Discovering the awesomeness of God was just one of the purposes of the recent Cadet two day camp out to Alice Lake Provincial Park, just north of Squamish, BC at the end of April. The group, consisting of seven adults and a dozen 11/12 year old boys, spent the weekend cooking, canoeing, fishing, game playing and extreme hiking. The weather was fantastic and, despite frost on Sunday morning, all survived camping in what has been a very cool spring on the West Coast.
One of the trip highlights was the Saturday morning hike up the Stawamus Chief, a 710m granite rock rising above Squamish. Fuelled by a breakfast of burritos, muffins and refreshments, the steep trails, complete with climbing chains and steel ladders, were no contest for these active boys, all of whom completed the "Second Peak" with a smaller group continuing on to the third and highest peak. Lunch, prepared by the boys, was shared on the Summit overlooking the waters of Squamish Spit.
"I believe the boys learned many life skills on the trip," said camp organizer and head counsellor, Henk. While preparing meals and lunches and participating in camp "chores" contributed to team building skills, other activities such as group games, campfire fellowship and morning devotions helped the boys grow closer to God as well as develop deeper friendships with each other and their adult leaders.
Henk credits the huge success of the trip to the endless energy, witty humour and positive attitudes of the adult men: Harold, Roger, John, Dan and Mark.