We wanted to share an article written for our camp community by Ann Woods, our director, on the importance of experiencing the outdoors and the reason why she and Hobie (her husband) were inspired to found Roughing It Day Camp 43 years ago. These messages and lessons still hold true today.
When Hobie and I were thinking of starting our own camp, we read a book that inspired us to shape Roughing It into the outdoor program it is today. It was called, On the Loose.
Two young college students who grew up in Berkeley wrote a small book in 1963 called On the Loose. It is about their adventures growing up in the East Bay hills, the SF Bay, and the Sierras, and what they learned about themselves through these outdoor experiences. It is as relevant today as it was in 1963. It summarizes important lessons in life that you get from immersing yourself in the outdoors, which can be as close as the Lafayette Reservoir or as far away as theSierra NevadaMountains. Of course, you need to get unplugged first!
See the excerpt below:
“Have you ever dropped your sleeping bag in the ocean by mistake?
Have you ever left your insect repellent behind on a rock?
Have you ever walked 50 miles? Or walked 41.3 miles with blisters for glory?
Have you ever slept on a cobblestone riverbank?
Have you ever started on a backpack trip and hit a storm on the first pass and spent 24 hours under a wet plastic tarp drinking lumpy icy chocolate?
Have you ever floated a lake shore at night groping for a campsite amidst rock and cactus?
No, I reckon not all of them, maybe. But that’s how we’ve grown up, Ren and I.
That and a thousand little glimmers on the water,
A thousand red streaks in the sundown sky,
A thousand puffs up the trail.
…I would not trade any of it. It has meant a lot of good humor.
It’s meant a few flashes of almost unbearable beauty which I can only call religious experiences.
Fitness, experience are all part of it, too.
Most important:
Is an imperishable attitude
a philosophy if you like,
a way of laying out the world and of planting ourselves in it.
Now we know what is trivia and what is real!”
Terry Russell, from On the Loose
February 6, 1963
Knowing what is “real” and what “really” matters in life is so important for our campers to learn as they navigate through life, and form values to guide them into a meaningful and successful adulthood. This is why we are an outdoor camp!
Ann Woods, Owner and Director of Roughing It Day Camp since 1972.
Ann founded Roughing It in 1972 with her husband Hobie and together they serve as camp directors. Ann has been an active the American Camping Association, serving on local and national boards. She also taught 3rd grade and preschool. She is a parent and grandparent. Roughing It continues to be a family tradition for the Woods and families throughout the bay area who have sent their children to camp for over four decades. Their daughters grew up at camp, the whole family is still involved in camp and their grandson attends as a 3rd generation camper. Roughing It has a proud tradition of helping children grow in wonderful ways for 43 years. Roughing It Day Camp is an all outdoors traditional day camp located at the Lafayette Reservoir for children ages 4-16 years old with transportation service for the East Bay, Contra Costa, Tri-Valley, and San Francisco Communities. For more information go to www.roughingit.com.
