Welcome to Summer Camp (Day 1)
What a beautiful day in Northern Vermont made even better by the Keystone State’s finest mountain bikers arriving at Burke Mountain Academy. PICL started the day with some of the core staff checking out the trails around the Kingdom Trails of East Burke, Vermont.
While we eagerly awaited the arrival of our campers and their families, we set up camp with all of the PICL finery to make our folks feel like they are at home.
Our parents departed around 4pm and then we heard from Pat Engleman, camp director about all of the awesome things about Burke Mountain Academy, Kingdom Trails, and other features in and around Burke. He challenged us to make a goal for our week and write it on our name plate as a constant reminder to work towards a tangible goal.
Coach Pat sharing the Vermont Stoke
Camp would not be complete without a series of ice breakers with new and old friends. We played the largest games of rock paper scissors Burke Mountain Academy has seen. Student Athlete Emily Turner took on all challengers until it came down to the final round verses couch Elsa The game of inner tube pass is always a crowd hit. The coaches might have been faster at it, but everyone had a great time. We also learned a new game from Coach Luly called Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and a few other new ones from our talented staff.
Emily Turner celebrates her big win against Coach Elsa in an huge game of rock paper scissors.
After icebreakers, we headed to the cafeteria where we found that Chef Issac had Mac and Cheese, Pulled Pork, BBQ Tofu, Green beans and salad for us when dinner rolled around. Everyone was happy to get the first meal in and they were great at cleaning up.
Speaking of sweeping the table, all of our campers played “minute to win it” games directed by Coach Denise, camp activities director while our coaches worked on planning some routes for our rides tomorrow.
We took advantage of a crisp night and set up our dorms to keep the air flowing so we can sleep well and prepare for our first full day of riding tomorrow.
Chef Issac sharpening his knife during his morning prep work.
