Above the Rim — At Cloud Rim, Girl Scouts learn about outdoors and more

Courage, confidence, character and connections are the principals of the Utah Girl Scouts, and those four qualities are picked up by camp attendees — as they scale the wall, canoe on the lake and practice building tents.

"This gives them the opportunity to take on a task," said Aaron Tveter, who stepped out of his alias as Scuba Steve to talk to the Deseret Morning News. "It gives them a sense of self-respect."

But all of the opportunities the camp has to offer to girls today haven't always been available. In 1992, a disastrous fire burnt the entire camp to the ground. All that was left among the charred remains was the camp's bell, which is still used today in the new state-of-the-art lodge that was completed in 2000 when the camp reopened to the Scouts.

"I love the idea of summer camp — I remember doing it as a kid," said Pechmann. "A lot of the girls get to try things here they probably never would have tried."

Cloud Rim is one of two of Girl Scouts of Utah camps. At an elevation of 9,200 feet, wedged between Park City and Heber — the private camp is a great way for girls to get familiar with the outdoors without leaving many of the amenities they have at home, such as cabins, platform tents, a shower house, hot water, flush toilets and electricity. It is one of a handful of Utah camps that are accredited by the American Camp Association.

Trefoil Ranch, the other camp run by the Girl Scouts of Utah, resides on 123 acres in Provo Canyon. Touting similar amenities for campers, the ranch also has 20 horses for the Scouts to care for and learn to ride in addition to other camping activities. It is also an accredited camp through the American Camp Association. For more information about the Girl Scouts of Utah, visit www.gsutah.org.

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E-mail: nhale@desnews.com