Camp Wanapitei

 

The countdown is well under way!

Here we are early April and as the ice begins to shift, melt, reform and hopefully disappear, the Wanapitei office is hard at work getting ready to make this another wonderful summer at camp.

Currently we are witnessing some of the highest registration numbers we have seen in years and as a result many of our programs are FULL - only a few spots remain here and there.  Most of our staff is hired for the summer and several are returning from last year.  It looks like another great staff group –they are the ones that ultimately make the summer a success for the campers.

Trips are shaping up for 2008.  We don’t generally finalize routes until much closer to the summer but certainly the ones we are looking at are going to be excellent.  As for our VII’s (which requires planning as early as September) they are paddling out of Baker Lake (Canada’s only inland Inuit Community) and travelling the Kunwak and Kazan River system.  The trip will end in Baker Lake after 50 plus days of paddling.  We will look forward to hearing the tales of this incredible journey on Harvest Night.

Any day now you will be receiving our April mailing which will include forms such as transportation, medical, internet policy and information on how to locate our clothing and equipment lists (found on this web site).  Please read things carefully and return all forms as promptly as you can.  All of these forms help us do our job better.

I hope all of you have a wonderful spring and we will look forward to seeing you on the shores of Lake Temagami on making this summer FANTASTIC!  Please check out the blog throughout the summer as I will be reporting frequently.

All the best,

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Hi Everyone!

Thank you so much for a fantastic summer!   We really hope you had a great experience with us.

Some things I want to pass along to you. 

Our registration packages will be going out to all campers from 2007 next week.  In this package is a letter from me letting you know about the early registration deadline along with how to do our survey – which is now online. There will be other important things in the mailing to look over.  In the past we’ve included trip reports with this mailing but we are now sending them out separately - later this fall.  So stay tuned for those.

Please check our web site (which will be updated in the next few days) for reception dates and any other relevant news.  All communications will be updated under the News and Events and or my Blog section on our home page.  We hope to have our pictures/slideshow updated shortly.  If you can believe it we have received over 6000 pictures from this summer – that is right....6 and three zeroes.

In the mean time should you have any questions don’t hesitate to call us directly.  

I hope you have a great fall and we’ll see you at one of our receptions!

Take good care,

Woody

Director

Camp Wanapitei

 

Welcome backs continue!

Well here we are two more sleeps and Harvest Night is upon us.  It’s hard to believe that our summer is coming to a close so quickly.

Yesterday we welcomed back our Temagami’s and month long Coureur de Bois.  Our Temagami’s returned from a six day trip in the Temagami area and the Coureur de Bois returned from 18 days, starting here at camp and ending on Georgian Bay.  The campers look well and have had nothing but great things to say about their trips.  Today our 2 week Coureur de Bois and both 2 week Pioneer trips paddle under the bridge.  Currently all of them are being shuttled back to camp as I write this.

Also today our VII’s are flying from Baker Lake to Winnipeg and then on to Toronto.  They had a good trip despite some wet cool weather.  It will be fantastic to see them return.  Our VI’s have also called and they are getting ready to fly from Attawapaskat to Moosonee then train tonight to Cochrane and bus to Temagami – planes, trains and automobiles.

Tomorrow our River Adventurers, Bay Trippers and 4 week Pioneers begin their journey’s home.  In fact the Bay Trippers just called a moment ago and they are in Moosonee – tonight they hop on the train with the VI’s. 

I will post one more blog at the end of the summer and from time to time throughout the year we will post various things on the blog.

I hope you all had a wonderful summer and thank you again for sending us your children.

Take care and safe travels.

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Hi all!

Sorry for the brief break in blogs but we have been pretty busy around here preparing the last group of campers for their trip.

The last trip to depart our docks for 2007 left this morning.  Our Temagami’s were making their way up the Red Squirrel River to Red Squirrel Lake and camping in Kokoko Lake for the night.  The official number of trips out in the field now is 10. So all is quiet here at camp for now, at least until the trips begin their return early next week.

