Going Out with a Bang

By Peter Grunawalt
August 10, 2015 (comments)

There's no easy way to end the last session of the season. By now, even the new staff are veterans of the program, and everyone is hitting their stride. And it seems just as we hit this stride, poof! Camp is over. With one last hurrah, we pack the last few days of camp full of activities, including a mini-Olympics, a talent show known as the "Gong Show" (where no talent is enough talent), and an initiation ceremony based on the historic rendezvous of the French Voyageurs. The mini-Olympics began with a series of sports, including archery, pickle ball, sailing,...

The CV Olympics

By Peter Grunawalt
August 07, 2015 (comments)

Once a summer, athletes from around the world are summoned to the Camp Voyageur peninsula to face off in a series of sports and camp-related activities. A torch is lit, the Star Spangled Banner is played on trumpets, and campers salute the flag. Let the games begin! Two team captains are selected by the Olympic commissioners from Cabin 9 - the eldest cabin on the peninsula. They’re tasked with forming and organizing their own teams to run a medley of events over the next two days, ending with the obstacle course. It’s a surprisingly difficult task and a lot of...

Voyageurs Return! Session 3 Round 1

By Peter Grunawalt
August 06, 2015 (comments)

Four of five groups have returned from trips, coming in from all over the Boundary Waters (BWCAW). Some groups headed out East along the border lakes on longer trips, ranging from 7 to 8 days. Others headed North from camp, exploring the larger lakes closer to home such as Basswood Lake on 5 day trips. The last group is still out on Isle Royal and will return this evening. They'll be featured in their own blog post, and I expect each of them will have some stories to share. This is our favorite part of camp, as the group dynamics...

Trip Stories: "The Secrets of Devil’s Cascade"

By Peter Grunawalt
August 04, 2015 (comments)

This trip story comes in from Anthony after his first round trip of Session 2. An iconic part of their route was the series of rapids known as the “Devil’s Cascade.” However, unlike most groups, they went out of their way to explore the full extent of the cascade, hiking off the beaten path a ways to get to a swimming hole. He writes… Perched atop a campsite in the northern Boundary Waters we saw the roaring waters of Devil’s Cascade. Like a great thunder strike echoing throughout a bay, the waters were roaring with ferocity, still carving out the...

Trip Stories: "Stopping to Smell the Roses"

By Peter Grunawalt
August 01, 2015 (comments)

This trip story comes from Session 2 camper Charlie as he reflects on his first round trip experience. He remarks on a unique kind of tripping philosophy here at camp, where the daily objective isn’t always the distance one paddles, but rather the amazing spots one ventures out to see. He writes… When many people think of a trip through the Boundary Waters, they envision a long and arduous journey that involves many miles and difficult portages. The often overlooked side of tripping is the part filled with relaxation - a sort of “stop and smell the roses” kind of...

Session 3 Round 1: Heading Out!

By Peter Grunawalt
July 31, 2015 (comments)

Four groups will leave camp and head out on the trail for anywhere between 5 and 8 days. Each will explore a different region in the Boundary Waters, paddling many of the larger lakes along the border of the U.S. and Canada. These same waters are known regionally as the “Voyageur Highway,” a series of lakes that the french Voyageurs used to paddle along to trade with the first nation people in the interior. Many will also paddle through a 3-year-old recovering forest from the large Pagami Creek fire. Some trips plan to focus on fishing, while others will explore...

Session 3 Expedition: Isle Royale

By Peter Grunawalt
July 30, 2015 (comments)

Each session, at least one "big trip" will head out with an older, more experienced group of campers for 10 days. This session, Isle Royale is that trip. Isle Royale is 15 miles from the nearest shore of Lake Superior, making it usually impossible to see from land. In total, it spans some 45 miles and is over 9 miles wide at its widest point. This makes it and the 450 smaller islands that surround it one of the most isolated wildernesses in the world. At it's highest point, Mount Desor, campers will ascend to 1400 ft to get a...

Session 3: A New Chapter Begins...

By Peter Grunawalt
July 26, 2015 (comments)

It is a well rehearsed routine by session 3 for accomplishing a very important mission: breaking the ice. A number of camp-wide name games such as sharks and minnows in the lake and dodge ball where in order to tag someone you must know their name help make it easy and fun to get to know one another. We'll also have a rendezvous at the fire circle, one of the most scenic outlooks on the peninsula, to have a hearty grilled feast. Beyond this, it simply takes a little time to get settled into the program. Campers will work on...

Voyageurs Return! Session 2 Round 2

By Peter Grunawalt
July 23, 2015 (comments)

No more than a day ago, the last group of Voyageurs arrived in camp. They came in from everywhere: Grand Portage on Lake Superior, the Quetico-Provincial Park in Canada, and from all over the Boundary Waters (BWCAW). No trip was shorter than 8 days long, a fact that pretty much ensured wilderness adventure for every group. Here at camp, we refer to the next few days as the pinnacle of the Voyageur experience. After spending almost two weeks in the wilderness, campers have really changed. They've found new friends in one another, they've braved the wilderness and a world without...

Trip Stories: "The Shortcut"

By Peter Grunawalt
July 21, 2015 (comments)

This story comes in from camper Keenan about his first round trip (and first trip with Camp Voyageur) in the Boundary Waters. What had initially started as a pretty regular route ended up becoming arguably the most adventurous trip of the first round to go out! I went on my first trip at CV with Harrison, Stephen, Nick and Dylan. We spent most of our time on the Lac La Croix lake region in the northwest Boundary Waters. On day four, we attempted to reach Contentment Lake. Stephen the counselor Dylan the ‘big man’ exclaimed, “We should take a shortcut....