Summer is Coming...

You can see the light beaming through the trees...

... and the sun glistening off the water. Summer is coming!

Dave's Corner

Welcome to Dave’s Corner. My name is Dave Affolter and I am the Teen Program Director at Camp Orkila. For those of you who don’t know, throughout the summer we offer a variety of kayaking, biking and sailing trips both within the San Juan and Gulf Islands…

Dave’s Corner is a column for all you outdoor enthusiasts looking for fun ways to play outside this spring. In prepartion for the upcoming summer I will share some of my favorite local spring adventures.

For a metropolitan area King County has some amazing outdoor opportunities. One of my favorite trips is in my own backyard.

Foster Island Kayak Trip

For those of you with some paddling experience, there are a number of great day paddles within the Seattle area. One of my personal favorite is a Foster Island kayak trip. A great shop for renting kayaks for this trip is Agua Verde Café and Paddle Club. From Agua Verde, head East through the Montlake Cut. As you go along, check out the murals the UW Crew team traditionally paints along the walls. After leaving the Cut, contour the shore and see the Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. From there, keep heading East through Foster Island.

As you glide along make sure to keep an eye out for great blue herons, beavers and turtles. Depending on the water level in Lake Washington you can cruise on a beautiful water trail behind the Broadmoor Golf Course. Some spring days, falling cottonwood can mimic a warm snow flurry, leaving the water blanketed in white. Enjoy all of the nooks and crannies within the park and when you are ready, pick a new path back. On a sunny day, look South across the Lake at a Mount Rainier looming in the distance before beginning your paddle back.

After an afternoon full of kayaking around such abundant and diverse wildlife and breath taking breathtaking mountain views, I have to pinch myself to remember that I am still in the middle of a big city.

FIRST TIME CAMPER/FAMILY WEEKEND

This past weekened at Orkila we held a First Time Camper Overnight. It was for 2010 summer campers that had never been to camp before, and we let their families tag along too ;)

It was a great weekend, and we had 10 past staff volunteer as well... so they could share their passion for this marvelous place.

In the pic to the right you can see the big visiting group waiting to get off the ferry, as it pulls up to the Orcas Ferry Dock.