Day 4
It rained much of the night. I awake to rain in the morning and in pioneer spirit I'm cut off from the world as my cellular data won't connect so I cant load my weather app to figure out if this will stop any time soon. Good news is at least my tent's waterproofing seems to be working for the moment. This will be a soggy mess to pack up tomorrow. It's hard to tell just how hard it is actually raining from here basically inside a timphonic drum. But I can feel the chill from outside. My sleeping bag is hard to leave because the warmth is nice.
This is a very low adventure morning as people are slow getting up and eating. Bishop Ford leaves before anyone but me is up and I think he left closer to 8.... after breakfast the frisbee comes out again and banter continues.
Rather than cajole them into another hike everyone seems content to enjoy hanging out while waiting for the river rafting at 1:30. The sun comes out intermittently for what seems the first extended time since we have been here - at least while we have been in camp and its warmth pulls everyone from the camp onto the parking area and blacktop road where the sun is unrestricted. Frisbees are thrown with varying degrees of skills - so sometimes they hit the intended recipient, sometimes they hit the cars and sometimes they hit the "poison Ivey" in the woods along the road. Occasionally they get stuck in a tree and the old joke about "how many priests does it take to....." comes to mind.
The fire pit in camp is shaped like a men's shoe heel - a large metal shoe heel about 4-6 inches tall and about a 1/4 thick. The flat side is about 3 feet long and has a large grate connected to it which can be flipped up onto the fire or down off the fire onto the ground. The sides are slightly shorter in length and then the rounded side isn't rounded but is 3 almost equal pieces with the middle one running perpendicular to the grate side and the other two set at slight angles to connect to the sides. I give this detailed description Incase the future rule book or history of the sport need it.
It is possible to stand on the fire pit and balance on the edge. The angled corner on the one end is a helpful item to do so. It is also possible to have someone stand on the opposite side at the same time. And then once you have two people like that is it possible to create a competition. And thus was born the Fire Pit Slap Battle (FPSB). Each combatant stands on a side opposite the other balancing lightly on the edge. Various stances were used. When they were both ready they would raise hands to chest level with palms out and try to make the other person fall off by pushing their pals/hand - you can only touch the hands and the opponent can move their hands so you miss them and lose your balance So there was much strategy in offense, defense, counter attacks, etc. When a combatant was knocked off his opponent scored one point at which time they then switched sides and went again. If both fell at the same time the first one to touch the ground lost. This repeats until someone got to 5 at which time the victor stayed in the pitch and a new opponent rotated in. Very few matches were lopsided which made for tense battles. Commentary was provided by Dan Bennett and the rules came into focus as the game evolved. Different folks had different strengths - size, strength, quickness, cunning. Bro Mitchell was even king of the ring for a while.
If you weren't competing you were spectating, swinging a hatchet, sawing wood or driving a 2 foot long 1 inch diameter stake into the ground. The weather was nice, the ym were enjoying hanging out. Not quite high adventure but certainly a good time.
A little after one we proceeded to the white water company again except things have changed a bit...normal water level this time of year in the river is just above a 2. We ran the river Wednesday at 2.4 as I recall. Today, due to the rain, it was running a chocolatey looking 6.5! That also meant that we would be in bigger 8 man rafts this trip. Because they had big water they were running 3 trips today. The bus hadn't come back on time so we were to eat lunch before the ride instead of during this time. It was the same food as last time. They tell us it is time to head out and they start us waking down the street! Told you it was a short walk....
There were some big old waves this time. It was a blast. It was incredible to see rocks that were there two days ago completely under water. Pretty sure she said we went right over the top of school house rock. Thomas was in our boat and at one point the guide had him sit at the front of the boat like a bull rider. Unfortunately we missed the very tip of the wave but it was fun anyway. The trip took over 3 hours on Wednesday, today it took under 90 minutes. No one fell out and as near as I could tell everyone had a great time together and got nice and wet and maybe even a little scared.
After rafting we decide to stop by the water slide - they are not a water slide today - today they are a class 5 kayak run. Just amazing. Cucumber falls didn't seem that different to me.
We get back to camp and some shower and etc. we are still not sure who Freddie the raccoon that has been texting Eric is. It has caused some contention. A late night mafia session in the suite tent didn't resolve it. Lots of finger pointing but no conclusions. Freddie agrees that potential accomplices will FaceTime him/her and that when the true accomplice calls she will answer. David - suspect #1 - calls and is unanswered. After some other no answers Tyler Hamm calls and the line picks up! Turns out to be a friend he met at efy last summer who helped play along. She will be at BYU this year in case some of them want to look her up - look for the girl in the Davie crocket coon skin cap....
During our stay we have "helped" the camp by removing 4 dead trees from the camp. We have a lot of wood and they decide to use it. We have a huge fire. The fire is so hot you can't hardly get close to it. Shadrack, meshack, and abendigo come to mind. Or maybe that last scene in raiders of the lost ark. Anyway it's hot. The stumps are about knee level and bro m wants them close
To the ground so they each take half a stump to saw down and work in teams. A ranger comes over when he sees trees being cut down and confirms that only dead trees are being cut down. Boys respectfully tell him yes and he returns to his truck without having to unholster his weapon.
President Holtom drops in for a visit bearing gifts which are enjoyed and appreciated. Marshmallows are roasted and devotional is lead by zac tonight. It has been the best weather we have had all week!
I'd have preferred a chance to rock climb vs the river again, but with the different water level it was a different experience so it was all good.
As I head to bed a "piñata for a raccoon" is being made. In my tent I heard someone from the other camp say Freddie is in their camp." The excitement running through the camp somehow eerily reminds me of lord of the flies... but that's just me.
Quote of the day "here is my sandwich - cheese with a tomato and then another slice of cheese. It's what I can eat."
"Dad, you can't eat tomato."
Dad - with shocked look on face. "Oh my gosh, you're right! I can't eat tomato." Replaces tomato with lettuce...
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