Link-Up Week 2: Recap

Our second group of Links arrived Monday evening, playing a bit of pool before enjoying a dinner of chili. We discussed our plans for the week and planned the next day’s excursion.

The group was quick to agree to visit the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) where they spent the majority of the first day. Tuesday the Links awoke to a breakfast of French toast and bacon, and after completing the dishes they were out for a day of wildlife education at the VINS.

With the focus on birds, they had the opportunity to view some of the most impressive airborne predators in North America, great-horned owls, bald eagles, and Harris’s hawks. Then they listened to a variety of singing songbirds kept in the aviary and learned about the identification of birds by their calls and colors. The group then enjoyed taking the forest canopy walk, which gave the group something of a bird’s-eye-view of the forest below.  

The boys took a trip down memory lane as they revisited Mayhew Island for dinner, joining the whole camp community that evening for some of Chef T’s famous cooking. With meatloaf and pasta on the menu, they could not get enough! They finished the evening swimming at Mayhew’s boathouse, a preferred swimming spot for any kid who’s spent a summer on the Island.  

With a lot of voices in support of a fishing expedition, the Links opted to spend their Wednesday on the water. Setting out in the morning, they packed their fishing rods into canoes and started paddling. The group ate their lunch on Cliff Island while swimming and angling before moving on to another location around Wellington State Park. Relaxing through the evening the Links were happy to get out of the hot sun and rest their arms from paddling. A dinner of curry and rice followed by s’mores went well with a viewing of The Sandlot.  

Thursday morning the group was woken by a classic horn reveille. The Links warmed up for their adventure up Mt. Cardigan and started with a shorter hike around Goose Pond. An introduction to wildlife tracking and wilderness survival lessons where shared from our Link-up coordinator Jim O’Brien. The group learned to identify game trails and fish nests, before the dark clouds showed up giving the group the opportunity to learn about how animals’ behaviors change as a storm rolls in.

We stopped back at the base house to fuel up before our stay on Cardigan with some lasagna, made by our Executive Director Peter Saliba, while we kept an eye on the weather to see what it might hold for our hike.

With the weather looking clear until the evening, we started our way up to the AMC’s Cardigan High Cabin, each boy volunteering to carry a log up to help replenish the cabin’s firewood supply. Unfortunately, the impending thunderstorms prevented the group from summitting the mountain that night. The lightning made an excellent light show while the Links enjoyed their dinner, and they “oohed” and “aahed” as the storm illuminated the night sky in brief flashes. They relaxed at the cabin with some card games, magic tricks, and a reading of tales of survival in the Alaska wilderness from Into the Wild before going to sleep. 

In the morning, the Links wanted to make sure they got the opportunity they’d missed out on the previous night to summit and set off early to experience the top in the brisk mountain wind. Upon return, the group started the work of packing up and cleaning our site. We hiked our way back down, traveled back to Mayhew’s base house before everyone went their separate ways to enjoy their Fourth of July festivities for the weekend. 

*Beginning in the third year of the Mayhew Program, boys can participate in a five-day, adventure-based summer program.  Trips include canoeing, backpacking, biking, and nature and wilderness skills training.