The Camp Echo Lake Trail

It’s hard to believe Week 1 has already come and gone. I always think that time has a strange quality here at camp – the days feel long, but the weeks fly by. Many of the girls in Inter Camp have remarked the same thing. It seems unbelievable that Visiting Day is only about a week away! It’s a good reminder that the summer is never really long enough.

Many of the Lower and Upper Inter Girls played in a soccer tournament today. We had camps from all over (including Che-na-wa, Chateguay, Point o Pines, and Walden) come to play us round-robin style on the pitch. It was incredibly hot, but the girls put forth a solid effort. One team made it to the semi-finals! Tomorrow we are hosting a big swim meet with six other camps.

With the stretch of hot weather, we’ve been sure to keep everyone hydrated and covered in sunscreen. General Swim in the lake has certainly been a highlight for many of us over the past few days! As you may have seen from some of the pictures, we have some truly excellent new toys. The Island is emerging as an early crowd favorite. Other highlights this week included Tribal Tug, a heads game (it pains me to write this but the UIGW handed the head staff a resounding defeat in an intense game of noodle hockey), a combined UI kickball game, the first inter Camp Within a Camp (where they have 3 periods of one elective activity), and a great deal of Group Sing practice!

Evening programs continue to be varied and fun. Group Sing was fantastic, and after a few rain delays, we finally had our first services! The highlight of that was of course Tribal Break. The hoe down and fireworks opened the week in classic Fourth of July fashion. I really enjoyed seeing all the spirit at the hoe down. It seemed like everyone had some combination of jean shorts, a flannel, braids, or bandanas! Tonight was a great example of the variety of program we offer campers. LIGE had a special movie in the bunk, LIGW were camping out down at TREK, UIGE were on a scavenger hunt, and UIGW were having a creative dance competition. I love to wander around during evening program and jump into all of the fun activities. I do have a soft spot in my heart for TREK so I always attend the overnight activities down there! Campers take a sunset hike down the Hudson, catch crayfish, and then return to the campfire for s’mores and stories. A quintessential camp experience if there ever was one!

The last exciting thing that has been going on on Girls’ Camp is morning lineup. I’m probably more than a little biased, but we’ve got a great show going on this year. Each morning, the campers meet us between the pines to receive announcements and scheduling information….but also to be thoroughly entertained! This year, Jayme, Kelly and I play the part of three hapless detectives who have relocated to Warrensburg after running their business into the ground in Manhattan. The mysteries and puzzles are certainly a bit peculiar here in Warrensburg (for instance, a tiger keeps snatching our most important box of documents…) but it’s been a great place to start a (fictional) business. I’ll keep you updated with periodic plot developments over the summer.

Next week, we forge ahead with programming and events. Intercamps, the first dance competition, the Upper Inter show, challenge night, and some special events (can’t post any spoilers here on the blog…) are all in the program.

Until next time, signing off from Inter Camp!