As of Monday, 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.
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, a community service-focused trip, a backpacking trip on the Olympic Penninsula, and a mountaineering trip up to the summit of Mt. Baker.
The kayaking big trip pushed off from our south shore bright and early on Monday morning.
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.
Campers and staff worked together to prepare for the sailing big trip’s departure.
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 camaraderie. It’s not an overstatement to note that lifelong friendships are often 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 so special. 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.
Big trippers on our community service-focused trip will spend time volunteering on both Shaw and Lopez Islands this week.
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!