Eating wild foods, shooting arrows to pop balloons, fly tying, and a night walk. All of those activities on day 2 at Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) in Arizona September Camp. Let’s revisit the day.

Morning Workout

I awoke to a beautiful sunny morning with a few scattered clouds. Next, I found a location on a hill and laid out my exercise bands on the ground. With a view of the ponderosa pine trees in front of me, I started my workout. About 15 minutes into my workout two fawns ran past me. That is not a sight that I normally see at the fitness center.

Dining Hall

Each day we were served our meals in the dining hall buffet style. On day 2 we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner there. The food was delicious. There were options for those with food allergies, vegans and vegetarians. The BOW staff was accommodating to all camper needs.

Arizona Wild Foods

Arizona Wild Foods was my first session of the day. The first hour of the class was a power point presentation about Arizona wild plants that are edible, how to safely and ethically collect them, and methods of preparation. The second hour of class was preparing wilds foods that the BOW instructor found on her ride up from Yuma. We got to practice preparing prickly pear pads and adding them into the Wild Food Salad. Then we got to eat the salad and it tasted great. The third hour of class we ventured outdoors and walked around camp identifying and eating plants that we found.

Archery

This was my first time working with a compound bow. This class was a hands-on course were we learned proper shooting form and technique as well as safety. The BOW instructors shared the history of a variety of bows, arrows, and supporting equipment. We had multiple hours of range time to practice shooting. Near the end of the class, the instructors put balloons on the targets and we got to pop them with the arrows.

Raffle, Auction, Follies

In the evening all the campers attended the raffle, auction, and follies event. Campers were asked to bring an auction item with them to camp. For example, I donated a new cast iron pie pan in the box. The BOW volunteers bunched up the donated items and put them into gift groups. Campers purchased raffle tickets and put their raffle tickets in to win the donated items. There was also a progressive auction. The monies raised are to provide scholarships for woman to attend the camp that might not be financially able to attend otherwise. The follies were a series of skits performed by campers and the volunteers. The acts ranged from poems to songs. They were very entertaining.

Fly Tying

After the follies, I headed over to the Wagon Shed building where a group of volunteers who love fly fishing taught us to tie fishing flies. This was another first-time event for me. The instructors gave a demonstration of the tools, parts of the fly and then how to create the fly. Next we each found a spot at the table with a set of tools for each person. Then we got to create our fly. The volunteers walked around to help us add each component to complete our flies. In the end, I had a complete fly that I can use to catch fish.

Night Hike

The final event for the day was a night walk. We brought our headlamps and flashlights. An instructor led us on a walk in the woods. On the walk, we discussed and located star constellations. A group of deer ran near us and we spotted them with our flashlights. The instructor brought us to the “Haunted House” which was an abandoned pump house. It was an interesting building to see at night with only the eerie light emanation from the groups’ flashlights.

Another amazing day of making new friends and learning new skills.

Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) in Arizona September Camp Day 2

If you got to learn something new what would it be?