Camping began at 5 p.m. on Saturday when Kreft and two other rangers set up a grill for cooking dinner: hamburgers, hot dogs, turkey burgers, veggie burgers and later s’mores for dessert. The rangers then went over general wilderness tips, such as keeping food away from sleeping areas and taught the seven families how to pitch the tents, which were also provided with the free program. In fact, participants only needed to bring their own sleeping bags and personal items as the Rangers provided the rest.
While Angie Gualpa’s family pitched their tent, the Park Slope, Brooklyn teenager was busy texting her friends about her first camping experience. “It’s scary but exciting,” she wrote.
A little while later at 10 p.m., Kreft gathered the group for a night hike. He suggested everyone turn off flash lights and cell phones insisting that, “your eyes will adjust to the darkness and you will still be able to see the path.” Without her phone, Gualpa relied on the light of the moon and the steady arm of Uncle Henry to see the path.
Her little brother, Sam, on the other hand, hiked with a ranger in the back of the group and kept his flashlight on the whole time. Deep in the Alley Pond Park refuge, the ranger tried to locate an owl. He instructed the hikers to cup their hands behind their ears, to amplify sound and silently listen for owls. It was at this point that an anxious Sam Gualpa turned to his mother and younger sister begging, “Can we go back to the tent, yet?”
The group returned to the campsite a little before 11 p.m. without spotting an owl, though Kreft snapped a photo of an opossum rifling through a nearby garbage can sometime around 2 a.m.
Susan Jennings, also from Park Slope, said she wanted her daughter, Lexi to appreciate the great outdoors, just as she had growing up in Canada. And as the campers settled in for the night, Lexi could be heard singing happily in her tent until late into the night.
In the morning, her father, Keith, was far less enthusiastic. Deconstructing his tent and nibbling on the light breakfast set out by the rangers, Jennings admitted he had never slept, “on the ground,” and would never do it again: he didn’t sleep a wink the whole night.
The Dwass family, in contrast, slept perfectly well, thanks to the four manually inflatable mattresses they brought with them from their East Village apartment in Manhattan. Parents Alba and Michael Dwass hadn’t been camping in 25 years — and they emphasized they did not use blow-up mattresses then — but it was the first time for their kids Simone, 12, and Isaac, 8.
Alba and Michael waited years for their son to turn 8 so that after the overnight, they could participate in another free program at the park, the Alley Pond Park Adventure Course, which has a minimum age requirement. The two-hour adventure course sessions runs twice on Saturday and Sunday and includes supervised time on climbing walls, ropes, ladders, swings and zip lines.
While the families not staying for the Adventure Course slowly made their way to their cars, Samantha Naina was asked if she had a good time. With a grin she said she’d had a “great time,” and would love to “sleep in a tent again.” Even Sam Gualpa, who had regained his composure from the night hike, said he hoped his first wilderness experience would not be his last. Without looking up from his hand held PlayStation Portable, he said he’d like to camp again, sometime.
And Kreft says that is the goal of Family Camping. “Creating a lifelong connection with nature is the point,” he said. “So maybe next time they’ll say, ‘hey, we stayed in Alley Pond Park, now let’s try Harriman State Park.’”
Another family camping trip will be held July 31st in Alley Pond Park, and the final outing is August 7th in Cunningham Park in Fresh Meadows. To register, visit http://nyc.gov/parks/rangers/register. The program fills up quickly so the rangers suggest applying as soon as possible.
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