Scott Hess
Hello! My Name is Scott Hess and I am the Summer Camp Director. At The Mountaineers we are all excited to get Summer Camps underway! I'll be posting daily updates so check back for general information, photos, field trip updates, and daily camp reflections. Click here any time to see pictures of our adventures!
Day 5
The last day of camp started off with a bang! Earlier in the week campers chose activities they would like to do one more time. Today during Choose Your Own Adventure, campers were broken into new groups and could be found learning to belay each other on the climbing wall, playing more field games around Magnuson Park, and Tie-Dying T-shirts in Arts & Crafts. Campers really enjoyed their time with new friends and new counselors. In the afternoon, we had our first Parent Day of the summer. Campers had the opportunity to teach their parents some of the skills they learned during the week as well as climb on the South Plaza rock wall.
Days 3 & 4
The past two days campers have been split into two groups. Each group got the chance to go white water rafting in Index, WA one day, and explore Discovery Park on the other.
The rafting group started the day off by meeting the rafting guides who had both crazy outfits (including a tutu), as well as crazy personalities. They help us gear up in wet suits, PFDs, and helmets before bussing us over to the river. Once on our boats, we spent the day hitting a few class 1 and class 2 rapids while enjoying the views of the Skykomish River. When we weren’t getting soaked by the white water, our boat guides broke out water guns, beach balls, and cheers that kept us busy singing and playing games among the rafts – some brave souls even went swimming in the 45 degree water! All in all, it was a fantastic trip that left everyone with new friends, great memories, and little energy for the bus ride home. Although, some of the counselors were caught napping!
Folks at Discovery Park had a wonderful opportunity to explore nature and start new friendships. After a quick bus ride, we started by playing some field games like Bear, Salmon, Mosquito - a team version of rock, paper, scissors, combined with tag and wind sprints. Next, after a short hike to the beach, we eat lunch while enjoying the sights and sounds of our Puget Sound, skipped rocks, built driftwood shelters, made sand castles, and lost ourselves exploring tide pools. The highlight of the day? That is an easy one, seeing a whale breech the water! Finally, it was time to catch the bus. Once back at The Mountaineers, we got to check out some bugs and frogs as well as play a quick game of Tusker-Tag, where the kids pretended to be a wild and insatiable monster that resembles a cross between a walrus and an amoeba.
Day 2
Today started off with campers working through activity rotations they missed yesterday. Many campers got a second climb in before having lunch. In the afternoon we worked our way down to the water front to spend some time swimming, skipping rocks, and making friendship bracelets. After drying off we played an epic game of capture the flag. Finally, we finished off the day with some water games. Campers got a chance to cool off after running, and also had a ton of fun soaking their counselors and even the director!
Day 1
This week at camp is water week, and we didn’t hesitate to jump right in. Campers kicked off the morning getting to know their counselors and their trail groups. The rest of the day we climbed in the south plaza, learned about outdoor cooking, practiced first aid on each other, and went kayaking – which turning in to a splash fest where kids and counselors wound up soaked! We finished the day with an all camp song fest.Campers sang songs, cheered cheers, and chose which activities they wanted to do for choose your own adventure on Friday.
