In early June, over a dozen staff members collected at Camp
Kawartha to take part in a four day course in wilderness first aid offered by
Wilderness Medical Associates. For some staff, these four days concluded in a
Wilderness Advanced First Aid qualification. Those who already held this
qualification were upgraded to Wilderness First Responder. In addition to
these qualifications, all trippers are experienced canoers and hold at least
NLS level lifeguarding qualifications.
All campers at Camp Kawartha who
spend two or more weeks at the camp go on trip. For the youngest campers, this
may mean a hiking trip over to the range where campers and staff cook their own
dinner, dessert, and breakfast the following morning. They also sleep in tents
at night, under the stars, either in the encampment (surrounded by traditional
aboriginal shelters) or at the creek where the calm flowing water and soft moss
provides an ambiance that cannot be found in the city. For older campers
(usually 11+), the cabin goes on a canoe trip where campers can earn valuable
hard skills such as proper paddling technique, steering, portaging, and tent
set-up while immersed in nature. The goal is to push campers out of their
comfort zone while still providing a safe environment in which they can learn
about nature as well as themselves. Most two-week campers will take part in
either a 1 or 2 night canoe trip in the Kawartha Highlands. The most common
trips are: Bottle to Sucker, Wolf to Crab, and any combination of Long, Coon,
and Anstruther Lake. PLCs (pre-leadership campers aged 13-14), who spend 3
weeks at camp, often take their 2 night trip in the Haliburton Highlands Water
Trails.
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| Paddling on trip |
For breakfast, trips may cook eggs
and bacon, oatmeal, cinnamon buns, bagels (with “soynut” butter, jam, and/or
cream cheese) and even a Camp Kawartha favourite known as “no bake”. This is a
meal usually consisting of oats, apple slices, raisins, dried cranberries, and
some cinnamon and brown sugar for flavour. Lunch tends to be the simplest meal
of the day since it is usually eaten in between campsites. Wraps with salami,
cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, hummus, and Baba Ghanouj are a popular choice as
well as grilled cheese. Dinner is the most creative meal of the day. From
chick’n (vegetarian) burgers to TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein) Burritos and
from pesto, tomato, and even alfredo pasta to pita pizzas, dinner is always an
exciting time on trip. Snacks are also packed on trip so that cabins can take
breaks out on the water, raft up their canoes, drink some water, and eat dry
fruit, pepperettes (cured meat sticks), arrow root cookies, pretzels, and
apples. Finally, dessert ranges from classic S’mores to orange brownies
(brownies cooked inside orange peels to give them a tangy orange taste). It’s
fun to get creative with meals out on trip and every year more meals are added
to our menu simply from cabins experimenting.
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| Campers can learn to stern a canoe on trip |