The campers this session have been great, high energy and tons of enthusiasm, in fact last night at dinner if I closed my eyes I would have thought there were a few groups in camp, it was just the Temagami’s – enthusiastic and into everything we doJ   

I won’t send out another blog until trips begin to return.  Until then, should you have any questions feel free to call.  By the looks of it we will see lots of you here picking up your campers, I‘ll look forward to meeting you then.

Have a great rest of your week.

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Session 4 is up and running!

This is just a quick note to tell you that all of the campers arrived safely to camp today.

The bus arrived a little ahead of schedule and we have been running full speed ever since the campers arrived.  We just finished a great game of capture the flag and campers are now settling into their cabins with their leaders.

On Tuesday our Pioneer’s and River Adventure's leave for trip.  One group of Pioneers is paddling the Spanish River and the other is paddling the Noire.  The River Adventure’s are paddling the Groundhog River.  All the campers are getting pumped about their routes.  The weather looks great for the next week!

I’ll be touching base with all of you is a day or two, basically once I have a little time to write.  Just wanted to let you know everyone arrived safely.

All for now.

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei 

 

Last day of Session 3!

I am happy to tell you that all of our trips have returned safely.  All are busily preparing for their trip skits and finishing up their paddling levels – some doing solo work and others tandem.  Regatta is this afternoon with the theme revolving around Pirates – we’ve got great weather today so I suspect it will be a fantastic Regatta.

It sounds like campers really enjoyed their trips, despite some strong winds which made some routes more challenging than “normal”. Such is canoe tripping though.

Tonight is our closing banquet and awards night for 3^rd session.  After another scrumptious feast campers will be presented with their various paddling levels and then entertain us with their skits – always entertaining – in a Disney kind of way!

I would like to thank all of you for sending your children to us.  I hope we have lived up to your expectations and as usual if you want to contact me about something – good or not so good – please don’t hesitate to call me.  We are always looking for ways to improve.

I would also like to remind you to check bus times for tomorrow as well as pick up times here at camp if you are driving.  Also, if you are driving your children up to camp on Sunday, please arrive around 4:00pm or later.  We want to be ready to welcome every camper and when people arrive too early we can’t provide the kind of welcome we would like to.

Safe travels and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Hi!

This is just a quick note to let you know that two Temagami trips and our Juniors all paddled under the bridge today.  Big grins, dirty faces and smelly clothes were common among all the campers.  Everyone looks healthy and happy despite some challenging winds out on trip.  I think it was one of those trips that the head winds were ever present no matter the direction – up hill both waysJ.  All of the campers are now slowly unpacking and cleaning themselves as well as the trip equipment.   

We’ll look forward to the return of our Coureur deBois, Pioneer and River Adventure trips tomorrow – the River Adventure’s just actually called to tell us they made it in to town and had a great trip.  I’ll be glad to fill you in on all of their returns.  Tomorrow is our Square Dance and the next night is our 3^rd session banquet, complete with trip awards and trip skits.

Last night we experienced a bit of rain which we needed and today has been a bit cooler but the long term forecast is looking really great, even for our departure and arrival days this weekend.  Just to let you know the Arborist have just finished cleaning our site from all of our downed trees and things are definitely back to normal around here.

All for now and have a great evening!

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Well it has been quite a few days up here at Wanapitei.

All of our trips are out and the juniors are beginning their last session today.  This is all normal. It was however, the freight train of a wind storm that blew through camp a few days ago that still has us talking, not to mention cleaning up. 

First let me say everyone is fine, in fact there were only a few campers and staff in camp when the storm hit.  They are all totally fine, in fact most thought it was “cool” to see such a storm.  Of course my version of cool and their version of cool don’t always matchJ.  We did have juniors close by trying to do an overnight but fortunately they were in a Bay that was more sheltered than camp.  The storm hit us at 4:00pm and lasted for about 1.5hours.  After the storm settled we immediately picked up the juniors and brought them back to camp for the rest of the evening.  We also had two CdB trips out in the local area but when we showed up to see how they were doing they looked at us with the type of look that says “why are you out here”?  They just had some wind and rain. It was a very localized storm.

