Teen Leadership and Adventure Camp: the week of 5 July 2026

On Friday the leaders shared the photos from Lac Retaud. The group had carried everything up to the lake themselves: an inflatable paddleboard held high over one head, a bundle of foam noodles over a shoulder and a big kit bag. By the water the pace slowed. Some sat in the grass at the edge of the lake, green slopes and a rocky summit rising behind them. Others posed with the paddleboard, or squeezed three at a time into a hammock strung between the trees in the forest. The sky was a clear, deep blue, and the light was the warm, bright light of high summer.

Three sets of photos came back from the leaders on Monday. The first was from a waterfall exploration: the whole group gathered on the wet rocks at the foot of the falls, arms in the air for the camera, while the water ran down into a clear pool below. In the next, the group stood with their mountain bikes on a gravel track, grey peaks behind them and a blue sky overhead. The last came from a via ferrata. Helmets on and harnesses clipped to the cable, they worked their way along the rock face, the forest dropping away beneath them. Everywhere the mountains were green and the light was bright summer sun.