Watching the sun rise over the lake; carving out a wooden paddle; listening to the loons call; practicing map and compass; swimming with friends in the pristine lake waters… these are some of the joys that are available at Camp Chewonki for Girls. We strive to create an open, fun environment that balances structured and unstructured time. Our daily schedule provides a rhythm and routine, but, with yurt trips and special days, there are precious few “normal” days. Accordingly, the schedule often ends up being a rough sketch from which we deviate.
In Camp - Flow of Day:
6:30 |
Wake up & wash up. Watch sunrise over lake (option to do morning hike up back cliffs). |
7:00 |
Breakfast in Main Lodge with all groups. |
7:50 |
Clean/organize tents & personal/group gear for inspection. |
8:20 |
Cabin/tent inspection. |
8:45 |
First Activity Period – crafts, natural history, woodworking, etc. |
10:15 |
Break – snack. |
10:30 |
Second Activity Period. |
12:00 pm |
Campers wash hands and return to their cabins to regroup before the meal. |
12:30 |
Lunch. |
1:30 |
Rest Hour - Write letters home, catch up on summer reading. |
2:30 |
Afternoon Activity Period. |
3:45 |
Play Time Outside – swim, kayak, sail, go hiking, etc. |
5:30 |
Campers wash hands and return to their cabins to regroup before the meal. |
6:00 |
Dinner – all groups together. |
7:15 |
Evening Activity. |
8:00 |
Evening Council – discuss roles and forecast next day activities. |
8:50 |
Minutes - leaders call a countdown to lights out. |
9:00 |
Lights Out and Goodnight! |
Wilderness Trip - The General Flow of Day:
- First light, wake up girls.
- Pack up tents and gear, bring down to water: work with girls to develop a time goal early on in the trip and help the girls to stick to it by letting them know how much time has passed.
- Cook crew prepares breakfast and pulls together the lunch and snack bucket for the day (with the TP and a water pump). Clean crew prepares soap/water buckets to clean up breakfast. Leave No Trace crew pumps group water.
- Circle up for breakfast, create a space for coming together and becoming present.
- Weather woman can use this time to research the weather forecast for the day.
- Circle up, navigators show the group where we are traveling that day, mileage, and snack, lunch and camp locations. Weather woman shares the forecast.
- Yoga (10-15 min) or some form of morning stretch.
- Load boats/backpacks and we are off.
- Silent paddle/hike (10-15 min).
- Snack.
- Paddle/hike.
- Lunch, circle up.
- Paddle/hike.
- Arrive at camp and set up. Tents up, gear next to tent, tarps up if rain is a possibility, kitchen organized.
- Free time (1 hr-if possible): solo time, journaling, swimming…some form of down time.
- Wood crew and dinner crew begin to prepare for the evening.
- Circle up for dinner, become present, quote from the journalist/jester, eat up!
- Dinner discussion, highs and lows from the day.
- Clean up: cleaning crew cleans up the food and puts away leftovers and cleans all bowls.
- Evening meeting/council circle, make it a time to forgive and forget the difficulties of the day, remember the beauty, speak on issues we need to resolve, share how we feel, or have some form of discussion. Naturalist, Journalist, and Historian share their lessons with the group.
- Clean/Leave No Trace does a sweep of the campground to make sure there is nothing left out that should be packed away…Goodnight!
Special Events:
Campfire: when all groups are in camp, girls, leaders, and staff gather around the campfire for stories, music, and fun.
Final Celebration: when all campers are in camp at the end of the journey, a delicious meal is enjoyed and celebrations occur all throughout the day and evening. Through skits, stories, and conversations, the girls are able to share their summer experiences with the entire camp community.