I believe the term is “microburst”.  We had a wall of hail, rain and powerful wind hit the camp property.  We have lost upwards of 80 trees, our ropes course, two sail boats, some kayaks and minor cabin damage, including lots of shingles.  We also had four outhouses blow over and a chair that was on our front dock ended up at the foot of the Jack Pine Trail.  There is other minor damage here and there and of course we all got soaked do to the vast quantity of rain that fell.  At one point the Red Squirrel River was actually flowing in the opposite direction – so it appeared.   All in all it was amazing to have so little actual damage to our buildings.  Of course the main thing was that all of our campers were fine.  The two week juniors are on an overnight right now enjoying the beautiful weather that we have – last night was a glorious starry night, they would have had a really great look at the stellar canopy.

Yesterday we bid farewell to the month long CdB and Pioneer trips.  Our CdB’s are paddling a historic route that has them paddling from camp all the way to Georgian Bay via the Obabika River, Sturgeon River, Cache Bay on Lake Nippissing down to the French River ending at the Bay.  The Pioneers are paddling from camp to the Kippawa River and eventually down the Dumoine River ending on the Ottawa River where they will be picked up on day 20.  All of them were more than ready to be on trip and very excited to get paddling.

Trips begin their return Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon all the two week campers are back in camp ready to tackle the square dance.   We’ll look forward to hearing all the great trip stories upon their return.

Enjoy your long weekend!

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

One word – HOT!!!

Thank goodness we have the lake to jump into, actually more like live in.  We are certainly in the middle of a heat wave up here but we are all thankful not to be in the city.  The other great thing is that the bugs are in rapid declineJ.

Yesterday was a full day for everyone.  The day began with “Gathering” which is held at a beautiful and secluded point of land south of the Chateau over looking Lake Temagami.  It is here where our community gathers to be quiet, reflective and share some really great stories of the past.  All groups bring a rock and add it to the rock cairn that has been growing there since 1956.  Every group offers a song, a quote or a reading. Yesterday was made even more special because of a beautiful poem that was written and read by one of our campers.  I hope to put it in our annual publication, The Paddler.  We ended the day with a full on all out game of Capture the Flag, certainly a very different ending compared to the beginning of the day.  I still think our team won but the campers don’t seem to agree with me. Perhaps next time!

So today we bid a farewell to our two week Pioneers as they make their way to the Spanish River.  Tomorrow our mighty juniors head off across Ferguson Bay for their overnight and those who are staying the extra week are continuing on until Sunday.  Also heading out tomorrow, our 2 week Coureur de Bois trips.  We will be giving all these trips an official send off at breakfast tomorrow.

Everyone seems to be adjusting to camp life quite well and as I write this many of our trips are already “into” their trips.  The VII’s are on day 34, the VI’s on day 3, the Bay Trippers on Day 2 and the River Adventures also on day 2.  Soon camp will be “small” again as all trips are in full flight.  This Sunday we have a few new juniors arriving then at the end of next week we will be closing session 3 and ready to welcome the final session of the summer.  It’s hard to believe we are actually in August.

Well I hope you are all staying cool.

Until next time, take good care.

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Third session is off and running!

I am happy to report that all of our campers made it to camp yesterday and we are officially off and running in our third session of the summer.

This morning we sent the VI’s off on their month long trip down the Attawapiskat River.  Currently they are riding a bus to Thunder Bay and then off to Pickle Lake, Ontario tomorrow - two full days of travel to begin their paddling.  They left in great spirits with very full packs and barrels. The bus was loaded by 7:30am which should get them into Thunder Bay roughly 12 hours later.

