Wonder

April 8, 2016April 6, 2016 by Camp Mason

Come to your senses – and take a hike with us!

By Shawn Leonardo, Naturalist for the Mason Outdoor Center

Camp Mason has a wide range of environmentally conscious activities and classes that delve into topics like ecology, sustainability, natural cycles and so much more. You could say that there is some sort of intentional focus on experiencing the great outdoors while enjoying your time here. One of the intentional activities we have is taking a hike along any of our breathtaking trails around the property.

Taking a group on the abandoned Christmas Tree Farm hike is one of my all-time favorite camp activities. It allows everyone, including myself, to go out into the woods, stretch our legs, and experience some of the natural beauties that Camp Mason is a part of. There are tons of different foliage, bridges, streams and natural stories to be discovered on the trail, with only so much time to be curious about the surrounding environment. Every so often I’ll pause, letting potential stragglers catch up, and encourage them to explore for a bit before moving on. This means more than walking around and admiring the view. It’s an opportunity to feel the trees or ground, breathe the fresh air and take in the plethora of scents, listen to different calls of animals or the wind passing gently through the forest, and maybe tasting one of the edible plants that grow around camp (with your camp employee’s approval of course)!

It’s common to pass by forests, woods, wetlands and the like in a daily commute. Even here at camp, we pass by these natural wonders on route to different activity locations. Taking the time to slow down and really get your hands dirty, sometimes literally, creates a valuable memory to everyone who participates, as well as helping spark future interest. It’s the difference between only seeing your favorite cookie and eating it. We have the experience telling us that cookie will taste great, but only if we get to turn it into an edible snack!

So, the next time you find yourself walking around the breathtaking grounds here at camp, perhaps on one of our incredible hiking ventures, take a moment to fully immerse yourself in the experience. You’d be amazed at how much you can learn, experience, and grow in just a small amount of time spent in nature.

September 25, 2015October 27, 2015 by Camp Mason

I Notice…

By Maddi Green, Naturalist at the Camp Mason Outdoor Center

In my first month as a Camp Mason Naturalist, I’ve asked question “What do you notice?” of my students often. Sometimes, they notice the painted turtles sunning themselves on a fallen tree in Lake Mason. Sometimes they notice that looking up at zip line from the ground is a very different perspective than looking down at the ground from the top. And sometimes they notice that their teammates need to pause and really hear each other if they are ever going to complete their team building challenge.

From hiking with families across the cable bridges of the Yellow Trail to the abandoned Christmas tree farm, to guiding middle school students through righting a flipped canoe, to encouraging high school peer leaders to engage with their fear of heights, being a naturalist gives me many chances to make some observations of my own. Fifth graders will stop to discuss, at length, a slug sunning itself on a rock on the trail that we adults already walked right past. Kids on the rock wall who are willing to try, even if they are unsure of themselves, usually can reach the top, with a little encouragement.

The most effective leaders are the ones who are willing to seek out ideas from the people around them. Best of all, I’ve noticed that Camp Mason gives everyone (naturalists included!) who comes through a chance to really stop and notice the world and the people around them. And once we’ve started noticing all of the turtles and slugs and great ideas from our teammates, we start to notice what our place is in it all.

May 28, 2015November 20, 2015 by Camp Mason

The Importance of Sleeping Under the Stars

By Anna Bilton, Summer Camp Program Director

For one night every two weeks, each cabin group adventures out into the woods with their sleeping bags and food in hand to spend a night in the great outdoors. As a camp counselor, I loved nothing more than putting my backpack on and leading my campers along the trail knowing that soon we would be cooking over an open fire, telling stories, and finally falling asleep under the stars. Today as a Summer Camp Program Director, my most cherished moments are welcoming cabins back to camp after an overnight. I delight in hearing campers’ stories of their experiences, the challenges they overcame and most of all, their excitement and pride about the adventure they had. The power of this traditional summer camp activity should not be underestimated. Perhaps spending a night outdoors is something we should all do more often.

Reconnect: Getting away from the grips of technology and getting outside, even for one night, can make all the difference. Campers and staff share stories of becoming closer over the course of an overnight. Taking the time to talk, share and listen to one another without the usual distractions helps groups connect and bond tightly together. That these meaningful interactions take place in beautiful, natural surroundings serves to make them even more powerful.

Marvel: Campers often tell me about the deer they saw or the sound of a babbling creek that they fell asleep listening to. Think back to the first time you saw a frog, bird or other critter. Try to remember the excitement and intrigue you felt. If the kind of feeling I’m talking about could be bottled up, it would be labeled wonder. Spending more time outside in nature creates opportunities for us to rediscover our sense of wonder. We are lucky to live in a world with such beauty.

Accomplish: For an overnight to be a success groups need to work together to carry supplies, collect firewood, clear out a sleeping area, build a fire and cook meals. Teamwork is paramount and achieving your group goal is a fantastic feeling. For many campers and staff spending the night in the woods without electricity and other comforts is an enormous achievement. I cannot begin to count the number of campers whose overnight experience has given them the courage to try other new things.

Where will you go on your next outdoor adventure? What will you discover?

This post was originally written for the Y’s “This Week in Young Leaders” blog. You can see it by clicking on the link below.

http://www.ymca.net/blogs/week-young-leaders/importance-sleeping-under-stars