All Inclusive* 2-night Program Starting At:

$480/person - Double Occupancy

$630/person - Single Occupancy

* Includes lodging, meals, program activities and access to optional daily activities and recreational equipment. Learn More about the Great Camp Sagamore experience.

Program Overview

In science, "cosmos" refers to the entire physical universe, considered as a unified whole, often emphasizing the idea of order and harmony within that system, essentially meaning the same as "universe" but with a stronger connotation of a well-organized structure.

Through a sequence of presentations interspersed with guided activities - walking, breathing, reflection, journaling, and stargazing - learn and experience your interconnection with the cosmos. We'll journey from earliest moments of the Big Bang creating matter from energy, darkness falling with the creation of atoms, to light dawning anew with the formation and evolution of stars creating the elements vital to Earth and life. Learn how the very elements of our bodies and everything around us were created from the stars, making us, as Carl Sagan said, "The matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself."

Program Activities

• Presentations about the origin and the evolution of the cosmos, Earth, and life by Aileen O'Donoghue

• Guided nature activities to experience our interrelationship with the cosmos

• Stargazing the dark skies of the Adirondacks

• Exploration of our relationship with darkness 

• Reflective journaling and free time to relax

• Time to enjoy the beauty of Great Camp Sagamore and take advantage of recreational activities and amenities such as the history tour, swimming, kayaks/canoes, hiking and the bowling alley.

Program Instructors

Aileen O'Donoghue, PhD - Astronomer

Aileen A. O’Donoghue is the Henry Priest Professor of Physics at St. Lawrence University. She received an Associate of Arts degree at Colorado Mountain College that propelled her to earning her B.S. at Fort Lewis College and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Her research is primarily in radio astronomy and she has conducted observations with the Very Large Array, Arecibo and Green Bank radio telescopes. She has also observed dwarf galaxies in the visible band at the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope and the optical spectra of stars using the 90” Bok telescope at Kitt Peak and the 1.5 m telescope at Cerro Tololo, Chile. She is currently a member of the ALFALFA undergraduate team studying galaxies in the Pisces-Perseus Superlcuster using radio, optical, and IR observations.

Helene Gibbons

Helene Gibbens is the founder of Adirondack Riverwalking. A Certified Forest Therapy Guide and wellness educator, Helene has a passion for introducing people to a more restorative and reciprocal relationship with nature. She guides experiences and retreats that allow all people to experience our interconnectedness with nature, as well as the healing benefits of using our senses intentionally to engage with the more than human world (Forest Bathing). Sharing her deep appreciation for the Adirondacks is at the heart of all the programs and experiences she creates.

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