Hey, Adventurers!

The outdoors become less accessible this time of year in a broad spectrum of locations across the country just as it is all across the world. When heavy snow falls, it certainly creates a beautiful, new appearance and atmosphere on the land. It’s enticing to get out to the woods or other remote areas where you can be immersed in the nature of the season. But along with the snow, also comes a more challenging terrain to traverse.

Of course, with the right equipment, you can still get out into the wintry wilderness and enjoy the surrounding beauty! One way that dates back a long ways is to go snowshoeing—essentially the winter version of hiking. Snowshoes are kind of like oversized tennis rackets that you wear on your feet. They help hikers to make their way through the snow with more ease.

Snowshoes distribute your weight over a larger surface area with the idea of suspension to a certain degree, keeping your feet from sinking completely into the snow. The idea behind this arctic footwear is called ‘flotation’.

As with many inventions, we saw the concept of the snowshoe already present in nature. Animals such as the Snowshoe Hare are how we developed the idea for our own feet. While the oldest snowshoe ever discovered dates back about 4000 years, historians believe snowshoes were invented another 2000 years prior.

While common snowshoes today are made of materials such as lightweight metal, plastic, and synthetic fabric, snowshoes were originally crafted from a hardwood frame with rawhide lacings.

So, if you, like many, are gifted with an adventurous spirit, don’t let the winter season instill the cabin fever in you this season! Get some snowshoes and enjoy the trails dressed in a wintry white blanket! It’s a marshmallow land in the winter! Have fun out there and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Shoe-wearers!

You wouldn’t dream of doing hard labor in your bare feet! So why would we expect it from our horses? More than just a fun game of tossing metal shoes back and forth, the accessories of this leisure activity were originally footwear for horses. So how did the horse shoe come to be anyway?

This was first discovered by our ancient ancestors who, as they grew more domesticated and domesticated animals, realized that working animals lived on terrains that often times led to excessive wear and tear on hooves or worse—broken limbs. Our ancestors saw that the walls and portion of the sole on the hooves of a domesticated horse needed additional protection on their feet.

Around the world, different attempts were made. An early method was to wrap the hooves in rawhide leather and other materials which was used for therapeutic purposes as well as protective. Another attempt from the Romans took a note from the common footwear of people at the time—the sandal and strapped this metal bottom around the feet of their horses.

The other methods eventually faded away as people discovered the horseshoe as the best and most efficient means of protection. After proper fitting and grooming, the horseshoe is nailed into the bottom of the hoof (don’t worry—horses have no sensation in their hooves; it’s the equivalent of snipping our fingernails).

The popularization of metal horseshoes gave rise to a fun leisurely activity around the stables. Horseshoes has become an immensely widespread game—sort of a more rustic and rural version of bean bags, opposing players stand at opposite ends of the throwing area, marked by two poles sunk into the ground. The idea is to get the U-shaped shoe to wrap around and ‘ring’ a pole. Points are rewarded for touching the pole or being a shoe’s length away as well.

The game came along almost instantly after the shoe was first invented for the purpose of horse hoof protection a little more than 2000 years ago. Still a great means of entertainment today, check out or indoor version of Horseshoes by clicking here. Have a blast horsin’ around at camp and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Working with as many excellent summer camps as we do, it’s hard not to sing their praises—so we figured, why fight it?! Here at Everything Summer Camp, we work with more than 270 camps and today, we’re shining our summer camp spotlight down south to the heart of Texas where we find the beautiful Marble Falls—home of Balcones Springs summer camp. Let me show you around…

Situated across 250 rolling acres, Balcones Springs displays Lake Ted—the private 10-acre spring-fed centerpiece of the campgrounds. The summer camp experience presents campers from 7 to 17 the time of their lives, offering one of the highest counselor-to-camper ratios than any other camp.

A place with great fun, days at Balcones Springs are filled with activities like Archery, Arts & Crafts, Banana Boating, Baseball, Basketball, The Blob, Canoeing and Kayaking, Ceramics, Challenge Course, Climbing Tower, Cooking, Dance, Disc Golf, Drama, Fishing, Fitness, Football, Hiking, Horseback, Kickball, Lacrosse, Mind Games, Riflery, Soccer, Softball, Survivor Skills, Tennis, Tubing, Volleyball, Wakeboarding, Waterskiing, Woodworking, Zipline.

With a development that dates back less than 30 years ago, facilities were built on the campgrounds—beautiful buildings intended to enhance the natural surroundings of the property. And with over 40 air-conditioned cabins that are all provided with their own private bathroom, ceiling fans, and air conditioning, Camp Balcones Springs is certainly an accommodating and comfy place on those hot summer days!

Camp Balcones Springs is a fantastic place to spend your camp stay. If it sounds like a good match for your summer camp family, you can get a closer look at this special Texan camp by visiting them on their website which you can get to by clicking here. Enjoy planning for the next summer season and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We received more than 30 entries for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and I’ve been happily plugging away at publishing each one of them right here on the Blog to share with all our readers!

Today we have our last camp story which comes from Clarisa D., who wrote in to tell us about her second year at Camp Nakanawa. “Hi my name is Clarisa D. this was my 4th summer going to camp Nakanawa. This camp is my favorite part of my summer with all the activities like Horseback Riding, Archery, Diving Swimming, and many more I was never bored. This year was my favorite year because my cabin was amazing. I was with one of my best friends ever Olivia and with one of the best counselors ever Mariel. Me and Olivia have been good friend since last year when we were in the same cabin too. We have soo many inside jokes and amazing moments like one day at camp it started to pour rain and we and soo many other girls decided to put on our swimsuits and head to the tennis courts. It was soo much fun we were having the best time. I can’t wait to go back next summer and see all my friends like Olivia and Amelia OG. I can’t wait to also see Ember and Audrey. Next year will be my 6th grade summer and I can’t wait! I could be an aide, get the main roles in the operetta, celebrate my birthday with all my friends, and a possibility to be an Amazon team captain! Thank you soo much!”

Glad to hear that Camp Nakanawa continues to be such a positive place in your life, Clarisa! Camp always has the best people and the coolest activities. I hope you enjoy many more summers there in the future! Thanks for sharing how great Nakanawa is, Clarisa! For everyone else, check out Nakanawa to see if it might be the right place for you. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

It makes us so happy here at Everything Summer Camp to get such a great response to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest! Now we’re having a great time publishing each one right here on the Blog! After our seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $15 gift certificate to our online store!

Today’s post features a submission from Maddy K., who wrote in to tell us all about a number of her new experiences during her fun camp stay this summer at Beber Camp. Check it out:

“I went to a new camp this summer (as staff), so that was a new experience. I was nervous and scared. I made friends from all over the world. I won an award (1 of the 5 vision awards, all staff). I tried SO many things for the first time (Paintball, Hockey, Horseback riding, and Water-Skiing to name a few). I also got to help with the musicals (for the tech). (Aladdin and Mary Poppins). I also worked in the office. (I did packages and mail sorting). I also got to go to Chicago on my days off. It is a Jewish camp, so we don't do milk/meat at the same meal, so that was hard for me. The pic is me with the vision award winners. I won for pride and ownership.”

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Maddy! What an eclectic assortment of activities you got to take part in! I’m glad you enjoyed all your new experiences so much and congratulations on your Vision Award! What a great place Beber Camp sounds like! For everyone else, if Beber Camp sounds like it could be the right place for you, check it out for yourself by clicking here. As always, thanks for reading!

- John