Our weekly letters home–of which this is the third for summer 2017 covering Sunday, July 2 through Saturday, July 8th–are one avenue for you to stay in touch with what is happening at Camp. Liking us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CampMoosilauke/) and following us on Instagram (camp_moosilauke) are two other great ways to have pictures, videos, and essays pushed out to you. And of course you can view the daily pictures that we post on Shutterfly by clicking https://campmoosilaukephotos.shutterfly.com/.

As you know from the special update we sent, we started our week with a post-storm adventure. The boys awoke on Sunday to a warm, sunny day, along with a shifted and expanded waterfront and some fairly large puddles and ponds across our fields. However, the campers would not be deterred. After a hearty buffet breakfast of made-to-order omelets, scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage, and cinnamon buns they proceeded to jump right into the various activity areas–waterfront, basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, pick-up soccer–and had a blast. After relaxing and writing letters home during rest hour, they returned down the hill for two more choice activity periods on land and in the water. Then it was time for cabin cookout, with hamburgers and S’mores around our fire pits for dessert. Evening activities included a music jam session, swimming, dodgeball, handball, basketball, and tennis. Each evening at Moose, we plan a schedule for the boys, typically by age group. Every cabin has the opportunity to go tubing (a camper favorite, for sure!). Additionally, we offer organized activities such as fishing, dodgeball, ping pong tournaments, flag football, and Ultimate frisbee, and open play in basketball, tennis, and swimming, to name a few.

Monday, the Moose Bears enjoyed their morning dip in our “expanded” waterfront (adjacent to our creek!). Although the high water in the region caused us to postpone two waterhole adventures it did not keep us from a number of events, including a fifteens tennis tournament, a Senior B (thirteen year old) bike to Indian Pond for a picnic lunch and swim, and a Senior A2 (fourteen year old) “fluff” trip to Moose Scoops for ice cream. The rest of the campers enjoyed their scheduled and choice activities for the day, as all areas were back in business. Meals on Monday included: French Toast for breakfast, chicken patties for lunch, and penne pasta with meat sauce for dinner.
Tuesday, our Fourth of July festivities started before breakfast and continued right up until bed time. The Moose Bears got us started with a humorous chant about America. Next came a brief 8:00am fireworks extravaganza to make sure everyone was awake. At breakfast many of the campers and staff donned their patriotic red-white-and-blue clothes in the spirit of the holiday (see photos on Facebook and the website). Some of our foreign counselors and campers also proudly wore their countries’ colors and flags. During the meal Preston (one of our head counselors), recited a humorous piece about America, that was followed by a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday to you” for the U.S. of A. After breakfast, the campers had a choice of two activity areas in the morning. Lunch was Sloppy Joe’s and french fries and and the usual full salad bar. In the afternoon the campers were divided into two teams (the Kennys versus the Todds!) and competed in wacky activities which included the Boston Tea Party, Molly Pitcher, and a pudding eating contest. As is tradition, the CITs provided the groups with red, white and blue sno-cones. In the evening, Moosilauke was host to the neighboring girls’ camp for a cookout, a dance on the basketball courts, and amazing fireworks at the beach.

Tuesday also saw what will go down in history as one of the best “trick of the day” spectacles ever. The trick was called “Pudding” and it involved what appeared to be a random selection of a word from a random book, written on a piece of paper and then accidentally shredded. The trick ended with the original note being found intact in a sealed metal can of pudding that was brought out for the Fourth of July pudding eating contest. It was one of those “you had to be there” moments that sent the entire mess hall into a frenzy of disbelief and a standing ovation for Todd, our director of special operations.

Wednesday was a busy day on all fronts. It started at 7:00am with two groups venturing out on three-day backpacking adventures. One consisted of a volunteer group of Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds) heading to the Mahoosuc Range. Highlights of the trip included spectacular views of New Hampshire and Maine, throwing snowballs and climbing through the caves of the Mahoosuc Notch, swimming in Speck Pond, and, of course, the all-you-can-eat pizza lunch at Enzo’s at the end of the trip.

