To experience the wilderness? To be with friends? To challenge our skills? To explore?

All of this, and something even more. Camping is pure. It’s an opportunity to strip away the pressure of the day and focus on more important things. As the Scoutmaster, you can leave the stress of work behind and focus on helping others.

For the Scouts, they leave behind their school and part-time job concerns, desire for academic achievements, athletic competition, and social pressures. They are free to roam at camp like nowhere else (Obviously, we know where they are at all times, and they are in a safe environment). Within that wilderness space they can let go and explore. As a Council, we spend enormous time, effort and resources scheduling merit badges, building ropes courses, improving facilities, launching boats, and dozens of other activities that add up to “the program.” However, when the Scout comes home after the week at camp and his mom asks him what was the best part about camp, he says “I caught a frog!” Or “Billy laughed so hard milk came out his nose.” Two things he could’ve done on any given Saturday in the backyard.

If that’s the highlight, why do we camp?

We are grateful that he has fun memories when he’s 11 years old. But those memories change and evolve over time. As he grows he learns to articulate different memories from his camp experience. When you ask a 17-year-old about camp he references camaraderie. Ask a 25-year-old to reflect on his youthful camp experience and he talks about independence. When you ask 40 year-old he talks about learning responsibility in camp. Responsibility he never would’ve learned anywhere else. The place that prepared him to to be a father. Ask a 55 year old and he’ll reflect on learning leadership that, in retrospect, has guided him ever since. Ask a 70 year old and he’ll reminisce about the milk coming out of Billy’s nose 😉

So, why do we camp?

It provides life changing opportunities and builds life-long bonds. Deeper than they first appear, and they fill our personal memory reservoir. Camp is a wonderful mixture of authentic challenges, metaphorical lessons, and unparalleled fun. The scouting community (Scoutmasters, Scouts, camp staff and the physical property) all work together – like a recipe to make the experience work.

Building and developing the Northern Nexus and the Spirit of Adventure is an authentic challenge. It’s the challenge that makes the victory taste so sweet. We are glad to announce all the registrations for the much anticipated inaugural summer at Northern Nexus (Wah-Tut-Ca, Storer and Parker) can be found HERE.