Sambaa Deh Falls Park (Aug 18/06) - A Girl Guide camp held at Sambaa Deh Falls Park over the weekend was one short trip from Fort Simpson but one large step towards bigger things.

From August 11-13, the Fort Simpson Girl Guides held their first camp away from the village.

Most of the previous camps have taken place in the Fort Simpson campgrounds, said Leah Keats, one of the Deputy Territorial Commissioners for Girl Guides.

This camp is the first step towards preparing the girls for national and international camps, Keats said.

The camp was a joint effort between the Fort Simpson Guide group and the Hay River Pathfinders.

"I'm totally impressed with the girls," Keats said on the last day of the camp.

The girls were also impressed with the camp.

"It should be called cool camp," said Nikita Larter, a Fort Simpson Guide.

The highlight of the camp for most participants was a visit from Dave Huntley, a geologist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

Huntley led the girls on a hike around the falls where he taught them about fossils.

"We were really engrossed in our fossils," said Alice Feathermore, the leader from Hay River.

For Katelyn Harold, the hike to the falls to look at the fossils was the best of the camp. Harold said she learned the world is billions of years old.

Pathfinders Mikaela Muller and Melanie Craft from Hay River had never been to the falls before, so they were also amazed.

"I thought it was really fun," Muller said.

Setting up the tents was Larter's favourite part of the weekend. Getting the tents up was easy once you got used to it, she said.

Compared to the Fort Simpson campground, Larter said she prefers Sambaa Deh because there are more things to do.

The camp also provided plenty of amusing stories for campers and leaders alike.

On Friday, one of the first orders of business was to store the food safely so it wouldn't attract bears.

While a cooler was being hauled up a tree, the friction snapped the rope sending the cooler back to earth.

"Next time we'll bring stronger ropes," said Feathermore with a smile.

During the camp, the food was cooked over fires or in a tinfoil oven that Keats made with a cardboard box.

The oven worked, but was a bit slow.

Muffins and individual pineapple upside down cakes made inside took one and a half hours to bake.

Despite minor mishaps, all agreed that they would like to come back again.