Pathfinder News
See what is new and noteworthy here at Camp.
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SUMMER 2024
ENROLLMENT '24 - Wait Lists and Last Spaces ...
Camp approaches full capacity. A record Early Bird sign up, over 4-dozen new families, and a few enrollment spots left in A, B and D sessions. Contact Sladds, he continues as the enrollment assistant. Get his help for a veteran boy, request a zoom info meeting if you're a new family!
TRIP POSTINGS '24
The complete Pathfinder Trip Postings for the 111th Season. The call of "Trippperrrs!" echoed off the lake this summer, as Pathfinder trips journeyed around Algonquin Park, Ontario, and beyond. Grab your maps and coffee, and relish in the good times.
Fall Family Camp- Enroll Now!
Both July and August Family Camps sold out fast! Don't miss your chance to visit the island this Fall. Choose to stay for 3,4, or 5 days and experience the beauty of autumn in Algonquin with the whole family! Special discounts for alumni, child under 6, and more.
SOCIAL MEDIA, PHOTOS & VIDEOS
• Keep up with our Instagram feed for great content daily.
• View our photo albums Sleepage, campers, staff & candids
• View our Vimeo page see terrific camp & trip videos.
Pathfinder Health '24 -
• For '23, our congregate health measures were easier than ever. Camp continues a Covid vaccine mandate and pre-arrival screening. Border measures have resumed normal. Cohorting / test-to-enter has ended.
Read our Dec. Chatter below....
CHIPMONK CHATTER
Chipmonk Chatter is our Pathfinder Magazine, sharing stories, season information, photos, rosters, speeches and essays, and calendars.
Take a look at past Chatters in the links below - Enjoy and Keep In Touch!
Chipmonk Chatter December 2023
Chipmonk Chatter January 2023
Chipmonk Chatter March 2022
Chipmonk Chatter March 2021
Camp Pathfinder
110th Reunion
Camp Pathfinder
110th Season Reunion
Aug. 25 - 27, 2023
For Adult Alumni & Guests
Anniversary Family Camps
July & August – 4 Days / 3 Nights
For the Whole Family
Family Camp July
Jul. 7 – 10
Family Camp August
Aug. 3 – 6
SUMMER AT A GLANCE
Make a gift to the Algonquin Campership Fund here
​Getting kids to camp and the outdoors is so important - please donate!
What is the Algonquin Campership Fund?
ACF, founded in 2000, provides camperships to children in need, to attend a traditional wilderness canoe camp in Algonquin Park, ON, Canada.
Included are Camp Pathfinder for boys, and Camp Northway for girls. Also, co-ed inner-city school field trips can attend camp for outdoor education and leadership experiences.
Why Donate? 100-Percent!
Gifts to ACF go 100% to awarding camp tuition to families in need. And, scholarships may cover up to 100% of camp costs for a qualifying family.
ACF is a proud select charity of ROCtheDay, a local 24-hour online event that takes place each year on December's first Tuesday, ‘Giving Tuesday’. A special project of United Way, ROCtheDay rallies donors to support select not-for-profit organizations in the Greater Rochester area.
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Rochester, NY Connections to Algonquin Park Camps?
Camp Pathfinder and Camp Northway are renowned Algonquin-based camps, established by Rochester outdoor leaders in the early 1900’s. Both ROCtheDay and the fund's parent organization, The Rochester Area Community Foundation, are based in Rochester.
Looking back at 2020
Summer 2020 Projects
Source Lake, November 2020. Does the Island Sleep? No, she only dozes.
The normal bustle of May Crew was absent for the first time this year, since Glenn and Sladds took over camp in 2000. And then, of course, Summer 2020 was cancelled when Ontario closed overnight camps. But CPI is indeed only dozing: a tiny work crew polished and prepped camp for all the action we're looking forward to in 2021.
A sign of renovations this year? This still life of items lost under the Canoe Dock over many years, recovered once the decking came off in July.
Every object tells a story?
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The Source Remains the Same ...
Sladds was in Canada when the border closed March 21, and lived in Huntsville, where he monitored the pandemic and worked for the Ontario Camps Association board as a volunteer. Commercial leaseholders were permitted into Algonquin when the park was otherwise closed to the public. For him, a trip to Whitney might see no other cars on Hwy. 60. Ice walks to the island became walks on the camp road and rail bed, as snow and ice rotted. And then, suddenly, ice was out on Source by May 1. The park was in its full glory. Where would the summer lead?
Late May saw camp closures announced, and we set up some maintenance projects for this regrettably historic summer. Water levels dropped with an early summer heat wave, and a big storm hit the park. Summer brought high heat and perfect swimming water, along with a ravenous crop of chipmunks and squirrels. The crew gathered and set to work. Autumn started wet and finished in a rare stretch of warmth. We snapped the padlocks late, around Nov. 10. The lake was glass.
So, Shine Up the Conveyances ...
Our legendary camp vans and trailers were completely refreshed for 2021 trucking, and the railing pontoon barge went home to the mothership for a month of beauty treatments, plus a new center pod and pontoon end caps.
CPI canoe maker Dave Statten kept busy in his Bancroft shop over winter, rebuilding 4 classic Pathfinder trip canoes: the Tom Pigeon, the Jake/Gerry Brent Store, the Stan Rand, and the Roy Thrall.
These canoes arrived back at Source with David for spring finishing by our small Canadian June crew. Freshly canvased and light as feathers, they were filled, sanded and painted by Simon McNamee, Riley Hanson, Savannah French and Ally Rail.
