Open House and Bear Run’s first school visit

Remember the smell of ferns as you drive under the CLC gate and down into camp? Remember those gloriously cool mountain nights after a sweaty day of soccer, gaga and horseback riding? Remember the reflection of a thousand stars on the surface of Crystal Lake? ::insert your own memory below in the comments section::

Signs of camp are here!

And what better way to celebrate summer’s arrival than to play, swim, climb, and bike along with campers and parents on our Open House Weekend. Two fun-loving families came to CLC last week for jam-packed camp days that ended with sticky marshmallow fingers, rosy cheeks and singing “Symbol of Serenity”. From challenging mom and dad up the rock wall, to learning Zip-Bong and doing the Giant’s Thumb on our low ropes course, the camp spirit was as thick as the humid summer air. Kindly, Crystal Lake warmed her frigid waters to a just-right temperature for cooling off in. Not to mention the fishing! We had some avid fishers join us for the weekend, catching 12, 14, 16-inch large-mouth bass and blue gill!

To top the week off, we later hosted the West Branch School for a day of outdoor education at the Bear Run Outdoor Center at Crystal Lake Camps. 18 students, along with teachers and parents joined the CLC staff for a wetland study of Catfish, “The Great Nature Adventure” with Tim and Nathan, lots of swimming and boating, of course a camp song, and an epic 15-minute storm with hail balls the size of nickels!

Bear Run is a new-old outdoor education endeavor for CLC, having run the Crystal Lake Outdoor Center from the early 1980’s to the late 1990’s. The new name, Bear Run Outdoor Center, is a way to better distinguish our outdoor center from our summer camp programming. The name comes from Bear Creek, which has its headwaters at CLC. The Bear Run website is now up and running – check it out for more info! www.bearrunoutdoorcenter.org