Dear Moosilauke Families,

It is our pleasure to send this third weekly letter home from Moosilauke during summer 2024.  As is our routine, we open with an issue related to helping boys become their best selves followed by a chronicle of the daily happenings at camp.

Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, has been receiving significant attention because it not only outlines the harm smartphones and social media are causing, but it also presents concrete solutions.

In the first half of his book Haidt illuminates studies that show that teenage depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts have surged from 2010 to 2023, paralleling the time frame during which smart phones and social media have become ubiquitous with teenagers.  Haidt attributes the alarming surge in teenage anguish to the impact phones and social media have had on four key facets of teen life and health: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction.

Haidt goes on to recommend four solutions to the mental health crisis facing teenagers: no smartphones before high school; no social media before 16; phone-free schools; and more unsupervised play and childhood independence.

I would put forth another remedy to the phone and social media induced mental health ailments plaguing young people, one that you have already embraced: enroll your kid in a great overnight summer camp like Moosilauke!

At places like Moose, campers have no contact with phones and social media the whole time they are away from home (up to seven weeks).  At Moose, our long-standing policy is that all phones are collected on opening day and are kept in a safe until departure day.

This 24/7 phone free existence immediately helps kids get what they need most to be happy and healthy, including: more and enhanced sleep, expanded opportunities for both structured and free play, and significantly increased face-to-face time with peers.

According to Ruth Whippman in her essay Boys Get Everything, Except the Thing That’s Most Worth Having, this last benefit (less loneliness due to more in person time with peers) may be the most critical.  She cites that teenage boys now spend two hours less a week socializing than girls due in part to the fact that they spend seven hours more per week than their female peers on screens.

Being phone free also means there are more hours in the day to develop performance character traits like resilience, grit, tenacity, and an overall growth mindset.  At Moosilauke, the development of these essential traits arises in part from our program of broad and deep positive risk taking that requires campers to try new things and encounter and overcome failure–on the waterfront, in land sports, and in outdoor adventure experiences.  At Moose, you can’t just specialize in your strengths.

Moose parents, feel good about your decision to have your son attend Moose!

And now for our daily log of what transpired at Moose from Friday, July 5, through Thursday, July 11, 2024.

The warm and sunny weather conditions continued on Friday. A group of Junior As (ten-year-olds) enjoyed a mountain biking adventure around the lake. Two Junior B cabins (eight-and-nine-year-olds) ventured out to our lakeside campsite, the Point, for a camping overnight. They swam, fished, and cooked their dinner over a campfire before falling asleep in our log cabin and large tent on our new tent platform.  Inter-camp competition continued on Friday with an 11s baseball tournament and a 15s Archery tournament at a neighboring camp and a 13s Ultimate Frisbee tournament at Moose. Another highlight on Friday was an epic “Trick of the Day” courtesy of Todd that entailed his lost wallet being found inside a watermelon with the playing card that a camper had chosen – ask your campers to share! In the evening, there was kickball, dodgeball, water polo, bocce, tennis, open swim, and tubing.

On Saturday, we had rain in the morning and a dry afternoon.  Intercamp competition included 11s basketball and 15s basketball at a neighboring camp and 12s baseball and 13s lacrosse at Moose. An all-ages group spent the day mountain biking on the 70+ miles of machine-built single track at Green Woodlands, in Dorchester, NH. In the evening, it was movie night with “Space Jam” being played on Junior Hill. Additionally, there was tubing, open swim, lawn and board games, Crossnet, and pick-up basketball along with an option to watch the Euro Cup quarterfinal match.

On Sunday, the skies were once again clear and sunny. The day started with our traditional “Lazy Sunday” brunch that included cinnamon rolls, donuts, hashbrowns, a variety of egg dishes (omelets, scrambled, and breakfast casserole), and bacon and sausage. For the boys in camp, the afternoon consisted of an amazing “Waterpalooza.” Campers rotated through a number of fun and wet activities that were perfect for a hot afternoon.  In the evening on Sunday, cabin clean-up winners enjoyed a movie with snacks in the Junior Hill Rec Hall. There was also swimming, sandcastle building, waterpolo, and street hockey.

The oldest campers, the Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds), departed Sunday morning for their two-night, three-day whitewater rafting capstone trip to the Kennebec River, in Maine. After arriving at their destination on the first day the boys enjoyed paintball before a dinner of grilled burgers and chicken, with homemade brownies for dessert. They slept in a riverside bunkhouse.  On day two, after a great breakfast, the boys were outfitted with their river gear and then took part in a safety briefing.  After a short ride the rafting adventure started at the Harris Station Dam which immediately enters a narrow gorge, hundreds of feet deep.  Right after they picked up speed and plunged through “huge rolling waves and heart-pounding drops” before tackling Class III and IV rapids such as “Big Mama” and “Magic Falls.”  All-in-all, the boys rafted over 12 miles.  After rafting, they enjoyed a lunch of grilled steak, salad, and sodas. In the afternoon, they were able to relax and enjoy the facility which has volleyball nets, basketball hoops, and a pool. Dinner was an assortment of homemade pizzas. The only other trip Sunday entailed a group of campers with a “bomb proof wet release” spending the day kayaking the white water at the Hartland Rapids.