Tomorrow we send the Bay Trippers off as well as the River Adventure’s.  The Bay Trippers are going to the Kessagami River which flows into James Bay and the River Adventure’s are embarking on a journey down the Groundhog River.  On Wednesday our 2 week Pioneers travel to the Spanish River and on Thursday our CdB trips (2 week) leave.  Also on Thursday our one week juniors go on an overnight and our two week juniors continue on their journey for two more nights arriving back at camp just in time for the next group of juniors to arrive.  On Friday both Temagami trips leave and then on Saturday both our month long Pioneers and month long CdB’s head out on their trips.  Last but not least our VII’s continue on their journey - they are on day 31 now....wow!

Our weather has been very hot but the good news is that everyone has been in the lake doing swim tests.  It’s a far cry from four weeks ago when we serving hot chocolate after the swim tests, summer is definitely here.

Tonight we will be having a camp fire followed with camper snack....here’s hoping folks get a better sleep tonight, imagine kids staying up late their first nightJ

I’ll keep you posted as we move through the session.  Have a great summer and don’t hesitate to call with any concerns or if you are just interested in how your child is doing.  Of course no news is good news but nonetheless I am always happy to speak with parents.

All for now.

Woody

 

The bus has left!

This morning (Friday July 27^th) the bus left right on time – 9:00am.

Last night was a fantastic night of awards, trip skits and another incredible banquet dinner.   The weather was beautiful enough that we were able to eat outside, serving 180 people. 

It was great to hear all the trip stories and watch some very creative skits.  It sure looks like there were some great adventures and some pretty funny stories too.

As this session comes to a close some of you may be wondering how to register for next summer.  We will be sending out early registration packages in the fall.  Early registration is for returning campers only. This gives you a chance to secure a spot for next summer.  I anticipate sending information out in October with a deadline of mid November, after which we open the registration process to the general public.  We’ll keep you posted on this and our reunions as we get closer to the fall.

I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of your summer and thank you again for “lending” your children to us, we had lots of fun.

All the best,

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Second session is coming to a close!

I am really happy to tell you all that all of our trips returned home safely.  The smiles were everywhere on the campers paddling under the bridge.

The first of five groups paddled under the bridge at around 11:00am and the last group (our Bay trippers) paddled in at 4:30pm.  As each group paddled under the bridge the crowds began to grow in size and volume.  It was really great seeing the reaction of the kids as this mob of people awaited their arrival.

This afternoon is our Regatta.  The theme takes place in the stone ages as the caveman and dinosaurs appear to be having a conflict of some kind.  All campers have been placed on different teams with the hopes of being victorious after a full afternoon of stone age games and water events.  This evening we will have our second session banquet, complete with a feast, awards and trip skits.  The campers are busy “perfecting” their skits, as usual there will be some real gems.

We have really had a great session and I am thankful to you all for entrusting us with your children.  I really hope they had a fabulous experience.  As usual I am always happy to hear from you if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call me.

In the mean time we continue to think of our VII’s out on trip as they reach the mid way point of their journey.  We’ll really look forward to seeing them in a short few weeks.  We are also really excited to greet the next group of campers who arrive on Sunday.

Have a wonderful rest of your summer.

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Second session is coming to a close!

I am really happy to tell you all that all of our trips returned home safely.  The smiles were everywhere on the campers paddling under the bridge.

The first of five groups paddled under the bridge at around 11:00am and the last group (our Bay trippers) paddled in at 4:30pm.  As each group paddled under the bridge the crowds began to grow in size and volume.  It was really great seeing the reaction of the kids as this mob of people awaited their arrival.

This afternoon is our Regatta.  The theme takes place in the stone ages as the caveman and dinosaurs appear to be having a conflict of some kind.  All campers have been placed on different teams with the hopes of being victorious after a full afternoon of stone age games and water events.  This evening we will have our second session banquet, complete with a feast, awards and trip skits.  The campers are busy “perfecting” their skits, as usual there will be some real gems.

We have really had a great session and I am thankful to you all for entrusting us with your children.  I really hope they had a fabulous experience.  As usual I am always happy to hear from you if you have any questions don’t hesitate to call me.

