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 At breakfast Monday morning, when wilderness Director Ken Ryba announced the upcoming trips for the week, there was a swarm of girls rushing to his table. From canoeing to mountain climbs, every trip was popular. Ryba’s dilemma: The possible need to add a trip or two.
It’s a nice dilemma to have. Twenty years ago- halfway through Camp MacCready’s existence- it was considered a good hiking summer if a couple of dozen kids participated. “In the old days it was so hard to get kids to hike,” recalls MacCready Director Missy Livsey, who first came to camp in 1982. “We had to promise them things to get them into the woods.”
Since then, the growth has been gradual. In 1984, three girls completed the prestigious 50-mile “Super Marcy” hike; by 1999
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46ers at Camp Macready in 2006
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Eleanor Roberts
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Elizabeth Disney
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Liana Mistriel
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Briana Livsey
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Alexandra Disney
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Rebecca Ryba
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Kate Durlacher
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Meaghan Swan
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Melissa Livsey
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Caitlin Livsey
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, MacCready was sending out its own Super Marcy. One key to the rise in popularity has been the advent of coed trips. “They are mostly day hikes,” says Ryba, “but they give especially the older kids some incentive to try something new.” Adds Livsey, “I like that it’s optional. When you take kids who want to be there, it’s so much more positive.”
The most glaring and impressive improvement in Camp MacCready’s wilderness program has been the number of female Adirondack Forty-Sixers, those who have climbed New York’s 4000-footers. In 2006, for the first time, the number of girls 46ers is in the double digits. Liana Mistriel, 14 of Larchmont, NY, was one of two MacCready campers to finish her 46 in 2005. “I started hiking here at camp a few years ago, and finished (her 46ers) last fall on Whiteface.” While most children learn their passions from their parents, the role was reversed in Mistriel’s case. “Because of me, my dad started hiking too, and we finished  together.”
The tradition continues, and each summer more and more campers are catching the climbing fever. “I hiked a little before,” says 14-year old Clara Bieck. “Now they have more options for us.” In discussing her hiking goals, Bieck is blunt: “I’ve decided I want to become a 46er.”
Of course not every camper has such a lofty goal, but virtually every MacCready girl now has the opportunity to at least experience the beauty, the nature, the camaraderie; the joy of the experience. “I like hiking,” claims Bieck. “It’s pretty, and it’s a good way to exercise and have fun at the same time.” And having completed her 46ers, Mistriel has “no goals now, but I still like the feeling of accomplishment once you finish a mountain. I like the surroundings. I just like to hike!”
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The dining hall rocked as a swarm of red shirts chanted and marched out, bound for the ball field. Awaiting their arrival, and reciting their own chant was the team in black. The cheers were all about fighting words. The game itself was more about fun.
