Hi! You must be the new camper I was told about. Welcome to Camp Summerflame. My name’s Carey, and I’m your Camp Orientation Guide. I get to show you all around. This is my third year at the camp, so I know all the ins and outs and nooks and crannies. I’ll show you everything. The real Grand Tour. You carry your sleeping bag and pillow. I’ll carry your duffel bag. Nah, it’s cool. I’m pretty strong.
We’re at the bus dropoff, of course. Not super exciting, unless you really like the smell of diesel. Just a big area covered in gravel by the side of the highway where the buses drop the campers off. You’re a day late, ‘cause your folks’ broke down and you couldn’t get to the rendez-vous right? No worries. The first couple of days are all about settling in. You’ve got plenty of time to get to know the camp, the counselors, and the other campers. And you’ve got all summer to get to know all the fun traditions and stuff.
So from here, you can see Lake Willowgreen through the woods, and that trail marker over there shows you the way, but let’s go to the main camp first. That’s the main field right over there to the north. Let’s head that way.
Yeah, this is it…the heart of all the camp activities. This end of the field is pretty much used for games, races, sports…we play all kinds of stuff here…capture the flag, soccer,field hockey, red rover, touch football… Basically, if you like to be active, we’ve totally got you covered. Over at the far end of the field, you can see the flags. That lower one is called a Progress Pride flag, because we celebrate our differences here. Isn’t that cool?
Okay, so across the field…that whitewashed building with the brick red roof? That’s the Administration Building. Campers aren’t really allowed over there, and, if you get called there, something’s gone wrong. Inside, there are offices for administrative work, a locker of equipment for everything from soccer to tenting and backpacking. The central room has a detailed map of the surrounding area and a communications center to make sure no campers stay lost for long.
On this side of the field, this big, long whitewashed building with the pine green roof is the Mess Hall. It’s where we do all our meals. Let’s go inside, past the porch with all the old Adirondack chairs…that’s a good place for hanging out and watching what’s happening on the field if you don’t feel like participating. But inside…mmmm. I love the way they left the natural wood look in here. And it has that deep pine smell to it, mingling with wood smoke and whatever's been cooking in the kitchen. See all those picnic bench style tables with long benches along each side filling the hall? Those’re enough to seat all the campers and counselors at once. And there’s that flagstone fireplace filling up the north end of the room, and the huge pile of wood next to it makes it easy to light a fire on chilly nights. The windows face the west, so the majority of light through the day comes from electric lights overhead, except at dinner time when the setting summer sun turns the room to red gold. It’s really cool; you’ll love it.
That saloon-style door off to the south goes into the Camp Store. It’s nothing to write home about…not much more than a closet with shelves and a freezer, really, nothing to write home about. There's a decent selection of camp souvenirs, like fridge magnets, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and kits to do some of the crafts you can learn at camp (macrame, plastic lace kits, paint by numbers of wilderness scenes, and the like). Most of us use allowance money (usually banked in the store ledger by their parents during drop-off) to buy candy bars, both normal and frozen, cold soda, and bags of treats like roasted nuts, popcorn, and maple sugar candies. And you can go through the screen door back out to the Main Field.
If you poke your head through one of these doorways that lead past the fireplace, you find what we call Cozy Cove, where we do a lot of indoor stuff. indoor activity zone. If it's raining, we can still hang out in here to read, play board games, do arts and crafts, and the like. The fireplace from the mess hall has a small back vent so it’s nice and warm in here on chilly days and nights. There’s a few round tables and yeah, the chairs around them are pretty mismatched, But I gotta say these old, junky sofas are really comfy. You probably can’t see in this light, but those glass-fronted cabinets hold a bunch of old board games. The bookcases have a bunch of stuff, but it’s mostly out of date magazines, and young adult books they got from local libraries. I love that the room is surrounded on three sides by screen windows, although there are wooden storm shutters that can be closed when the weather’s crappy.
