Weekly Update: July 29, 2024

At The Nature Place, our adult conference and retreat center (think: adult camp), there are almost 10 families who drove to Florissant today to spend the night in anticipation for Opening Day. Some are second and third generation camp families, some have never been to Sanborn, and–for most of the kids–it is their first time at camp and the “stoke” is palpable.

Our Sanborn Junior program is a “camp within a camp” model that provides younger campers with a “camp sampler” of many of the opportunities Sanborn has to offer. The campers do a couple of on-property overnights, a number of horseback rides, all days to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and to the South Platte River for a fun day of tubing, swimming and floating, plenty of arts & crafts and pool time, campfires, games and much more.

And they love to play.

It is this play that was on display tonight as the tomorrow-years-old new Sanborn campers and some of their younger siblings explored the lodge, raced on the front lawn and made new friends. Through their shared excitement, sense of novelty, anticipation of the adventures ahead and a healthy dose of light apprehension and uncertainty, these will-be campers demonstrated the power of connection.

Both play and connection were on full display this last week during our month long program and as we said goodbye to our third term Sanborn Junior campers yesterday. At Big Spring and High Trails, campers climbed La Plata, Princeton, Huron, Quandary, Elbert, Antero and more. They participated in our SOLE (Sanborn Outdoor Leadership Experience) and CORE (Community OutReach Experience) coed service learning trips, providing 100’s of hours of community service to our partner organizations, CFI (Colorado Fourteeners Initiative) and CUSP (Coalition of the Upper South Platte). They hiked miles and miles on all day trips, floated down the river, rode horses all over the ranch and they played. They wore the Sorting Hat on the Harry Potter All Day, they “Captured the Beast” (which is sort of like a Yeti scavenger hunt, we think), they created skits and played improv games “on Broadway” and they used their imagination and creativity while playing “American Ball” and choreographing spectacular dances for the Lip Sync Battle…and that isn’t even half of it.

This week, the month-long Big Spring campers will head out on even more two-day and all day trips: this is a highly motivated group of boys…last week, every camper was on a trip every day of the week. This week is almost no different. These guys are making the most of every day at camp–even the thunderstorms have created a sense of adventure and wonder.

The High Trails campers will head out on their 3, 4 or 5 day “long trips”–leaving the property to camp, backpack, horseback ride, canoe and climb far beyond the 6,000 acres we often call “home.” These trips are some of the most memorable and create many of the most “peak” moments for our campers. They are experiencing day-to-day life in the most uncomplicated, simple way when they are in the backcountry. They only have what they need and they only need what they have.

Play is some combination of imagination, wonder, adventure and simplicity. If we allow ourselves to experience the world in new ways and see the possibility, then the opportunities for play seem limitless–but it is an incredibly simple thing to do. We often watch (and are taught) numerous card games at camp, and the rules sometimes are initially hard to figure out, but–after a couple of rounds–our persistence pays off and we are playing the game. In many ways, making a new friend or coming to camp for the first time, can feel the same way: you are trying to figure out how it works, and–after a little time (especially after nights camping together under the stars or overcoming fears about going to the bathroom in the woods)–those shared experiences make kids feel more competent and confident and ready to keep playing.

We are so excited to welcome our fourth group of Sanborn Junior campers tomorrow (we think some of them are so excited they may walk themselves to camp) and we are looking forward to the countless adventures that will be had in the week ahead. One of those is a very special, in-person, Tour of Sanborn. This Saturday, from 10-1p, we have a number of registered participants who will go on a full walking tour (2.5-3+ miles) of High Trails, Big Spring and all of the places and spaces in between. We do still have space available, so if you have friends or family members who are going to be in and around Colorado next weekend, please feel free to share the information with them.

We are looking forward to another play-full week!