I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in."
- Aldo Leopold
Waterfront
Our two private lakes and surrounding wetlands provide an ideal setting for all types of water related activities and are well-suited for satisfying a boy’s curiosity and developing his self-confidence and physical coordination.
Campers enjoy exploring the aquatic habitats of the animals that live at Night Eagle. They have waded through the wetlands and crawled inside an abandoned beaver lodge, walked on a ten foot tall beaver dam, listened to kingfishers rattle overhead as they patrol the lakes, and stared in awe at Great Blue Herons and loons.
After practicing their stalking techniques, campers are sometimes able to catch a glimpse of a bull moose as it browses for food along the lake’s edge or surprise a family of otters as they frolic around the floating dock.
Waterfront activities may begin before breakfast with a brisk dip as a member of the Polar Bear Club, or they may start with a community water safety class later in the morning. In the afternoon, a session in canoeing or lifeguard instruction might be followed by a general swim, a watermelon scramble, or even a log rolling challenge.
In the past, campers and counselors have worked together to make lasting contributions to the waterfront by designing and building a tripod rope swing and a floating dock, which they ceremoniously launched. On such fun projects, work and play become one and everyone is proud of the results!
Night Eagle campers have the opportunity to become skilled canoeists. Our peaceful mountain lakes are their classroom. Boys learn the parts of the canoe and how to paddle and empty a swamped canoe as they learn and practice the ten strokes that will enable them to paddle a canoe in a straight line and turn in any direction on command.
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Instructors work closely with each boy and stress the importance of teamwork so that they will be prepared to meet the challenges of the many rivers and lakes in the New England region.
Campers are always ready to join our famous "swamp romps," both planned and spontaneous, and never fail to end up at the waterfront covered with mud and brimming with stories of things they saw and did. Sometimes they are carrying buckets of freshly-dug clay they discovered or cattails they pulled up for projects later in the week, but they always arrive at the lake raring to share their stories while washing off a portion of the wetlands.
After supper may find campers enjoying a twilight canoe ride, an all-camp water game, or an impromptu Coyote Cooler - - all, of course, under the supervision of Red Cross trained personnel. Under no circumstances is a boy allowed in the lake or on a river unless he has passed a swimming test and a certified lifeguard is on duty.
Without a doubt, water is a key ingredient to a lot of the fun at Night Eagle, and we haven’t even mentioned musical buckets, raft building, sudden downpours, air rescues, Wachipi Day, canoe races, the rocks at Little Rock Pond, the swinging bridge, or Buttermilk Falls!
