Birch Hill Teen Adventure Program
Thursday, October 15th, 2015
As the Adventure Director at Birch Hill I’ve had the pleasure of running our Teen Adventure Program the past two summers. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the program I’ll give you a brief overview…
Essentially Teen Adventure is a 10 day adventure road trip that takes us around the greater New England Area. The trip is put on at the end of each summer and is primarily open to CIT’s from the past summer.
Our trips have brought us to the Adirondack Mountains of New York, Acadia National Park, the White Mountains and the remote Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. In these locations, our campers, as well as our other fearless leader Sadie Graham and I, have been able to participate in tons of amazing activities. These activities have ranged from White Water Rafting the Penobscot as well as the Hudson, Rock Climbing near the beautiful Keene Valley of New York, as well as the world class Otter Cliffs of Acadia National Park. That is just the beginning, we have also taken campers caving, zip lining, sea kayaking, canoeing, and on plenty of well selected hikes that are not only a ton of fun, but take us to some of the most remote places with the best views that the Northeast has to offer.
This is one of those trips that makes me realize why I love my job so much. For one thing I get to go on all of these crazy adventures for work, and the other is that I get to share my love for the outdoors with a generation that for the most part grows up with little to no experience participating in any of the activities that Birch Hill Teen Adventure offers.
In just two years we have had many campers who are great examples of this. On Sadie and I’s first Teen Adventure trip we took a crew of 9 campers from the White Mountains to Acadia National Park. Prior to this trip two of our campers, Matt and Thomas D’Anieri, had never been camping before. After leaving they mentioned that they loved the hikes that we went on (Mount Penobscot, NH, as well as the Beehive and Precipice in Acadia) and really wanted to get into hiking. Now, over a year after the trip I see them with pictures hiking Katahdin in Maine, one of the most remote and rugged mountains in the eastern United States.
Another great example is a camper from this past trip, Sarah Van Ells. After day 4 on our trip she said that she had done something totally new to her each day. At that point we had gone zip lining, caving, rafting, and rock climbing in four consecutive days! No where do you get the opportunity to do that except in the Birch Hill Teen Adventure Program.
I love to share these stories and tell people how great it is to be able to share these experiences with people who don’t ordinarily get to try them.
For younger campers who think this sounds totally awesome, I encourage you to bug your parents into taking you camping and on family trips outside! Sign up for all of the adventure activities at Birch Hill! Our Adventure staff is the best and will show you the ropes to tons of outdoor activities.
For older campers, think about if this trip is something for you! I give you my word that it won’t disappoint! Ask your friends who have done it in years past and they will tell you the same.
For parents, think about the technology filled world that we live in today. Television, video games and computers are what our society sees as fun and relaxing. What happened to playing outside? Those are the best memories that I have growing up and I’m sure they are some of your fondest memories as well. Talk to your kids and see if they are interested. This trip, as well as all of the activities at Birch Hill are a great way to start your children into a lifetime of appreciating outdoor recreation.
Thanks for reading and I wish all of you a great rest of your fall season! YAHOO!
-Sweet Lou
If you have any questions or comments feel free to shoot me an email