Yesterday during lunch, a member of our wilderness trip staff approached the podium. She spoke into the microphone, requesting a moment of attention from the chatty Rec Hall. Announcements during meals are unusual, typically we save them for after we’re done eating, but this one was special. The trip staff read a pre-written speech announcing that, in a few minutes, a group of five campers would depart on their “Big Trip” to Isle Royale National Park. She described Isle Royale, the largest island on the largest lake (by surface area) in the world. She described the wildlife they might see, most notably that they might catch a glimpse of one of the over 800 moose who roam the island. She concluded by poetically illustrating the grand adventure on which these intrepid campers were about to embark: a two hour ferry ride to a remote island, fourteen days of backpacking, traveling over sixty miles by foot through the wilderness, facing challenges, having fun, and creating memories that will stick with them for a lifetime.
As the trip leader spoke, I watched our Swampers and Loggers, who sit right in front of the podium. There was no whispering or laughing, just focus. They peered up at the trip leader and listened to her words in wonder. Through decades of legend and tradition at Camp Nebagamon, these Big Trips have taken on a sort of mythical status. They represent more than just an extended trip. They are capstones atop a child’s summer camp experience.
Everyone at Camp has heard of Big Trips, the fourteen day expeditions in which only Lumberjacks can partake. Eighth graders backpack on Isle Royale, ninth graders canoe in Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, and we offer a 21 day trip called “Long Trip” to Quetico for our oldest campers as well. Our Rec Hall is a museum for these trips. When campers return from a Big Trip they work with their trip group to make a plaque commemorating their adventure, to be hung in the Rec Hall as a monument to the enormous accomplishment. They name their trip and paint their plaque in line with their theme, with a list of the staff and campers from the journey. Every day during mealtimes campers gaze upon the Rec Hall’s walls, staring up at plaques dating back to the 1930s. They wonder who those brave Big Trippers were, and ponder the story behind the trip’s name, and consider what their own trips will be like when the time comes to depart on their Big Trip.
The tripper went on to read the name of each camper who would be heading out on the trip. As she read the names, the campers walked up one by one to the podium and stood in a line. The Rec Hall exploded in thunderous applause as each name was read. They hadn’t even left yet, but to the rest of the campers they were already heroes embarking on the journey that they’d been dreaming about for years. They were the Lumberjacks, the leaders of camp, heading out on their first Big Trip.
For our Swampers, Big Trip can feel ages away. Indeed, for an eight year old, trips that will happen when they’re fourteen or fifteen can seem incomprehensible. Even for our Axemen who are only one year removed from eighth grade, their first Big Trip can feel distant. But while time stands between them and their Big Trip, each of our campers is quietly preparing for these adventures whether they know it or not. In fact, we have some campers preparing as we speak. In addition to the Isle Royale trip and two Quetico Big Trips that are out right now, we also have three younger camper trips in the field: a group of Swampers on a two-night cabin trip to Eau Claire Lakes, and two logger trips off in the Boundary Waters.
On every trip– from our two-night Swamper trips to five-night Pictured Rocks trips for our Axemen and everything in between– our campers grow. They learn to tie knots and portage canoes. They learn leadership skills and how to work together as a team. And, they face challenges and learn that they can overcome them. They build confidence. They gain mastery.
And whether they know it or not, each step they take on those early trips is a step towards something bigger. Toward the moment when they, too, will hear their name read from the podium. When they’ll line up in front of the Rec Hall to their own thunderous applause. When they’ll set off into the wilderness… future legends of Nebagamon lore. They themselves will be the brave Big Trippers and their name will soon join the others on a plaque on the wall.
At the conclusion of the announcement, the five brave Big Trippers and their trip staff mentors stormed out of the Rec Hall, charging headfirst into the unknown. The trippers triple checked their gear, loaded up in a van, and headed north for the start of their adventure, one they will never forget. And the rest of camp sat in awe of their spirit, looking toward the day they’ll follow in the footsteps of these brave Lumberjacks, and all the Big Trippers before them.
At Camp Nebagamon, Big Trips are more than the destination. They represent the culmination of their journey of growth, grit, and wonder they embarked on when they first stepped foot on our hallowed grounds.
All is well in the Northwoods!