Anyway, let’s head back out to the Field. Gosh, it’s such a beautiful day. No need to linger in the Cozy Cove today, for sure. As we get down to the northern end of the Main Field, closer to the flagpole, you can see the chalk outlines for baseball or softball and stuff. Oh, and that other big building over there? That’s Community Hall. Let’s go up the ramp and poke inside. Yeah, with all those long rows of benches facing the stage, it’s kindo f like a church, huh? I think the old camp used to use it as a church, but it’s where we have all the big meetings, plays, and stuff. There are ropes and lights you can control from backstage, and even a little costume room. Not much there, but stuff gets donated now and then. You’ll probably see that room later tonight, when they do evening assembly. Let’s go east over the field and head down that trail. Oh, that concrete building partially hidden in the woods. That’s the bathroom and showers. Lots of urinals and stalls, and then one big, open, communal shower room.
What? You’ve never showered in a place like that? Aw, don’t worry. For one thing, this camp is for boys only. All the counselors and camp staff are guys too. Trust me, you don’t have anything that we haven’t seen before. There’s a girl’s camp about three miles away, through the woods, Camp Summerbreeze. It’s our sister camp, I’d guess you’d say. We mingle on some days for activities, but it’s mostly just us guys here for weeks or even months, depending on what you signed up for. Anyway, don’t worry about showering. The guys are pretty nice. If they see you’re shy, they’re not gonna put you on the spot or anything. But yeah, it is mandatory. Don’t let it worry you.
Anyway, we can keep going down the trail. The woods are really nice, aren’t they? Lots of pines, oaks, maples, birch…and lots of little animals and birds. That’s probably how you’ll wake up every morning…the birds. Nature’s alarm clock, the counselors say, but there’s a P.A. system to wake us up in case the birds are slacking. Hehehe. Yeah, see that clearing up ahead that the path enters? And the four identical cabins around it? Those are the camper cabins, where we sleep, leave our stuff, and so on. The closest ones to camp are Mice, for 7-8 year olds, and Deer, for 9-10 year olds. You’re 12? Aw, cool. You’re in Wolf Cabin, like me. And then Bear cabin over there is for kids 13 and up. Most kids who age out become counselors themselves after a couple of years in Bear. Here, let’s go into Wolf, and you can put your stuff down.
Yup, so not super exciting. Bunks all along the walls, with two regular beds in the middle for the Counselor and Assistant Counselor. This is my bunk. I don’t have a bunk mate yet, so you can take the bottom bunk if you want. I’ll just put your stuff underneath your bunk for now, and you can put your sleeping bag on top. Do you like comics? I love ‘em! I have some you can read, if you want. Superman, Shazam, Wonder Woman, and stuff. But hey, there’s lots more tour. You up for a real hike in the woods? Cool, come on then!
So, from here, we’re gonna kinda cut southeast. Yeah, the land’s rising a little. We’re pretty close to Rainbow Falls, and the foothills of the Granite Mountains are really close. You can actually hike to them from here, and we’ll definitely do some hikes and overnights stays. There’s a whole camping area there. It’s amazing waking up, then climbing up for a really spectacular view. But before we get there, there’s the Firepit. That’s the really big clearing up ahead.
As long as it isn’t raining, we’ll be here almost every night. They made all these benches out of big logs that they planed to give a flat surface and set in the shelves around this little natural amphitheater area. And the firepit’s in the center, of course. We do cookouts, ghost stories, sing-alongs, drum circles, make s’mores, learn to identify owl hoots, do some star-gazing…this place is kind of like the heart of the summer camp experience. All your clothes are gonna smell like a campfire when you do home. It’s awesome.
So you can see how the land keeps rising to the southeast while the trail turns southwest, right? And yeah, that’s the Creek you hear. If it has a name beyond “the Creek”, I’ve never heard it, but it comes down from Rainbow Falls and feeds Lake Willowgreen. And…yeah, you’re right, there is a little trail that goes upstream alongside the Creek. Wanna see the Falls? Sure, we’ve got plenty of time. The counselors know you’re with me, so they’re not worries.
