notes for Vermont campers

Parents, please read!

Smoking

Farm and Wilderness has a strict no tobacco policy. A person who absolutely needs to smoke can walk approximately a mile to the edge of the property to do so. However, after dark our NBTSC boundaries do not extend that far and we don’t make exceptions for  smokers—hence, NBTSC Vermont is probably not a good choice for someone with an active tobacco addiction, unless you can manage it via a nicotine patch or something along that line.

Bring warm clothes and bedding!

September is definitely the beginning of fall in Vermont. We spend our nights in three-sided (obviously non-insulated) cabins, and occasionally we’ve experienced dips into the low 30s. Imagine yourself warm and snug in your fluffy down sleeping bag rated for winter camping conditions, or your down comforter (complete with flannel sheets to fit a single bed), or layers of wool blankets...nice and cozy, resting yourself for each action-packed day at camp. Also, you’ve got your trusty flashlight by your side in case you need to see anything in the night. (There’s no electricity in the cabins.) That’s a lovely thought...

...especially considering the alternative: you’ve brought the dinky little threadbare comforter, that one decorated with pictures of fetching woodland creatures, which you’ve had since you were four. Or you’re lying in bed, trying to tuck yourself into a faux-quilted van bag that leaves your top half out in the cold. Or maybe you just thought, “I’m tough, I don’t need bedding!” and there you shiver, as the temps dip and the breezes blow through, and your fingers turn purple (though it’s hard to see them, since you forgot your flashlight), and...you get the picture.

Did we mention? Please bring warm bedding! It’s very likely that we’ll have warm, sunny weather during camp. And, we would never let anyone’s fingers or toes turn purple. But, don’t forget to BRING WARM STUFF! Check the packing list for detailed suggestions.

 

Contact us if you strongly prefer a heated indoor sleeping space.

Tamarack Farm has a few dorm rooms inside the heated main dining hall/farmhouse. If you have a strong preference for sleeping inside, please email Matt. First priority will go to campers who have health situations that indicate indoor sleeping, campers who plan to sleep in their own beds most or all of the time (rather than in the group sleeping areas, which are in buildings that have roofs, but are not fully enclosed), possibly to campers who request a quiet cabin, and, all other things being equal, to campers who contact us earliest. (We strongly recommend that you tell us by July 1st if you hope for an indoor space.)

Possibly a small field trip or two

Depending on how many staff vehicles we have at camp, small groups of people may go on short excursions during the week. This may not happen, but if it does, the people who go will need to have written permission from their parents (unless they are 18 or older). So if you’d like to have this option at camp, be sure to sign the field trip waiver. (It’s included in our online and paper forms packages.)

 

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