special little lakeside community. While I’m sure you are looking forward to reuniting with your camper, we will be sad to see them go when departure day comes!

Happy trails,

Adair

The first few days at SAM have been great! We kicked things off with our traditional spaghetti dinner as we gathered in the food shelter for the first time together, followed by our very first Singing On The Hill! Turns out we have an enthusiastic crew of “playlist makers” in Okemo Cabin who have been pulling out crowd pleasers left and right.

Our first full day of programming was all about orienting campers to trip skills. We spent the day learning safety procedures, how to pack and fit a backpack, Leave No Trace principles, and how to use our new backpacking stoves! Then we spent the afternoon getting acquainted with Lake Ninevah, as Assistant Director Noah led us through swim tests and tippy tests. It was a gorgeous day for it! That night we broke into groups to learn about building campfires, and even got a bowdrill demonstration and wet weather fire building lesson from two staff members who are also former campers. Naturally, the evening ended with roasted marshmallows—why else would we build campfires??

Packout day got us all prepped and ready for departure on cabin trips. Thankfully, a rainy early morning on departure day made way for a beautiful sunny sky by the time trips were rolling out. Our trip groups left in high spirits and will be home again on the afternoon of the 8^th, with many inside jokes and summit stories to show for it! They will return to an epic feast to celebrate their first major accomplishment in the outdoors.

We have an awesome group of first session campers and an incredibly strong and compassionate team of counselors. I have enjoyed getting to know them so far and can’t wait to have our community back together again soon!

Happy trails,

Adair