Yeah, there are lots of these boulders along the Creek. The glaciers left them here as they retreated north. You see lots of these in this part of the country. Sometimes they pile on top of each other and make caves. There’s only one of those around here that I know of, and I don’t think you’d want to see that. But there are some others a few miles away that we might do a field trip to later in the summer. Yeah, you can swim in the Creek. The water’s REALLY cold, though. C’mon, let’s go see the Falls!
You hear them, right? They’re pretty dramatic and loud. And there they are! Rainbow Falls! Nature offers some amazing sights to those willing to make the effort, huh? Following the creek isn't the easiest thing, but you’ve got to admit, it’s really something. It drops down over 100 feet from above, and the spray kicked up by the long fall catches sunlight and makes the rainbows it’s named for. I love how the water comes crashing down, goes sliding over all these rocks, and then swishes around that deep, wide natural bowl. Yeah, the water made it all smooth over a kajillion years. It’s really cold, still, but it’s perfect for swimming…or skinny dipping if no one else is around. Hehehe. And then those large, flat mossy boulders provide the perfect places to lay in the sun and get dry. There are even some smooth stone channels partially submerged where the Falls hits. Along with with the strength of the water, they make these natural water slides that drop off the ends of the stone just a couple of feet into the deep water of the bowl. There's no water park that can compete with this atmosphere, for sure!
Oh? You noticed the shadow at the back of the Falls, huh? Good eyes, new guy! I’ve got a flashlight. Wanna go see? Yeah, we just scoot on this trail behind the falls, and viola! One of the most secret places in Camp. I don’t think more than a half-dozen campers know it, though most of the Counselors do. We just call it the Hollow. There’s a bunch of mica in the rocks. When the light hits just right, between that and the light coming through the Falls, it’s like a disco in here. Loud as one, too! Here, let’s slip back out.
From here, we pretty much have to hike our way back to where we left the path, but it’s a little easier going back down. See? There’s the trail already. And now…huh? Oh, the glacier cave I mentioned? I mean…here, I’ll point it out to you. See that hollow under that boulder? Yeah, you can kinda squeeze through there. It isn’t huge, but it’s always super cold in there, and the wind makes this kinda creepy howl a lot of the time. A lot of campers think it’s Haunted. There are stories about all kinds of badness happening there, but I think they’re just stories. I don’t really go there. You can check it on your own time.
So if we keep following the Creek, eventually, we make our way out to…ah, yeah, there we go. Lake Willowgreen! The Creek isn’t the only water that flows into it. All kinds of Mountain Streams do, as well as rainfall. It’s warmer than the Creek, though, thankfully, because it’s in the sun and not super deep. We’re the only camp that uses this end of it, and the Camp trucked in a bunch of sand to make a beach. That’s it right there, with the white lifeguard chair on it. That shed is where they store life jackets, canoes, paddles, and stuff, but it’s locked unless there’s a group borrowing that equipment. I love to swim, so you can find me here a lot. The sand only goes out ten feet or so into the water. After that, if you touch the bottom, you find lake plants and muck and stuff. There’s fish, too, if you like to fish. You can sign up for a class on that.
You’re not much of a swimmer? Well, you can definitely learn. But in that case, see that rope with the red and white floaty things on it? That marks out the shallower water. It drops off pretty quick after that, so don’t go any further if you’re not wearing a life jacket. You can actually take a canoe out way further than that. And see that out there? That’s Mystery Island. We have a tree fort on that, and, sometimes, for various rewards, they let Campers sleep out there. It’s super awesome, I can tell you.
And that’s pretty much it. If you go that way up the path…yeah, you see the bus drop off, right? So we’ve literally come full circle. We’re bunk mates now, so I know I’ll see lots of you this summer. It’s gonna be so cool! Come on. It’s almost lunch time. You can sit with me, and I’ll introduce you to the other boys in Wolf Cabin, and our Counselor, Rollins. He’s really fun. You’ll like him. And I’m sure he’ll like you. He’s a pig, and he's super-duper friendly, so I’m sure you guys will get along great. Anyway, come on…it’s Sloppy Joes today, and we don’t wanna be late!
