It was another beautiful day in Algonquin Park with sunny skies and a light breeze while campers enjoyed their first day of choose-your-own-adventure programming.
From the 6am departure of the 21 day trip to post-dinner paddle board fun, the lake was full of activity. It was a thing of beauty to see windsurfers and sailboats going upwind in unison, juniors learning the J stroke and seniors practicing their big J landings, and kayaks racing to the South Dock and back.
At lunch in the Main Lodge we were treated to an epic dance battle announcing auditions for the upcoming Intercamp Dance Challenge and all afternoon campers of all ages were practicing their leaps and twirls to get real for try-outs. Arowhon A (our high class style swimming class) also started today and half the camp came out after dinner to watch the graceful dives and meticulous strokes.
I spent a lot of time this year talking to alumni and the one thing I heard over and over was that “Arowhon is the camp where you actually learn skills” and today showcased that for me. From the 7 year old junior getting on a horse for the first time to the 15 year old showing off his head dips on a windsurfer, what’s “cool” here is trying hard and cheering your friends on.
As the full moon rose over Tepee Lake I stood with a group of seniors playing hacky sack in front of the Main Lodge, feeling grateful for this wholesome utopia of youth (and all of the incredible staff that make it so).