When my dad told me about this summer camp his work was running, it didn't take me long to decide that I wanted to go. It was a 5 day camp in Whiskey Basin Wyoming, about a 7 hour drive away from home. Coincidentally my dad had a work trip not far from there the same week so I got signed up about 5 minutes after I heard the details about the camp. I filled out a scholarship application in hopes of being able to go to the camp for free. With a very doubtful mindset that I would be accepted for the scholarship, within a few weeks later we received an email letting us know that I had received the scholarship! It was for sure now that I would be going to Camp Wild. After waiting about 2 months the awaited day arrived, and my dad and I headed out a day early to get a start on the drive.
The night before was filled with mixed emotions. I was beyond excited to go to this wildlife camp, but at the very same time I was absolutely TERRIFIED. I spent the last night before camp having a great time with my dad in Lander WY.
Before I knew it we were driving to camp. I kept myself together until I was told that camp was just a few minutes away. Then the anxiety kicked in. We checked in at the pavilion, and went to the dinning haul to begin camp.
After a few tears and several goodbye hugs I sat down for the first activity of many that would come that week, and my dad drove away to where he would be working that week.
This was just the beginning of a long hour and a half name tag activity that we all sat in silence while doing. It was just as awkward as it sounds.
By this point I was starting to like the idea of camp more. We played all the classic get to know you games, I know fun, and then we finally got to move into our cabins.
The cabins were pretty decent, but mine was all the way at the end of camp, and the oldest one. Because of COVID-19 I did not have to share a cabin. Most cabins were Jack and Jill style but because mine was so old and the layout was different, me and my cabin partner did not have to share a bathroom or cabin. That was one perk of going to camp during a pandemic.
After waiting out some unexpected hail, we loaded up in the van and drove to the trail head of a hike we did.
The hike was a bit muddy from the storm, and very uphill, but it wasn't too long, and the petroglyphs we saw made it all worth the slipping and sliding it took to get up there.
When we returned back to camp we took some time out on the porch to talk and then headed to our cabins for our first night at camp. The moths are insane at camp, and would not leave me alone the first night. I guess having two big holes in your door didn't help haha. But luckily I still managed to get some sleep.
The next morning I woke up at 6:00 am which was a HUGE change for me, and just way too early for summer. After getting ready I headed to the dinning hall at 6:45 for COVID-19 screening. This was something I would be doing every single morning that week. Tuesday was camp picture day so we all wore our camp shirts.
Oh yeah did I mention that the food was AMAZING! The cooks were very good and made us 3 full meals a day, this was just one of the many amazing meals they prepared.
Tuesday was one of the rainy days we had. Because of the rain they cancelled our hike to a lake we were planning on doing, but they still had us to an activity outside which resulted in us all being soaked, so I don't fully understand why we cancelled the hike if we were going to get soaked anyways. I still had a good time though, and the views were very pretty, and only a few steps away from camp.
We spent a lot of time learning about abiotic and biotic things that day.
Tuesday we had a movie night. We all showered and brought comfy stuff down to the dinning hall where we spent the next hour or so before bed watching The Lorax.
Wednesday we went fishing down at the lake. It was fun except for the fact that I spent most the time with a tangled line.
I also had a fun time with leach on me at the lake. Luckily it hadn't fully attached itself yet, so I pulled it off and had a bit of a red mark for a while. The rest of the day that was all people were talking about and I was known as the leach girl for the rest of the day cause very few girls actually knew who had had the leach. So all I heard was "Did you hear someone at the lake had a leach on them?"
After the fishing we drove up to the fish hatchery to have a tour. We came right at feeding time which was so fun to watch. The fish went completely crazy coming to the surface for food.
We played a couple games of bingo which I won. Whoo whoo! I won two stickers that I probably could have just asked my dad to get for me from work haha, but I still really enjoyed playing.
This was my cabin partner, Sarah, she was so sweet, and we became good friends. Wednesday was the first time I have ever felt so homesick. I regret it now, but that night I gave in crying, and called home. The counselors were extremely nice, I just wish I would have just pulled through without calling. Oh well you can't go back and change the past right.
Thursday was definitely the best day. It was the one day that we actually had nice weather, and all the fun activities were on Thursday. We did some fly casting practice with these strange rods with no reel. I was the only one who had done fly fishing before so one of the counselors Gus let me use a real rod. Later that day we were going canoeing so I asked to bring it down to the lake so they packed it up in the truck for later.
We did archery that day which was SO fun. It was a big change from the last time I did archery when I was about 8 and I just cried the whole time, this time I loved it. Even though I wasn't that good I still had so much fun.
Me and Hannah hung out together a lot at camp. We were at the same table in the dinning hall so that's how we overall became friends.
We also did Air riffles which I also thought was so fun. Another counselor, Owen helped me with these.
On Thursday I took some pictures around camp so I could show my family what it looked like. This is the pavilion.
All the way down the road here is me and Sarah's cabin. Because of Corona virus you were only allowed to use the bathroom in your cabin so every time I had to use the restroom I had to walk all the way down to the end of the road, and all the way back. It seems dramatic, but after doing that 5 times a day it got pretty exhausting.
This was one of the entrances to the dinning hall. There is a screened in porch where we spent time relaxing and talking. In our free time we would go on the deck that is in the picture and we invented a game called cup soccer. It is exactly what it sounds like.
This was an old library that was pretty cool, but I didn't spend much time there cause the moths were bad in there. That isn't all of camp, but that's pretty much most of it.
Later we went canoeing down the river to the lake. My canoe ride mostly consisted of running into trees and sandbars. I spent some time swimming with the other girls, but It was COLD. It was so windy and I was bummed because It was too windy to fish. When the wind died down a little Owen said I could fish if I wanted too so he set up the pole. As soon as he finished the wind picked up but I decided to go out anyways. Gus, one of the counselors came out to help me. He is a very sarcastic person, and was so funny. He messed around with me saying how unlikely it was to catch a fish. The casting was so hard with the wind. I got one on which was something I never expected! It got off and Gus ran back to shore to get his net, now realizing there was a chance to catch one. Just as we were being told to come on in Gus told me to cast again. I landed a fish, and Gus freaked out. he used some colorful language out of excitement, and was so shocked. As you can see we didn't exactly take the picture in time. Owen and Gus were so surprised, and so was I. I was the only camper to catch a fish that summer, and that was exciting. Probably the highlight of camp for me.
The next day we packed up our cabins, and spent our last few hours hanging out. We took some funny pictures of Gus because we were making fun of his outfit, don't worry we were just joking around like he does with us. We had him pose like a cowboy because of his attire haha.
The friendships I made at camp were truly amazing, and I hope will last a lifetime. All of the girls, and counselors were so fun and kind, and were just the best people to hang out with, I mean that truly.
I had the best time at camp, and was sad to leave, but excited to be back with my family again. Camp Wild was great and I will never forget the friendships and memories I made there!
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