Where girls will be girls -- and adventurers too

Daileigh Foust is infatuated with animals. She can recall the colors of all her former pet “fishies,” boasts that her cat BooBoo isn’t afraid of coyotes and, at age 7, has begun to formulate dreams about becoming a veterinarian.

But no member of the animal kingdom has ever claimed the heart of Daileigh as much as the one she rode at camp last summer, a horse elaborately dubbed “Oreo Chocolate Chip.”

“Girls and horses, it just seems to be a natural match,” said Loyce Rowe, with a chuckle. Rowe is program specialist for the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council, the organization that sends girls to Camp Azalea Trails.

Located near Idyllwild on 12.5 acres of San Bernardino National Forest, Azalea Trails greets 70 to 100 girls in first through 11th grades each week every summer.

The girls don’t initially have to be Girl Scouts to join in on the mountain biking and counselor hunts, but they must commit to becoming a part of a troop after camp.

Daileigh, who is a Brownie Girl Scout, has earned 31 pins on her scout sash to date, two of which she garnered at camp.

“On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country and help people at all times...” she delivers in a meek voice, reciting the Girl Scout Promise and Law she’s committed to memory.

“On Mother’s Day, we made pumpkin pie and Caps for Kids, where we got hats for people with cancer, even kids with cancers,” she said, speaking about her Yucca Valley troop’s activities.

The can-do spirit of her troop resonates at camp, where girl power is emphasized.

“It’s normally ‘boys can throw farther’ or ‘girls can’t run as fast,’ ” Rowe said. “But at camp, there’s no one saying, ‘Go be quiet and read a book.’ If the girls want to pull out a football, we’ll throw one around.

“Camp gives girls the opportunity to be independent, teaching them leadership and decision-making skills,” Rowe added.

“They get to try things they would never try at home.... It’s an opportunity to have a completely new experience.”

Among the firsts for Daileigh: a playful game of truth or dare.

“We talked at night in our tent and told stories and secrets,” she said. “We do truth or dare too. We said, ‘I dare you to go outside and wake up the other tents!’ ”

The Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council is one of 60 organizations receiving financial support this year through the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign.

More than 8,000 underprivileged children will go to camp this summer, thanks to $1.5 million raised last year. The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.1 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make donations by credit card, go to latimes.com/summercamp. To send checks, use the attached coupon. Do not send cash.

Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Times.

amy.kaufman@latimes.com