Gold Arrow Camp
By Michael Hill, St. Hilary School, 7th Grade
Deep in the Sierra National Forest is the coolest camp ever, Gold Arrow Camp. When I went to my cabin, I saw that I was at thetop of a big forest with a beautiful blue lake below. The view is really nice. The day starts with going to breakfast where you have all kinds of choices of different foods — eggs, potatoes, waffles, toast and more—and then it ‘s down to assembly with our high-energy counselors. They do funny skits at assembly and you begin to see they are having as much fun as we are. They have funny names they’ve made up at camp and we only learn their real names the last day of camp. Last year my counselors were called Wanderer and Edge. The counselors have a specific set of skills and they lead activities in these; last year mine was an expert mountain biker. After the assembly you go to different activities with your cabin mates — anything from a ropes course to riflery, archery, wake-boarding, horseback-riding or “pontooning”- jumping off a pontoon boat. At the end of each day you get to do one free activty — whatever you choose. And campfires at night (with s’mores and popcorn) give you the chance to talk with your friends. One of my favorite things is when your group gets to go to the camp’s private mini-island for three days. You go up to a different lake that’s 30 minutes away and you can wake-board, kneeboard and water-ski in a very relaxing place. The backpacking trip is another new experience! It’s close to a 4-mile trip and you get to sleep outside. It’s fun to wake up with tall trees above and jump in the creek to swim with your friends. There are so many activities at Gold Arrow; you’ll definitely want to try them all before you leave. You’ll make some great friends that you’ll want to come back to see. I’m definitely going back this year. See you there!!