Our first two Summer Camps (2010 and 2011) were held at Smoke Farm in Arlington, a little over an hour north of Seattle. The farm was bought by the Rubicon Foundation about 20 years prior to facilitate alternative education and community. They were receptive to the idea of a new, youth-oriented summer camp on the property, one where high school students got to visit the farm and spend a week building an amazing structure.

For these first two week-long camps, students constructed and completed an octagonal treehouse wrapped around a tall tree in the woods of Smoke Farm. Harnesses and hard hats kept kids safe as they worked 30-40 feet off the ground on the side of the tree. The impressive original platform stood at the farm for over 10 years as a great testament of our first experience teaching carpentry skills to high school students.