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It’s a beautiful morning at Miniwanca and at Graceland. Blue-bird skies and all the sunshine you could ever want. Stony Creek is rushing after the rain this week, and the wild raspberries just finished ripening. The campers and leaders are running back and forth, grabbing their gear and checking out bikes. As we move into the last week and a half of camp, our final trips are departing and there’s a nostalgic feeling all around Graceland.

 Trailblazers are departing and returning from their hike in the Manistee National Forest and their canoe down the Manistee River. After their pleasant days on the North Country National Scenic Trail and canoeing through some of the most beautiful forested land Michigan has to offer, the Trailblazers are looking forward to sharing their adventures with the in-camp community.

Our Explorers are back in camp after 6 days of canoeing down the Manistee River. Yesterday they rested after their adventure and today they are beginning to prepare for the 4-day biking trip up the coast of West Michigan. This morning they got hands-on with bike maintenance rotations—they learned how to adjust brakes and how to change a flat tube in addition to learning the rules of the road. This afternoon they’ll practice what they learned on bikes riding around camp and simulating some of the situations that will come up on their trip! Tomorrow and the next day they will ride their bikes out to Country Dairy for some afternoon ice cream.

 Adventurer campers have completed half of their cycling trip up the coast of West Michigan. For the next two days they’ll be on the Leelanau Peninsula, enjoying afternoon ice cream and sunsets on the beach. They’re excited for the second half of the trip where they’ll bike through central Michigan and the Manistee National Forest on their way back to camp. It’s possible that they’ll cross paths with our Explorers who are canoeing close to where the Adventurers will be biking!

 Voyageurs are enjoying a gorgeous silver (cloudy) day in the Georgian Bay. They are crossing channels to wild, uninhabited islands and are becoming much more confident in their paddling skills. They’re learning to read currents and the weather, and more than that they are settling into a wonderful sense of family that has developed within their group as the weeks have passed. We’ll be picking them up in just five short days, so we hope they’re enjoying their final days on the water!

Our Odyssey campers will experience a culminating point in their cross-country Odyssey today as they ride into Merrowvista. They’ll be greeted with cheers from Merrowvista campers and staff as they ride in past the Farmhouse, drop their bikes, then run down and dive into Dan Hole Pond. They’re having to work around some cloudy and rainy weather today as they plan their ride in, but they’re excited nevertheless.