As of Sunday afternoon, all of our Big Trips have departed from camp! Campers from our four oldest units – Islanders, Wayfarers, Mountaineers, and Troubadours – will be away from camp for the next four nights. While we miss them already, we’re so excited for the wonderful experiences we know they are having on their outcamp trips.
Our kayaking Big Trip participants were excited to get out on the water.
So what are Big Trips? For five days each session, our oldest campers set out on a grand adventure. In small groups of 10 to 20 people, campers embark on trips that are at once challenging and magical. There’s a sailing trip, a kayaking trip, a canoeing trip, a biking trip, two backpacking trips (one in the North Cascades and the other on the Olympic Peninsula), and a mountaineering trip up to the summit of Mt. Baker.
Setting out from camp to trek the San Juan Islands and beyond for five days can be a little intimidating, especially when you consider that campers are grouped not by unit but by trip group. In other words, each trip contains a mix of campers from the four oldest units. Many trip participants will be paddling, sailing, biking, and hiking with campers they may not know very well – or at all. But part of the magic of Big Trips is the close friendships they can bring.
Under the direction of our experienced trip staff, campers packed for their five-day expeditions.
By sharing the difficulties and victories of a strenuous five-day trip, during which everyone faces a variety of physical and mental challenges, a group of tripmates undergoes a transformation. Campers who barely knew each other return to camp united by strong bonds of comraderie. It’s not an overstatement to say that lifelong friendships are created in the crucible of these trips.
But that’s not to say that Big Trips are made up entirely of exertion and obstacles to overcome. That’s a part of the experience, but there are so many opportunities for joy and beauty and relaxation and laughter, too. It’s the mixture of all these things that makes the moments. While the physical and mental challenges of the Big Trips are real, so are the incredible relationships and irreplaceable memories that our campers bring back with them.
Campers participated in preparing and checking all gear and equipment before they set sail.
For all of these reasons, the Big Trip program is one of the most beloved and highly anticipated elements of going to camp at Nor’wester. Many younger campers dream about what their Big Trip experience will be like and count down the summers until their Big Trip year. Our middle units, the Foresters and Voyageurs, also have their own extended trips, Little Big Trips. These similar but slightly shorter expeditions will head out from camp next week, after our Big Trippers have returned. Look for updates on those trips later on!