By: Bri Cavion
As the female head counselor for the girl’s line this summer, my day is filled with laughter and joy of spending my time with all of the ladies and also learning how to resolve many of their self-made “camp dramas” that develop here in our closed lives. I have found in my experience with adolescents and children that nature has an uncanny way of bringing to light our true colors as human beings and revealing our abilities to problem solve - our Pioneer Campers this summer have been experiencing this very thing.
P.A.T.H. (Pioneer Adventure Teambuilding Hike) was developed by my good friend and coworker here at Circle F, Steven Murray, as a response to the lack of an interactive overnight experience for the Pioneer Campers. He brought me on board while we were both still working in wilderness therapy in Utah, and the idea seemed magnificent- taking a group of Pioneers into the “Back 40” (Circle F’s back property) at set up sights, teaching about nature, ourselves as people, and developing team building activities that put the campers in situations where they have to problem solve, communicate, and work as a singular unit.
Before the journey begins, I as the female P.A.T.H. coordinator instruct the girls that complaints will be met with a request for one positive acknowledgment, that we will provide everything they could need while we are out on P.A.T.H. and that their job is to maintain open minds and hearts for what they are about to experience. There are four phases to P.A.T.H. each relating to a different natural element. The first phase, led this last time (2nd session girls P.A.T.H.) by Pioneer 1 counselor Liz, was Water. Here she split the girls into three teams based on random counting. The challenge was to get the entire “team” onto a single log, then to organize themselves by birthday without falling off of the log. The team to complete the challenge first, wins. I then talked about water essence, how we as females can either create beauty in our own and other’s lives, or choose to destroy what is around us by word or deed. The journey continued to the next site.
Wind came next, with a teambuilding activity led by Sarah and Emily, the two other Pioneer 1 Counselors. Their game of “group juggle” gave the girls the opportunity to work together while learning each other’s names. We finished up this site by discussing what is most important in our lives and how we should pursue it, for our lives are truly as fleeting as the wind.
Fire would have come next, but the weather decided to create a different activity for us. The Pioneer 2 Counselors Mia and Rachel were in charge of distributing the jobs of collecting the firewood, food, and water and taking it to our final site. Though it was pouring, the girls donned their “rain jackets” (trash bags) held their heads high, and managed to get all of the provisions to the sleeping site. They ate their sac burgers and smores while the rain fell around us, we protected by our tarp shelter we had just put up. I personally, was very proud at how the 30 girls maintained their composure, and survived together as a single unit.
At the final resting site of Earth, I read a Hopi Native American story about taking the advice of our families, and learning to be satisfied with the simple things in our lives. We slept with the soft pitter patter against our tarp shelter as we huddled in close to stay warm.
We woke up and greeted the sun at 6:00 a.m. and the girls began to chat and giggle about how exciting the previous night was. Tiff and Allison, the Pioneer “0” girl Counselors organized the site cleanup and prepared the girls for their trek back into camp.
But what is a journey without a proper ceremony? The girls were then led into a “borra ground” a sacred site where I painted their faces with native symbols signifying their growth during their outdoor adventure. They then were each given a leather band to help them remember their experience in the wilderness and how they worked together to survive. We then packed up our bags and journeyed back into camp.
The official end of P.A.T.H. only comes however with the now-traditional jump in the lake following breakfast. We held hands as we scampered into our lake, now ready for a shower and a nap. The Journey ends here, but what was learned and developed while on P.A.T.H. is something that we can hold on to for much longer.
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