2019 day two: dimple rock

Day two - dimple rock and other adventures  

Alarms went off just before 4am.  Not sure how much I slept, but I know it was less than I would have hoped.  We determined last night that we would take a morning hike to see the sun rise - even though we were pretty sure we would not be able to see the sun since even when it was up we couldn't see it... but seemed like a nice 1 mile out to rock vista and one mile back. 

As I get out of my tent I'm surprised to see garbage all over the camp.  As people get up we conclude that Eric and Tyler b didn't hear and/or follow suggestion to put food into the cars and the raccoon was very happy to oblige them for a snack.  There is actually video of the thievery/attack and the attempted response - but without getting out of the hammock there is little chance of success.  The raccoon knew it could outlast the ym. It's used to being up all night.  

We load up and head out on schedule right at 4:30am. A quick 5-10 min drive and we are at the trail head.  The rain is coming down but the poncho brigade with our headlamps head up the hill.  Some of the hardest rain we have had is falling but it isn't too hard and the trip is nice.  But at one mile we see nothing - partially because its still dark but also because there haven't been anywhere to see out over things so we keep hiking ... at about a mile and a half or maybe three quarters we almost turn around and then two ym go 100 yards further up we see what we assume was the rock.  Destination just before sunrise.  We can't see the sun but it has lightened substantially so we don't need lights anymore.  We stop to look over the valley, eat some snacks and then head back down and to camp.  

Breakfast is eggs, bacon and pancakes - deliciously cooked.  Bacon crisp, pancakes golden but without uncooked middle parts. After we have a couple hours till we leave for whitewater so cards and whittling break out.  Sleeves are sacrificed to the god of bared biceps.  "Young" bro Mitchell shows up at 10:30 bearing gifts - donuts, watermelon and berries. All are consumed nearly instantaneously - even though breakfast wasn't long ago- the metabolism of ym.  Bishop shows just up before 11.  We load into cars and head down to  the metropolis of Ohiopyle to the river rafting company.  As we check in the rain starts- but it's been conspicuously absent since our return to camp after the hike.  But as we are getting our safety briefing it stops.  Not bad at all.  

Prep involves the typical river rafting spiel- put on a helmet, a smelly life vest and grab an oar then hop on a bus.  It always does my heart good to know that after a long successful career hauling kids around that busses have a place to go when they retire.  We load up and take a trip to the water launch - it's literally less than half mile from the shop but beat walking I suppose.  During the briefing bishop is tasked with marking down what was covered - on wet paper with a ball point pen-  slight miracle.  After our 2nd discussion we carry our rafts down to the river.  The guide in our boat explains at some point that the rivers I'm used to are classed due to volume and size while others like this are based on technical difficulty.  The big scare was dimple rock - a rock you can't really avoid that has a place under it that will occasionally eat a rafter if you aren't careful.  Bishop was in front of my raft and I took a corner from his man card for diving into the middle when he was supposed to be paddling as we rammed into the side of the rock.  Everyone made it safe and not even a close call.  It was a pretty fun trip even if mostly uneventful - I think zac and david were the only ones who took unexpected swims from the  3 boats that we had in our group.  There were some nice rapids, enough food for lunch and everyone had a great time.  They have a photographer who took some pictures - check with your kids.  I do think the ym were much better river runners/paddlers at the end than they were at the beginning. 

We stopped by the water slides to show the new guys.  A lot more people there today and the water level was higher.  The newbs both took a run and have the scrapes and bruises to show it.  Bishop performed his annual backflip off a rock.  The spectators were astounded and wild cheers went up.  Maybe I'm misremembering that last part....

Then it was back to camp for the "ford feast" - an annual tradition involving the consumption of large quantities of meat which is of course well received and somewhat disturbing at the same time.... how did the pioneer ym do it without a grocery close by?  I didn't tally the lbs of meat but it wasn't a small number.  

After dinner is cleaned up we enjoyed a really nice evening around the fire.  A lot of absurd stories are told as part of the mafia games played - the large majority of them involving raccoons in one way or another..... 

There is a dead tree in camp and they determine it will make a good campfire so a tree is felled.  How many priests does it take to fell a small tree - at least 6 is the answer.  We have a nice devotional from Thomas and head to bed.  It was a nice day, had some adventure, most of them showered, at well and rain wasn't a big issue.  Thank you for your prayers. 

Tomorrow the weather doesn't look as cooperative but we will hope for luck again.  As we climb into tents we have a pretty heavy rain - but not too long.  So at this point a lot of damp stuff but nothing too bad.  What is wet doesn't get a chance to dry but if the weather doesn't get worse we will be fine. We will be fine either way - just one way we will be wetter than the other....