In the mean time we continue to think of our VII’s out on trip as they reach the mid way point of their journey.  We’ll really look forward to seeing them in a short few weeks.  We are also really excited to greet the next group of campers who arrive on Sunday.

Have a wonderful rest of your summer.

Woody, Director, Camp Wanapitei

 

Phones are down in the North!

There appears to be a wide spread problem at the moment where phones are experiencing technical difficulties across the North.

Please email your questions to trish@wanapitei.net for now.  I will let you know when the phones are up and operating.

I am also happy to report that our Juniors are heading out as I write for their overnight, they are packed and ready to paddle the Voyageur canoe for a great adventure.  I hear there will be a musical trio from a far off land visiting them this evening after their dinner.  I am sure they will tell you all about it when you see themJ

We are now receiving all of our trips.  Today our Temagami’s paddled under the bridge as did our 1 of 3 CdB groups.  This afternoon we will see the WLIT’s fresh from their white water course return and one other CdB group.   Tomorrow the rest of our trips return (except of course the VII’s). 

Thursday evening is our banquet and we are anticipating 170 people including staff and campers.  Should be a great evening!!

I’ll keep you posted as things with our phones change.

Take care.

Woody

 

Juniors have returned from their trip!

Our two week juniors arrived back at camp last night to an enthusiastic welcome from the few staff we have on site.   They had a great trip and lots of stories to share with us.   It’s amazing how many stories the juniors have even if only out for a couple of nights.  I believe they even adopted some frogs and named them all, only as juniors can do.  It looks like our juniors who are here in week 2 of junior camp will depart for their overnight on Tuesday, so they can be a part of our Square Dance on Wednesday evening.  They will camp somewhere in Ferguson Bay on Lake Temagami.

It is otherwise quite quiet around camp these days as all of our canoe trips are out.  We are anticipating all of our trips returning by Wednesday evening, except for the VII’s who continue along their route in the far north – they are on day 22.  We’ll follow that up with Regatta day and Banquet on Thursday and then a bright and early breakfast on Friday for the bus ride home.  Just a reminder that if you are picking up your children on Friday to double check the times and please allow a little extra time for the walk in to camp.

We are having fantastic weather today and the rest of the week is look really great for weather, all the way up to 32 by Friday......hopefully that will put an end to the bugs!

Have a great rest of your weekend.  I hope to send another blog on Wednesday or Thursday morning after all of our trips have returned.

Woody

 

VII’s are doing well!

We just received a call from our VII trip to tell us they are doing well and that they are staying with their original route.  This was the time when they would have altered course if they were behind by quite a bit.  So far they are one day behind but feel very confident that they can quickly make that up, especially when they begin to travel down stream.  They were in great spirits, despite some really hard work and thick bugs as you can well imagine.  They are on day 17 now.

Our second session is off to a fantastic start.  Last night we had campfire and the staff put on a great show, complete with guitars and contributions from our LIT’s.  I suspect you’ll hear the odd song from campfire when your campers return home.

As I write this note our Juniors are off on a hike (over lunch) to the Red Squirrel Falls on the Red Squirrel River (Anima Nippissing River) which flows through camp.  They actually hike one way and then paddle back.  A great outing on this beautiful Temagami afternoon, complete with sun and a steady breeze.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have three groups leaving on trip.  Our two week Pioneers are going to the Spanish River while two of our three Coureur de Bois trips are heading out in the local Temagami area.  The next day the remaining Coureur de Bois trip departs along with the WLIT’s who are doing a 7 day white water course on the Temagami River.  That course will be taught by our assistant director Julia Pagel on the Temagami River.

Tonight our LIT’s will be leading the camp through a camp wide game of Capture the Flag.  Campers always seem to really get into this game and they sure use up lots of energy playing.

I hope all of you are getting a chance to get out and enjoy the summer.

All for now,

Woody

 

Arrival Day Session 2!

I am happy to tell you that our second session campers are here and they are ready for camp! 

