HIgh Adventure - Whisked Away to White Water at Wisp

Day Two – Whisked away to White water at Wisp

Arose to an overcast gray sky this morning.  We had breakfast of eggs, sausage patties, and pancakes.  The eggs were not egg-actly egg-cellent, but with enough ketchup a few hardy souls enjoyed.  One of the blessings of pancakes on the wild is that no matter how bad they are, with enough syrup they taste sort of sweet and mapley. 

After breakfast most the crew clamored for another trip to the falls.   Brothers Evans and Barrus made the sacrifice to take them down there again.  I did, however, notice a gleam in their eyes and that they had put on their swim trunks.  Bro. Evans assured me that he was just going to maybe do a little wading as the temperature wasn’t that warm.  I told him I’d be willing to make a rather substantial wager against that being the case. 

Those of us who remained behind were lead by Brother Casillas in a very engaging conversation about politics, a recently completed murder trial, and various other weighty subjects.  It was enjoyable campfire talk even though the fire circle we were gathered around contained no actual fire.   The falls group returned and reported that all scouts taken were accounted for.  And, yes, Bro. Evans had managed to do far more than wade.  Coulda been a rich man….

We had sandwiches for lunch with some chips, a piece of fruit and bottomless fruit punch.  Interesting how much the PB&J is consumed over lunch meat.  After lunch is cleaned up, we load up into cars to head to Wisp and the Adventure Sports Center International (ASCI).   Here is the blurb from their web page:  “[T]he world’s only adjustable whitewater sports venue that offers class I - IV whitewater in a “controlled” environment. The 1/3 mile artificial river features authentic whitewater rapids, and is the most natural looking and feeling course of its kind in the world. Large boulders, excavated onsite, frame the course and shape the rapids -- this is not a theme park ride, but we are confident that Walt Disney would have been envious. ASCI's raft “conveyor” conveniently transports you from the finish pond to the start pool, eliminating the traditional shuttle of natural river rafting experiences.”  

Yes! Now that smells like High Adventure!

We arrive early to be sure we have a chance to scope it out and maximize our time on the water.  It turns out that this is a fairly regimented process and they have it down to a science.  We will not be called till 1:30 and then we will be done right around 3:30 or so when they will shut down the pumps and the river will drain into the bottom pond for the night.  We sit on the rocks by the river for a little while and then the boys realize that up at the top there is a bit of the water that is buoyed off where you can get your feet wet.  It is probably less than a foot deep but some of them lay down in it to play and have breath holding contests.  Some disappointed 4 year olds are displaced.  I find a spot under the white canopy at a picnic table and wait our turn.  Up on the big board for the 1:30 time are listed 4 Casillas groups – 3 rafts with 5 people and one with 6.  There are at least 5-10 other raft groups that will be going out with us at 1:30 but most of those are comprised of smaller groups.  Bro. Evans divvies up the raft groups.  At 1:30 we are called to gather around Jay, a 40-ish year old bearded tan gentleman wearing shades, a t-shirt without sleeves, and swim trunks.  Something about him reminds me of a cross between Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and Chuck Norris.  Instead he launches into his spiel using jokes that he has clearly used countless times before laying out how it is going to go down.  We can leave our stuff we wish to have dry after at the drop off area and if we don’t our odds of seeing them again are extremely long should they fall out.  We then walk over the bridge and down to the boat house where we don some very fashionable life jackets and helmets and head out to hear Jay do some more of his spiel including a discourse on the dangers of your oar while in the boat due to its ability to slice skin and remove teeth from your neighbour and a cheap stuff joke about the gentlemen keeping their legs together should they end up overboard and heading towards a rock.  A few uncomfortable chuckles follow.  We are taught how to tighten up our jackets as they will be used if needed to help extricate us from the river should the need arise.  It was then finally time to load up and move out.

I wish I had more pictures to provide and more tales to tell from the various boats, but I’ll be honest with you, I was there to enjoy myself far more than I was concerned about providing this report.  I love white-water rafting.  I was all participant, but I’ll do my best to provide you a flavour of the antics of our boat and some of those provided to me by other boats.  My boat had Bro. Evans and myself, and Jacob, Hunter, and Marcus.  Our guide’s name was Mark - he had just graduated from a satellite campus of Penn St., he was a kayaker, and did this work and winter ski instructor to support his kayak habit.  He may have had other habits requiring money, but those were not mentioned.  The old guys got in on the right side (think passenger side of a car) with John in front and me behind with the YM on the left and the guide in the guide position.  We practiced some strokes and realized that those YM were being overpowered by the old guys – probably something about our knowledge that we are not invincible (contrary to what the YM think or themselves) and that our lives might depend on rowing through some of those rapids.  So we had to follow Marcus’ stroke pattern so they could keep up.  After this brief tutorial where we learned the “forward”, “back”, and “rest” commands as we floated around the end pond we paddled over to head up the conveyer belt to the top of the course.

