I was there the last week of August. I stayed mainly with the Pathfinders.
Experience:
1) Food was not bad. There is always salad and fruit. A couple of times we had ice cream for dessert. All the food is pretty kid friendly, we had hamburger, hot dog, chicken, pasta, pizza, etc. For breakfast, there is sometimes a selection of cereal and milk in addition to a hot dish.
2) I feel good that most of the day, for Pathfinders, the scout's time is accounted for, from 6am to 10pm at night.
3) Pathfinders are beginning scouts and they have a full day of instruction (until about 4:30pm). They are assigned to an area and take several sessions there with a break in between.
4) During approximately 20 minute breaks, scouts can go back to camp, or some go to the trading post to get a snack.
5) Some camp counselors are strict, and set up rules to keep Pathfinders from being tardy, or to make sure they follow rules (e.g. for entering or leaving the wood chopping area).
6) Camp counselors are very strict when it comes to safety. A scout got kicked out of class for doing foolish things.
7) I feel good that the Pathfinders are learning useful things like First Aid. They occasionally bring in an expert parent e.g. to talk about work at the ER. And the kids were very attentive during First Aid class, which took several days and covered many practical subjects (esp, related to situations one might encounter when outdoors).
8) I believe each troop had a camp liaison, and it was helpful if one had questions. For instance, I learnt that if one saw animals like coyotes or bobcats, one should report it to the scouting office (so they'll notify the ranger)
9) I like it that there were scouts from other countries. Some kids were traded with them and got cool souvenirs, like foreign neckties.
10) Campfires were great, especially the closing one. The camp counselors did a great show.
11) The kitchen staff was very helpful and accommodating for boys which special diets
12) In general, I was impressed by how well the boys behaved during Pathfinder class. The setting is beautiful - in the woods. I think the program was oriented towards getting them as many merit badges as possible, because they were also able to get extra chits along the way with little extra effort.
It is a big undertaking to run a camp for so many kids, I do have a few suggestions:
a) on a hot day, let the boys get wet first (e.g. take a shower or something) before instructing them, and allow more boys into the pool sooner
on the first day of pool instruction, it seemed to me they spent too much of the pool time out of the pool (it got better after the first day)
b) I think the buddy rule need to be enforced more
c) I think it is better to announce the boundaries of the search game at more than one occasion or include the rules in the adult handbook (in case some new kids & adults missed the beginning of the game where rules are announced)
d) During free time, where boys go to do Wilderness Survival, there is too much overlap between Pathfinders First Aid and Wilderness Survival First Aid.
Too much duplication, and in one instance the info was conflicting (what to do about frostbite). We know to take the advice of the expert, but it would be better it the instruction was consistent with minimal duplication.
e) Orienteering was very nice, but some boys had no clue they were actually taking turns at the compass till a little ways along the trail (they didn't know why we were stopping)
f) I understand the need to be strict to manage the number of boys, I think a little more fun and humor might have been much appreciated
g) Wish the boys had more opportunity to interact and learn from the rangers, etc I saw around camp read more
