Best Summer Ever

While the rest of the planet woke up earlier today and groaned with a dose of the Monday morning blues, on the Preserve, we all awoke to the cheerful chirping of birds and mists floating elegantly across the lake. After wolfing down the best breakfast ever–biscuits, sausage and eggs–we all strapped on our hiking gear, filled up our water bottles and packed up our water shoes and rain jackets. Here at GRP, hiking around on the land that seems to go on forever, our Mentor Hikes provide a unique experience for each of our Campers. For every one of mentors, the goal of the morning hikes are varied, with some fostering play and exploration and others bring science or history to the table. Sometimes, it’s a bit of both. Either way, having campers hike each day with different mentors, in a range of locales on and off the Preserve, it creates an opportunity to learn so much on mentor hikes, alone.

Beyond the experience of the morning hikes and mountain bike rides into DuPont, camp brings us all the joy of living in what a harmonious community should be. High fives on the regular. Peaceful and ever-so-rhythmic win-de-ya-ho. Staying out of DANGERZONE. Finding the time to stop and take it all in has become the single hardest thing about this Session. With rest hour, free time and cabin time, we get the chance to relax for a bit, and we’re thankful for that. So much has happened in what feels like such a short amount of time. From last weeks hikes, to campout, to tomorrow being the last day of mentor hikes, we only have a few more days to go. The best part is knowing how awesome, they’ll be.

Story by Brandon S. Marshall with Photos by Samantha J. Keebler & Brandon S. Marshall