The Menogyn Progression
Appropriate challenges are important to a teenager's healthy growth and development. At every step, we create opportunities for Menogyn campers to seek out and participate in a range of wilderness adventures that become increasingly remote and demanding.
Voyage Nouveau
8-11 day trips for teens entering 7th - 10th grade
Our Voyage Nouveau (New journey) trips provide campers with an introduction to well-planned wilderness travel, whether it is over water in a canoe, on a trail with a backpack or climbing up a vertical rock face. Campers develop team-building and conflict resolution skills, learn hard skills like proper canoe strokes or pacing your stride. In a properly set up group environment, kids learn positive self-image and knowledge. Out of their normal environment, they are able to push themselves farther physically, mentally and emotionally in a safe place to take risks.
Esprit d' Amitie'
14-15 day trips for teens entering 9th - 11th grade
Campers on Esprit d' Amitie' (Spirit of Friendship) trips have the opportunity to further their hard and soft skills learned on a previous trip or from family camping outings. The extended length on trail allows the rythyms of nature to become lived and opposed to sampled. Many more routes are available with different sites like waterfalls, lakes with no other groups or sounds. The group can really hone their methods of working together as a team. Individually, the time for personal reflection is significant.
Joie de Travail
20-21 day trips for teens entering 10th - 12th grade
Joie de Travail campers canoe in the Quetico park in Canada or backpack in Yellowstone National Park. This is the longest length session that is open to all. Campers at this level are expected to take more initiative in skills such as map and compass navigation, group leadership, trail cooking and making major route decisions. The areas traveled are remote and days away from medical assistance other than the trail guide. Campers feel a real sense of accomplishment after scaling a difficult ridge or finding and portaging a particularly hard trail. For many campers, these trips are the most physically challenging but also rewarding, hence the name which means"Joy of Work".
Nor'wester
30-32 Day invitation only trips for previously invited Menogyn campers 16-19 years of age
The first level of Invite-only trips, Menogyn Nor'westers start planning their expeditions during the school year. Each has a role to play in the group and some may take large planning pieces or less according to needs. Menogyn trail counselors move more into the facilitator role while still ensuring a fun and well-planned wilderness adventure. The fact that the counselors and campers are selected for these trips is part of our risk management plan. The groups travel to more remote and challenging destinations. White Water paddling is introduced. Backpackers may hike off-trail. It is a great honor to be selected as they have demonstrated an "Expedition Mentality" their ability to work together to find solutions, to create a safe and fun atmosphere by keeping themselves and each other safe and seeing the bright side of challenging situations. The leadership ability of Nor'wester campers is recognized and celebrated while still adding additional challenges for these young men and women and the friends they make on their trips last a lifetime.
Long Trips
50 -Day Invitation only trips for previously invited Nor'wester campers 17-19 years of age
A Menogyn long trip is the pinnacle wilderness expedition experience for young men and women. Canoe trips, the men's Hommes du Nord and women's Femmes du Nord canoe groups, travel to an entirely new climatic region - the Arctic tundra of Canada's Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Backpackers, the men's Waputik (Mountain Goat in Ojibway) and women's Wahkanee (Sacred Walk across the land) travel to mountain ranges in Alaska and the Yukon Territories. The group members again plan their trips during the school year taking larger and larger portions of the direction of the trip. The areas they go to are rarely visited by others and constitute a "once-in-a-lifetime" wilderness opportunity.
When we talk with the young men and women that have been on these trips a few repeated themes come up - the fact that the trip allowed them to really search their own identity and realize their potential spiritually, mentally and physically; how they really learned to get along with others under challenging circumstances; how the reflections made on their trip helped define their perspectives and their decisions for the rest of their lives. The personal growth achieved is significant. The value of being selected and then taking part in a Menogyn long trip goes well beyond the simple travel and fun aspect, it is an investment in the strength of the whole person that pays dividends for themselves, their families and communities.