The bus arrived on time amid a healthy dose of liquid sunshine.  We met all the campers at the bus and they were off and running down the trail to camp.  Despite the rain, all the campers made it into camp dry (at least their belongings were dry).  Judging by the volume level at dinner sprits are very high and they are really excited to be here. Tonight is our camp wide ETB (Early To Bed) for all staff and campers as first days are always big.

As I mentioned at dinner tonight to the campers, we still have three trips out in the “field”.  Our VII’s are on day 15 of 52, our Bay trippers are on day 13 of 23 and our 4 week Pioneer’s are on day 9 of 20.  As usual we are thinking of them all wishing them continued success. 

For those of you who have juniors campers here (age 7-9), they are doing well.  They have lots of energy and four dynamic staff as well as the co-ordinator Katie to look after them – or maybe to keep up with them.  They are certainly in good hands.  I also suspect the leaders will not have any trouble falling to sleep each nightJ.

Well tomorrow all of our campers will be in the lake doing a swim test and the older campers will be doing their canoe over canoe rescues as well.  They will all have a very full first day tomorrow.  I’ll be checking in with you shortly, especially once our trips begin to depart which will be in the next couple of days for some.

Lots of people have been asking about the weather.  We’ve sure had our fair share of water - much of it at night and never lasting all that long but certainly often.  The long term forecast is for warmer weather and quite a bit of sun.  We’ll look forward to that.

Hope all is well with each of you and feel free to call with any of your questions.

Woody

 

Hello from Temagami on this sunny July 12^th afternoon!

I am pleased to tell you that all of our first session trips have returned and all went well!   We’ve been inundated with great trip stories and tonight at our first session banquet campers will be presenting their trip skits.  They are currently running around in our Regatta – the theme is the 1984 Olympics.  We really are not sure why 1984, but let’s just say the clothing styles have jarred the old memory bank – complete with leg warmers!

Our four week Pioneers, Bay Trippers and VII’s are all out on trip.  We’ll see two of those trips return at the end of next session.   Today our WLIT’s left for their solo experiences.  The focus of the solo’s is not about distance or degree of difficulty in paddling but about spending time with one’s thoughts for a period of time. We check on them daily at their campsites and there is also a system in place where they can check on each other.  It really is a fantastic experience and we really look forward to hearing their stories upon their return to camp.

I would just like to say it has been a pleasure working and playing with this group of campers.  I know the staff would say the same thing!  We’ll miss them all.

If you have campers here beginning July 14^th please check back in a couple of days after camp starts and I will be pleased to provide a general update for you.

As usual if you have any concerns please let me know as soon as you know. 

Happy paddling!

Woody

We're off and running! After a fantastic arrival day and everyone arriving safely, camp is in full swing. Yesterday all of the campers braved the cool north wind to do their swim tests. Thankfully our amazing kitchen was on hot chocolate duty to chase that “after test chill” away. Campers had a chance to go canoeing, meet the doctor, chat with myself and play.....lots of playing! The day ended with a high energy, skit and music filled campfire with the sun set and beautiful Lake Temagami as the back drop. Today we said farewell to our Bay Trippers who are beginning their adventure on the Kesagami River. Twenty four days later they will find themselves on the shore of James Bay ready to load the train in Moosonee for their return to camp. They were in great spirits and are very excited about their trip! We are also tracking the VII’s progress. Yesterday was the first full day of paddling and last night was their first official night “on trip”. We are thinking of them everyday as we follow a large scale map of their adventure in the dinning hall. In fact we follow every trip this way, keeping everyone up to date on all the great trips. On July 3rd the two week Pioneers begin their 9 day journey on the Noir River in Quebec. On July 4th our Coureurs de Bois begin their 8 day journey through the Temagami region. On July 5th both the WLIT’s and the Temagami’s begin their journeys. For the WLIT’s it’s a 5 day local flat water trip and for the Temagami’s a local 6 day trip. Lastly our four week Pioneers depart for the Coulonge River in Quebec on July 7th, returning July 25th. Please check back from time to time to see any updates. Have a safe and wonderful summer. Woody