As a counselor at a wilderness camp I was able to see many of the youth grow and develop in a short amount of time. Results came quicker than any other program that I had been a part of.

New students are the very worst for the first two to three weeks. Their bodies are weak and some of them are fighting off addictions. The other students and staff have been conditioned to the physical stinima required to backpack everyday. Usually after the first hike the student becomes strong enough to handle future hikes.

Students stuggle the first few weeks because they have been uprooted from their homes and current life style. The idea of camping everyday is hard to adabt to. They also try to fit in with the group by acting tough, bragging, or glorifying their bad behavior. As time passess the student relizes they are part of the group and the have been accepted like family. The stories fall apart because 1) No one beleives them any more or 2) the student has new things that make them acceptable.

Valuable survival skills are learned by students in a matter of weeks. The most callenging skill is making fire with a bow drill. If you aren't familiar with what a bowdrill is see the image below.

Do you have any summer camp recommendations? Please email contact [at] fortroubledteens.com (To send an email remove the spaces and brackets so the address looks like are regular email address.