The second group was comprised of Senior A2s (fourteen-year-olds) who tackled a Presidential traverse that ended on the summit of Mt. Washington. At 6,288 feet, Washington is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River and north of the Carolinas. The first day the boys arrived at the trailhead at 9:30am and they reached their first break at the “log cabin” – a Randolph Mountain Club Shelter – in record time. They continued the hike and arrived at the Perch Shelter and set up camp for the night – all by 1:00pm. They lunched on pita bread pizzas, enjoyed a rest hour, and at 3pmstarted the 3 mile round trip to the summit of Mt. Adams and back. They played word games to pass the time. The weather was great on the first day. After returning to the campsite, the group prepared a dinner of rotini pasta and cheese sauce. The campers then played cards until it was time to watch a phenomenal sunset. The second day they started hiking at 7am. On their way up to Mt. Washington, the group decided to summit Mt. Clay (a short hike off the trail). They summited Mt. Washington at 11:30am, and with that, became the first group in three summers to summit all four peaks available on the trip. At the peak, they ate a lunch of tortillas with nutella and peanut butter. They then descended via the the Appalachian Trail to Tuckerman’s Ravine Trail, which follows a waterfall down a steep path. They arrived at Hermit Lake Shelter around 3pm and played cards until dinner, which was rice and quinoa with seasonings and candy bars for dessert. On the final day, the group awoke at 7am and after a breakfast of oatmeal were ready to embark on the 2.5 mile hike to the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center. They stopped at a beautiful waterfall and took a dip in a mountain stream. On their way back to Camp they were rewarded with the traditional pizza lunch at Enzo’s.

Also on Wednesday, a group of Juniors (nine-and ten-year-olds) had a cookout and overnight at our Pioneer Camp where we have a tent platform on a beautiful site on the Baker River. They boys had a terrific time swimming, cooking, and sleeping in a big 8-man tent. Another group of Senior Bs (thirteen-year-olds) spent the day on a mountain biking adventure to Indian Pond. A group of Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds) had a golf outing at the Bradford Country Club. Competition on Wednesday included a fourteens basketball tournament at Moose. Meals on Wednesday were muffins for breakfast,a sandwich buffet for lunch, and macaroni-and-cheese for dinner.

Thursday included another mountain biking adventure to Indian Pond for the Senior Bs (thirteen-year-olds) and a second group of Juniors (nine-and ten-year-olds) venturing to the Pioneer Camp for an overnight. Competition on Wednesday included an all-ages archery tournament and a swim meet at neighboring camps. At the swim meet, our staff made history by winning the counselor relay even though we only had two swimmers as opposed to the four for the other camps. Meals on Thursday were scrambled eggs, potatoes and bacon for breakfast, grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch, and tacos with all of the fixings for dinner (Taco Thursday!). In the evening, campers had the option of listening to Port tell tell the tale of Doc Benton around the campfire on the beach.

Friday was a perfect day for a first group of Inter As (twelve-year-olds) to continue our 100+ year tradition of canoeing down the Connecticut River to Hanover. Although there was a head wind for most of the trip the boys completed the journey in a little under four hours. Their hard work on the water was rewarded with a pizza dinner and a viewing of the new “Despicable Me” movie. On Friday we also hosted a fifteens soccer tournament and a twelves baseball competition versus peer camps. Friday also saw an all-ages mountain biking adventure to Indian Pond. Finally, our Inter Bs (eleven-year-olds) headed to Baker Cliffs for an afternoon playing in the natural water slides followed by an ice cream treat at Moose Scoops. Breakfast on Friday was pancakes, lunch was Philly cheese steak sandwiches and french fries, and dinner was our weekly Kenny cookout on the field with grilled chicken, sausages, cornbread, potato salad, chips, and ice cream treats for dessert.

Saturday’s focus was the Baker Valley Competition day which involved 20 separate competitions in baseball, tennis, basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and lacrosse. Over 80 campers took part. Saturday also saw another kayaking trip to the Hartland Rapids and another climbing trip to the crags at Rumney. Meals on Saturday included bagels for breakfast, chicken tenders and smiley fries for lunch, and pizza for dinner with brownies for dessert.

That’s all for now. Please be in touch if you have questions.

Happy Summer!

Best,
Bill, Sabina, Port, Heide, Ken, and Ingrid