A week-long summer camp aimed at teaching kids skills for living off the land is coming to Haines at the end of the month.
For the last eight years, the Alaska Experience camp has been held in Juneau. But this summer, it’s heading up Lynn Canal.
“The focus of the camp is around wild harvest and teaching the kids how to safely and sustainably harvest our wild Alaskan bounty,” says Darren Snyder, the 4-H youth agent for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension. They’re hosting the camp.
“The Rainbow Glacier Camp facility itself is just a gorgeous place to have the type of camp that we offer,” says Snyder. “It’s got excellent facilities and we love to be right on the water with this camp, access to water. And it’s just got a lot of the things we’re looking for.”
Over the years, the camp has been held at different times of the summer. Snyder says that helps determine different activities.
“We wanted to connect it with fair week here in Haines,” says Snyder. “So we decided to go ahead and, we’re going to be harvesting what’s available, what’s around. So we’re hoping to be catching some salmon and seeing if there’s maybe some wild mushrooms to be picking, and other shoreline harvests.”
Snyder says the camp will include fishing, wild game processing, meat handling, hunting skills, firearm safety, shooting air rifles and archery.
“We have a high emphasis on just fun and adventure,” says Snyder. “The kids are building their own camp fires. They’re building survival shelters and learning survival skills. Getting on stand-up paddleboards, kayaking around and just having a good fun summer camp time.”
The Alaska Experience Camp, for middle and high school-aged students, is set to run from July 23-28 in Haines.
Earlier this summer, kids in the Chilkat Valley had the opportunity to participate in a Tlingit culture and environmental stewardship camp.
The Haines Sheldon Museum hosts science camps throughout the summer.
