It’s about a 6 hour drive from Williston to West Fargo, pretty much a journey from the west side to the east side of the state. Located somewhere in the middle, just west of Garrison, North Dakota is the Triangle Y camp. Taking a twist from a fairy tale type story, Addely lives in West Fargo, and her cousins Natalie and Sophie live in Williston. The three girl cousins are similar in age starting with Natalie who is 9, Addely who is 8 and Sophie who is 7.
Around Christmas time Addely’s parents, along with Natalie & Sophie’s parents, began talking about maybe having a Triangle Y camp experience for the 3 cousins in the summer of 2025. Addely’s older brothers Carter and Charlie had been to camp the previous summer and had enjoyed the experience. As busy families go, the older brothers were going to have a difficult time scheduling camp together, something they truly wanted to accomplish like the year before.
The Triangle Y Camp is located on Lake Sakakawea and offers endless activities for kids of any age, but the 3 day minicamp which would start on a Sunday afternoon and end on a Wednesday afternoon seemed to fit the younger campers who may not have spent an extended amount of time away from their parents. The next step was to choose a date and a camp that worked for the 3 cousins. July 20th would be the date and the minicamp would be Christmas in July. We’ll talk a little more about the camp theme later.
For Natalie, Addely & Sophie, preparation for their camp experience would entail a detailed list. The weather can definitely vary in western North Dakota and being located on a larger body of water there is a chance for those signature North Dakota thunderstorms, so it isn’t a “one size fits all” wardrobe when packing. On the other end, Camp Director Mallory Gray has been working at the Y Camp since 2012. The camp is operated efficiently and with an eye on the weather. Procedures are in place for the safety of the campers. “Yeah, we’ve had a bit of a storm last night” said Mallory “so we get the kids into a safe place and they play games or even watch movies to pass the time.”
Mallory was instrumental in helping get the 3 cousins in the same cabin, named Laramie. When the 3 cousins arrived they quickly scoped out 3 bunks that were almost side by side. For them it would be kind of a sleepover on steroids as the 3 cousins would see each other on family holidays, but that was always in familiar surroundings, and usually with parental supervision.
There are 2 counselors assigned to each cabin. In Laramie it was Olivia and Julia. They would meet and greet their campers and help them get established in their home away from home.
As parents, and grandparents got their final hugs, most departed and headed home. As Mallory explained to me “we just get them busy with activities and so camp goes by pretty fast.”
To complete my article about these 3 first campers, I was able to visit Natalie, Addely and Sophie on Tuesday night. To say the girls were ecstatic about camp would be an understatement. Awesome, great, we don’t want to go home…I also got kind of an explanation of the Christmas in July theme, or maybe better put, it became apparent to me that there were 2 different teams in camp, red and green “you know, like Christmas” one of the campers said to me. They said the food was great “this morning we had French toast sticks” said Addely. They talked about the different activities include kayaking and swimming “and a big rope that you grab onto and you swing out into the water. I even did it” said 7 year old Sophie.
Our interview time with the 3 campers, now referred to by some of the counselors as the 3 Amigos, went by rather fast. There was a bit of a competition on who would talk next, but that was OK. It was 7:30 PM and the girls were called together to head to the arts and crafts area where they used washable paint, green because they were the green team, to paint their counselors. And soon the girls were doing face painting on each other. What was so very evident by the smiles on their faces, to a camper, was that they were having a great time. “Can you stay and play Capture The Flag with us?” Natalie asked. As much fun as it would have been, we had a bit of drive back to Minot and really I am thinking that at my age I was at a distinct disadvantage as far as speed goes.
Wednesday was pick up day at camp for the mini campers, and soon they would be headed home. Great memories, a love for the Triangle Y camp and a desire to return next year, maybe for a whole week, were pretty much common conversations amongst campers and parents.
To Mallory and her staff at Triangle Y camp…as always, a job well done. One more week of camp and the summer camping season is over. And to that point, Mallory Gray would like to see the Triangle Y Camp be a year round facility. That really seems like double the fun for everyone.
