Since they were Swampers, two campers have spent two project periods per day– the maximum a camper can attend a project per day– at target shooting together. By their math, they’ve shot at about 2,000 targets each in their time at Nebagamon. As Swampers, they learned the basics: how to aim and how to keep a steady hand. They learned to take deep breaths and focus. Over the years they’ve fine-tuned their skills. They worked through ranks and shot from different positions as they progressed; first prone, then kneeling, sitting, and finally standing. To move on from one position to the next, they showed consistency. They each had to shoot ten targets with a score twenty or higher, then ten targets with a score of twenty five or higher, ten targets with a score of thirty or higher, and ten targets with a score of thirty five or higher… in each position! This summer, they’ve been working from the standing position, and today, by coincidence, they each shot over thirty five from the standing position for the tenth time, earning their Expert rank in target shooting.
Just down the road from target shooting at the climbing wall today, two campers who frequent the wall touched down after yet another successful ascent. But for each of them, this touch down was different. When their feet hit the ground, they were no longer just climbers, they were Mountain Guides, having earned the highest rank in our climbing project. In their time at camp they’d each mastered advanced climbing skills, learned safety and rescue techniques, belayed countless other climbers as they pursued their own ranks, and taught younger campers the ropes (literally). Today, they celebrated their accomplishment together, proud of what they’d each achieved.
At swimming today, campers lined the dock as a Lumberjack swam steadily through the wind and waves, back and forth 200 times to earn his Golden Goggles, the most challenging single achievement offered at our swimming project. The camper asked that nobody tell him how many laps remained, he wanted it to be a surprise when he finished. Though I’m sure he figured he was reaching the end when more and more of his friends accumulated on the dock, he was entirely in the zone, so focused on what he was doing that the number of laps lost meaning. “It was really hard and sometimes I didn’t think I could do it,” he told me later, “but I just kept telling myself I’ve got this. Deep down I knew I could.”
As the swimmer finished off his final laps, three canoeists– a Lumberjack and two Axemen– hit the beach after intentionally swamping their boats in celebration. After paddling the entire 15.5- mile perimeter of Lake Nebagamon, solo, they’d completed the final challenge en route to their Master, the highest rank in canoeing. The paddle wasn’t easy. They faced wind gusts that picked up through the day, and they needed to innovate, paddling backwards into the wind to prevent it from blowing them off course. Like the target shooters, climbers, and swimmer, they’d poured time and effort into this moment. Just this summer they each completed a “four corners portage,” carrying a canoe on a two-mile trek through camp’s trail system. They’d navigated a buoy course backwards in less than two minutes, and finished one of the most challenging feats at any project at camp: the “deep water solo un-swamp”: flipping over a capsized canoe in water you can’t stand in, then reentering the canoe unassisted and paddling it back to shore. When they departed on their perimeter paddle today, which took them about five hours, they pushed off the beach as canoeists. When they swam their boats back in after their celebratory swamp, they walked ashore as Masters.
Achievements like the Expert, Mountain Guide, Golden Goggles and Master take commitment. In some cases it can take years to earn such high honors. Ranks like that are acknowledgements of high levels of skill in a project area, and are also an acknowledgements of the grit, determination, and perseverance a camper shows.
These ranks are not easy. In fact, they are designed to be hard. At Camp Nebagamon, we seek challenges. We choose to safely test our limits. We know that when we take on a challenge and make it through, we come out on the other side feeling all the more confident and equipped with experiences that will allow us to take on what life throws their way.
When our Experts require patience in life, they can draw upon the five years it took them to get to that final target.
When our Mountain Guides need a boost in confidence they can recall how they went from never climbing before to teaching others to climb in their years at Nebagamon.
When our Golden Goggles recipient feels like an obstacle is insurmountable he can tell himself, “If I can swim 200 laps, I can do anything.”
When our canoeing Masters feel like they’ve tried all there is to try, they can look back on that time they innovated in their canoe as the wind tried to blow them off course.
All of the milestones met today were based on the campers’ choices. We never said, “you must earn these exceedingly challenging ranks.” These boys all did it of their own accord, with the support of our amazing staff. The choice involved in earning these high ranks is worth highlighting. They pushed themselves out of their comfort zones in their own time. When they finally reached their goals, it was nobody’s accomplishment but their own. They each owned their experience from the beginning to the end.
Whether it’s going for the highest rank in a project or trying something new for the first time, our campers choose to challenge themselves every day, and every time they do they grow stronger, equipping themselves with confidence to carry them through the offseason. It was another inspiring day at Camp Nebagamon.
All is well in the Northwoods.