Darke County Parks hosted an Extreme Adventure Summer Camp for 13-15 year olds. The week consisted of Team Building and Leadership Development, Rock Climbing, River Float, and an overnight at John Bryan State Park.

The Team Building and Leadership Development activities took place at Camp Yale, which included several different challenging courses such as:

^Building a bridge across the “grand canyon”

^And use an arch to walk along two cables spread 10 feet apart! ^

The campers also were able to experience the 450 foot long, 50 foot high zip line at Camp Yale.

Rock Climbing took place at Vandalia’s Rec Center where the 12 individuals had competition of who could complete the hardest climb and several raced one another to see who could climb the quickest to the top.

Our River Float on the Stillwater was also a challenge due to the constant rainfall and the low amounts of water in some places along the river. However, the campers enjoyed the rapids and the others tasks which we were faced with on the float. Even though it rained the ENTIRE time, we had a great float!

The Extreme Adventure Camp wrapped up the week by pitching tents at John Bryan State Park. While at John Bryan we enjoyed cooking over the campfire.

We also enjoyed several hikes through Glen Helen and Clifton Gorge, both of which offer amazing scenery and feel as though you’ve left Ohio.

Exploring a cave

The last adventure of the week was to “survive” the raccoon invasion of the camp site! Up to 10 raccoons were spotted, with up to 5 spotted at the campfire at one time! Talk about Up Close and Personal wildlife experiences!

Two campers enjoy their comfy "home-away-from-home" tent

Be sure to mark your summer for 2010’s summer camps!