Trip Prep! Trip Prep! Trip Prep!

08/15/2015

Tomorrow is the day that we all have waited for. It was full of excitement, nerves, anticipation and wonder as we prepare our gear for the mini-trips.

The day started off with Adventure Village finding out what trips they will be attending. They have been waiting awhile and now they know. They spent the rest of the day in rotations getting ready for the trip. Each group did team building, goal setting, gear check and food pack-out. We will have photo’s of each trip group up tomorrow right before they leave.

The team building portion of the day is based on building trust and community among the trip participants. They will be spending the entire next four days together and setting a foundation for them to grow on is extremely important. They do trust walks, mortal noodle, glacial traverse, whale watch, 3D spider web and much more to build that foundation.

We decided to add goal setting this summer because we want this trip to have purpose as an individual and as a group. The goal to be anything that they wanted, to cooking an entire meal by them selves for the group, to learning how to read a map better, to hiking to the top of a mountain. The challenge is theirs to conquer and it makes the trip that much more special reaching those goals.

The gear and food pack-out is a key component to the trip. Setting up the tent and learning how to use the stove or how to pack their backpack are some of the important skills to the gear pack out. The food pack out is pretty cool because they can actually see how the process works and they get the chance to measure out all of the food and pack it in the bear bins. It gives them the chance to see what gear and food they have and to know what to do with it.

After the entire process we get the chance to let loose and dance tonight. It’s a great way to celebrate after a long day of logistics. We wake up bright and early to start our adventure.

Happy Trails,

Zach Eigenbrodt

Adventure Director

Frost Valley YMCA

2000 Frost Valley Rd.

Claryville, NY 12725

845-985-2291 ext. 265

Visit us on the web at www.frostvalley.org

– See more at: https://frostvalley.org/trip-prep-trip-prep-trip-prep-3/#sthash.dmuNFakc.dpuf

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zach eigenbrodt

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Zach couldn't keep himself out of the woods when growing up. He started working at a Northern Wisconsin YMCA Camp as a wilderness trip leader while in college and fell in love with getting kids into nature. The smiles on kids faces after returning from a once in a life time wilderness experience is why he is here today. Zach brought his talents to Frost Valley YMCA, in 2014, when he started as the Trips Coordinator and soon was promoted to Adventure Director. Zach loves all forms of Wilderness exploration, though some would say his heart lies most with canoeing.