Venturing North: Second Round Trips Begin

By Peter Grunawalt
July 27, 2016 (comments)

After an exhilarating week in camp, our last trips have finally left the docks to find wilderness adventure once more. Second round trips range from 7 to 10 days and cover a wide variety of landscapes. Our most experienced campers headed out on to the Apostle Islands to sea kayak, to Lake Superior via the Grand Portage, and down the Vermilion River. Each of these trips involved campers in the planning and packing phase extensively. Less experienced and younger campers will paddle through some of the most iconic lakes of the Boundary Waters on a quest for fishing holes, legendary...

A Band of Brothers: "Commando Day"

By Peter Grunawalt
July 23, 2016 (comments)

Campers returned to camp on the 19th of July, with most of our groups paddling right up to the docks. That of course creates a rowdy atmosphere, as kids really open up on their first round of trips. In fact, that’s the first thing we notice when they come back; they’re MUCH louder. Getting no more than a day to catch up from their wilderness adventures, several big events took place, which I will go on to explain in some detail. The first event occurred on what will probably be one of the hottest days of this summer, and thankfully,...

A Photo Worth 1,000 Words

By Peter Grunawalt
July 13, 2016 (comments)

Behind each and every photo you see at camp, there's a story, though they're not always so apparent. In fact, some of the most meaningful photos to our campers may simply look like, for example, two teenagers building a fire to boil water in a rusty coffee grounds can. Little do you know how powerful this image is to those who partook in the Voyageur Olympic games several days before this photo was taken. I'll explain. Every summer, once per session, we host what is called the Voyageur Olympics. I talk more at length about what exactly goes into the...

Aloha! Session 1 Ends, Session 2 Begins

By Peter Grunawalt
July 10, 2016 (comments)

Just as campers from Session 1 started making their way home on Saturday, new campers from around the world started journeys both long and short to the peninsula. It's quite the experience to say farewell to a group of boys and young men that you've come to know so well, and then welcome another 30+ campers the next day. But of course, after a GREAT night of rest (and sleeping in a little, maybe), we're ready to turn our full attention to Session 2 and some of the amazing things we have planned for our campers. By the end of...

The Big Trips: Voyageurs Return!

By Peter Grunawalt
July 06, 2016 (comments)

Our campers have returned from their second round of trips, which spanned from 8-10 days in length. Since their first round trips laid a good foundation of camping-related skills, campers took to the trips like naturals. It certainly helped that the weather has been incredible this past week! Spirits were high as groups pulled into the dock or cruised in from the road and rendezvoused. As you can probably imagine, a group of 20-something teens and preteens all returning from the trail makes for a pretty rowdy scene. Over the next few days, we'll be trying to capture the stories...

Northwoods Adventures: Second Round Trips

By Peter Grunawalt
June 27, 2016 (comments)

The past week has really flown by. It seems only days ago that we were all returning from our first round of trips... wait, that's because we were. Since then, we've had the Gong Show, Klondike Day, Casino Night, and plan to have the Camper-Counselor Hunt later tonight. To a camper, all of these evening programs are familiar, but they are likely not for our blog readers. Fortunately, I'm here to explain and interpret all these crazy programs for parents, camp families, and alums. Let's start with the Gong Show. Essentially a talent show, what makes the Gong Show unique...

History in the Making: All-Girls Grand Portage Trip

By Peter Grunawalt
June 23, 2016 (comments)

Just under 100 miles, the first ever all-girls Grand Portage trip set off bright and early on Wednesday (June 22nd, 2016). The trip will end with the infamous 8.5 mile portage into Lake Superior. And that's not the only difficult part of the trip, as there are several 1 to 2 mile portages along the way. Part of what makes a Grand Portage trip so epic are the iconic overlooks and lakes of the eastern Boundary Waters. Many of our old prints hanging in the Mess Hall come from overlooks on Rose Lake and at various sites along the trip....

Voyageurs Return: First Round of Trips!

By Peter Grunawalt
June 22, 2016 (comments)

Tuesday afternoon, the camp peninsula was brought back to life as all of our wilderness trips trickled back into camp without incidence. Given the storms and wind we've seen in the past few days, the fact that everyone was in on-time was quite a feat. We have a tough, hardworking group of campers and an experienced staff, and they met the daily challenges of the elements with high spirits. As campers and counselors cleaned up, their stories were coming out of the woodwork. As you can imagine, preteens and teens are excellent story tellers, particularly when it comes to embellishing...

Day 1, Session 1: It's only the beginning...

By Peter Grunawalt
June 13, 2016 (comments)

While one would expect the first day of camp to seem like the first day of school, it was anything but that. Friendships picked up right where they left off last summer, and in some cases, summers from 2-3 years ago. New campers hopped right into the program after settling into their cabin bunks. Within hours of arriving, camp’s 25’ War Canoe was put to the test. We loaded it up with some of our strongest paddlers and took it for a spin. After a long restoration process, it’s good to know that it doesn’t leak. You hear that Elliott?!...

The Staff Trip: Camping Like It's Your Job

By Peter Grunawalt
June 08, 2016 (comments)

Once per summer, some of the most qualified wilderness leaders of the century gather in one location to test and hone their skills. That place happens to be Camp Voyageur. And these wilderness leaders I speak of? Why, they’re our camp counselors of course! Over the past two weeks, our counselors have been put through the ringer. They’ve been trained and tested in risk management, wilderness first aid, life-guarding, CPR, aquatics and water safety, behavior management, counseling techniques, transportation safety, healthcare, and a number of specialized activities we do here at camp. That’s not including the other certifications they need...

Peter Grunawalt

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