Monday, we said our “good-byes” to our incredible June/July 2.5 week campers. Families were greeted with big smiles and much enthusiasm for their time at Moose. The Senior Bs (thirteen-year-olds) on Monday had their turn for a “fluff” trip and departed in the morning for Weirs Beach. The campers had a blast at the Daytona Fun Park with bumper cars, Go-Karts, miniature golf, and a ropes course. The boys then enjoyed some time on the boardwalk, feasting on pizza, hot dogs and ice cream, along with swimming in beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee.  

A group of Inter Bs (eleven-year-olds) left Monday morning for their overnight camping and canoeing adventure to Cliff Island. They canoed approximately one mile to the island campsite. Once there, they set up their tents and then ate lunch. They then explored the island, swam, fished, and played games. After cooking their dinner over a campfire they retreated to their tents.  On Monday another group of campers had their turn top-rope rock climbing at the Rumney crags and a cabin of Junior As (ten-year-olds) departed in the afternoon for an overnight camping trip to our Pioneer Camp. The boys love this trip since our campsite is situated right on the crystal clear Baker River. Inter-camp competition continued with a 14s basketball tournament at a neighboring camp.

Tuesday morning we welcomed a group of new campers for their 2-week session.  After a quick goodbye to mom and dad, the boys unpacked and got settled in their cabins, were checked out by our nurses, had a tour lead by older campers, and then jumped into their activities with the rest of their respective age groups. A second group of Senior A2s (fourteen-year-olds) departed early in the morning Tuesday for their own three-day, two-night backpacking adventure to Mt. Washington and the Presidentials. On Day 1, they hiked 4.5 miles to their campsite, arriving early afternoon. Their plans to hike up Mt. Adams in the later afternoon were canceled due to an oncoming rain storm, so they enjoyed some well-deserved rest and relaxation at the campsite. On Day 2 they hiked nearly 9 miles summiting Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson in the process. They ate lunch on top of Mt. Washington and then hiked down 2 miles to the shelter where they settled in and enjoyed a dinner of rice and beans.  The next day they quickly descended to their vehicle (“like horses returning to the barn”) because they knew they had an all-you-can-eat pizza feast waiting for them at Enzo’s for lunch.

A second group of Inter Bs (eleven-year-olds) left after breakfast for their canoeing overnight adventure to Cliff Island. There were also two mountain biking trips on Tuesday.  Inter-camp competition continued with an 11s Archery tournament and 11s/13s/15s swim meet at neighboring camps. In the evening, the Junior Bs enjoyed a special night at the Point where they swam, fished and had S’mores over a campfire.  

On Wednesday, a group of Senior Bs (thirteen-year-olds) who did not elect to go on the Mt. Lafayette hiking overnight ventured out to Cliff Island for their own canoeing/camping overnight. There was also another all ages mountain biking trip to the Green Woodlands trails. And the Junior As (ten-year-olds) had their turn for an afternoon of swimming, sliding, and jumping in the natural waterslides of Baker Cliffs, followed by an ice cream treat at Moose Scoops. Inter-camp competition continued with an 11s soccer tournament at a neighboring camp. The highlight of the evening was Port telling a tall-tale around a campfire on the beach.

Thursday, a group of Senior A1s (fifteen-year-olds) headed to the Rumney crags for a day of rock climbing. The CITs and Junior Counselor left right after breakfast for a trip (they planned!) to Cliff Island. Our new Junior Bs (eight-and-nine-year-olds) had their turn swimming, sliding and jumping at Baker Cliffs.  Intercamp competition included an 11s tennis tournament and a rugby clinic (12s and up) at a neighboring camp. In the evening, there was ping pong, lawn games, pick-up basketball, arena soccer, weightlifting for our oldest campers, and relaxing at the beach. Finally, as part of our 120th year celebration, we surprised the campers and rented out the Fairlee Drive-In and bused the whole camp to watch “Despicable Me 4,” with popcorn and snacks. It was quite the sight to see the expressions on the faces of our campers and staff after dinner when they realized they were all going to the movies!

That’s all for now.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to Sabina or Bill if you have any questions or concerns.

Happy Summer!

Bill, Sabina, Ken, Ingrid, Todd, Preston, Jake, Quinn and Charlotte