By Robert Henn, 2024 Camp Counselor
The joyful clamor of eager campers ricochets off the trees of Lake Luzerne, N.Y. as one by one, each of them soar down the zipline of the exhilarating High Ropes Course at the Double H Ranch: an Adirondack camp for children with serious medical conditions.
However, at Double H, it isn’t just exuberant cheers and infectious laughter that fill the air — it’s magic.
My name is Robert, and I am a first-year graduate student in the clinical mental health counseling program at SUNY Plattsburgh. This past summer was my very first time at camp as a counselor in the Muskrat Cabin, and it was without a doubt, the best, most rewarding summer of my life.
As a newcomer to Double H, returning staff members kept telling me how camp was magic, but I didn’t know what that meant until I experienced it for myself.
The “magic” is a sense of love, inclusivity, and encouragement that no other place but Double H can provide. No matter where you go or what you do on campgrounds, you can always be your authentic self and never have to worry about not being accepted by those around you.
It’s a place where ALL children, regardless of their abilities, can unapologetically be themselves, and as a counselor, seeing how much camp means to some of our campers is truly an indescribable feeling.
Whether it’s watching campers conquer their fears at the High Ropes Course, competitively partake in an invigorating game of kickball at Woodley Field, or finally hit that one desired target at the Archery Range, every second, minute, and hour is time you wish you could relive over and over again.
While it is so difficult to identify a single favorite memory from camp this past summer, I will say there were a lot of special moments that came from one-on-one interactions with campers and their families that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
The impact Double H has on families, its staff members, and the children that come to camp year after year is almost immeasurable. Sometimes, being at camp for a few months, a week, or even a day is enough to fuel us through the year ahead.
After all, camp is hope, and hope is the invisible force that encourages us to continue persevering in the face of adversity.
Camp is a reminder to keep going.