Orange

Brumley Forest… Survive It! Our campers had a blast learning all sorts of survival skills this week! The wet weather made dew collection even easier (although the solar still and plant respiration bags had a harder time). Shelter building was a huge hit and debris shelters were made in both classic and more unique styles. This was also a great week for learning about edible plants. Blackberries, autumn olive, and wild cherries were ripening making for a sweet treat. It wouldn’t be a complete survival week without a little fire making!  Our campers learned fire making strategies and got to practice steel striker fires with our plentiful quartz rocks. This wasn’t only about survival though – campers saw tons of awesome wildlife including a black racer (snake) and a huge luna moth! When we weren’t adventuring or surviving, we were cooling off in the creek or playing some classic Schoolhouse games. It was a great week and we’re happy to send off another camp group into the world with more survival knowledge and skills!

Our Hawk campers soared through a great week at Brumley Forest. Some overnight rains created a perfect setting for what would become Mudfest 2017. Mud face paint, mud sculptures, and mud between the toes were just a few of the ways campers enjoyed the week. The Boneyard was a fantastic setting to do some nature building and a giant, 6-foot hawk nest was built with a comfortable mossy floor. Games were a hit with campers finding magical objects, hiding, and howling their way through the forest. We also got to see plenty of cool animals including a rabbit, a few snakes, frogs, millipedes, and of course, plenty of crayfish! Campers filled out their week with some great whittling projects and even a chance to eat some ripening blackberries. It was truly a dirty, tired, and happy week! 

Our week of camouflage was a great success! We learned all about different things to think about when trying to blend in (shapes, colors, shadows, and textures). Nature provided the materials we used to disguise ourselves including plenty of mud, leaves, and grasses. Our skills were put to the test as we played many hiding and sneaking games including Eagle Eye, Beckon, and an extra sneaky version of Scout Mission. Creek time was a favorite of many campers this week. An epic battle between islands, creek jumping, getting across the creek using a skinny log, building a dam, and looking for critters filled our time at Stony Creek. Take a look at our pics to see some of the awesome things we did. If you see a picture that looks like nothing is happening, look again – we’re probably just camouflaged!