I used to work at a great summer camp for boys in Algonquin Park, Ontario Canada. It's name is http://camppathfinder.com If you have a son that you would like to teach values of teamwork, independence, friendship, dedication, discipline, self worth, and hard work, then this is the place to send them in the summer months. I guarantee in a very short time you will see some very admirable and welcomed differences. The basis of this camp is varying lengths of canoe tripping. The youngest are sent out for 3-4 days, while the 15 year olds can go out for 23 days at a time.
Make no mistake, these are not easy trips where the guide (counsellor) does all the work. Every child is given a pack to carry, a task to complete at the campsite upon arrival, or other job to do.
I had worked as the camp chef at other camps before, but none like this. There is no running water other then in the kitchen and to wash hands outside of lavatories. There is only outhouses and no showers. You bathe in the lake. All technology is taken away before going on to the island. This goes for the campers and for the staff. This promotes conversation, socializing, reading, card playing, guitar playing and singing, etc... All the things we as a society used to do before the age of technology, just as when the camp was discovered and opened in 1914.
In any case, Camp Pathfinder has a beautiful fleet of wood canvas cedar strip canoes built by Jack Hurley in Dwight Ontario. http://www.greenval.com/hurley.html . If you're ever in the market to purchase a cedar strip canoe, I highly highly recommend having him build one for you.
Since the day I left Camp Pathfinder I've wanted my very own cedar strip canoe, so this year I decided to take the plunge and "attempt" to build one myself. I began searching for plans that matched what I was accustomed to paddling....
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