At the top of the course off to the right hand side is the beginning of what I consider the course.  But to the left are two rapids where the water comes out of the pump.  Our guide steers us over to those to start out.  As we are edging into the rapids headfirst the boat swings around and out goes Hunter heels over head out of the boat.  We chuckle at his expense while we pull him back in. This is going to be fun.  The rest of the trip down is fun as we ride the rapids.  As we get to the last one that drops you down into the pond at the bottom, the guide says something about how you can lose the guide and he uses the catapult action of the drop to shoot himself about 3 feet into the air while doing a back flip out of the boat.  Hey, we want to try that!  Once he got back in we all jumped in while we floated back around to the ramp up to the top again. 

Rather than bore you with a blow by blow of each trip, I’ll share just a few  with you here, including some tales from other boats that we heard only after the fact as we were discussing the day around the campfire later that night.   Our next trip down we wanted to shoot Marcus out of the boat, and lets just say that at best his timing was off... there was no launch.  The third trip down we all were to launch out of the boat when the guide gave the signal.  He gave the signal and I went to jump and pretty much just fell out of the boat.  Bro. Evans who was right in front of me was more successful in jumping which put him out of the boat before me such that as I fell out I was able to provide him with my body to land on.  Bro. Evans and Jacob enjoyed seeing who could catch the other off guard and tip them out of the boat – and I believe both were successful on multiple occasions.  We had some king of the raft battles after we had turned over the raft in the bottom pond area.  I couldn’t even get up onto the raft let alone battle for king.  I think Hunter found the water most often.  You had to be very careful when you were sitting across from Marcus as his first move when any waves would show up would be to move into the middle of the boat – leading with the t grip of his paddle.  Bro Evans and I were both thankful for the helmets as they deflected multiple blows from Marcus’s paddle.  We surfed a number of the waves and even had a double surf with another raft from our group for a while.  We got out and jumped off a boulder into the flow.  We attempted to deflate other rafts from our group.

My favorite memory, and one I hope I will remember for many years to come, was when we swamped our raft.  It was nearing the end of the day and we went over the rapids sideways to try to swamp.  The raft was tipping up but hadn’t gone over yet.  I was at the front right and Bro. Evans on the front left.  The left side was down and we were trying to get the right side to flip over it.  I remember standing up and leaning towards the water and the center of the raft while grabbing the panic strap to pull the boat with me.  I looked down and could see Bro. Evans on his back, looking up at me, the water rushing just below his head as he is about to go under.  About that time Jacob grabbed his panic strap and jumped forward and the raft flipped and we all went tumbling into the white water. I was laughing so hard I almost swallowed a wave and drowned myself!  That was a blast. 

Brother Barrus had one far less enjoyable fall from his boat.  During one of the runs he was thrown backwards off his raft but unfortunately, his foot was wedged tightly between the side of the raft and the floor of the raft.  He was upside down in the water and he couldn’t get his foot out.  He felt his knee pull out and then twist – he thought for sure it was dislocated.  And, he couldn’t get out.  He later told us that he couldn’t be sure how long he was stuck that way, but it was long enough that his life was flashing before his eyes and he did have a moment he wondered if this was how it was going to end for him.  Fortunately for all of us, but particularly for him, it was not the end of his trip here on the big blue planet and he was pulled from the water.

Too soon our 2 hour timer ended and final runs were completed and the boats stowed.  We returned our jackets and helmets and were transformed from river gods back to mere land lubbers once again.  They had photographers along the course and monitors at the end.  We spent some time reviewing the pictures they took and then took one of our own.

We loaded into cars and made our way around the mountain over to Wisp resort.  Wisp is a ski resort during the winter, but during the summer months they have a zip line course, a ropes course and a mountain coaster.  A mountain coaster is similar to an Alpine Slide which I have been on before but a little more advanced.  You sit in a hard yellow plastic moulded sled with a seat, back support and head rest with a seat belt on.  The sled is connected to the tracks and they claim it won’t come off the tracks – even though we watched them load a few new sleds to the track while we were there and there appeared to be no special hardware that had to be clamped on to secure it to the track.  The only controls are two poles that stick up on the sides that are perpendicular to the sled.  If they are pushed all the way forward the brakes are off.  If they are left up the brakes are on.  It was determined almost instantly upon arrival that anyone using their brakes on the way down should have attended camp up here last year rather than this year. 

The ride up was much like riding the chair lift up the mountain except you had a better feel for the steepness of the slope as you were on it rather than above it.  About midway up you were released from the lift and immediately began the descent.  It was a little difficult to keep the brakes off because you had to lean forward and down while at the same time attempting to keep the centrifical forces from slinging you around and doing permanent damage to your kidneys.  There were a few less than silky joints in the track that were not all that pleasant but it was a pretty fast ride down and flying through the couple 360 turns was pretty fun.  Some of the boys enjoyed it, others thought it a little lame.  I can see both viewpoints.  It isn’t worth a special trip, but if I’m there anyway, I might do it again.

There was a little snack grill in the main building and those who had brought their money enjoyed some poweraid and I saw quite a few orders of french fries (and one of “chips” that looked a lot like french fries) consumed by ravenous YM.  It was clearly time to get them back to camp for dinner.  We all loaded up and began the 30 minute trip home caravan style.  Caravan style always reminds me of the song Convoy but we had no CB radios.  We were driving along and the lead vehicle slammed on its breaks for something we couldn’t see – I mean really, who can see anything around a Suburban.  Bro. Casillas was in the second position and was barely able to avoid John’s rear end by swerving to the right – which was unfortunately, also where the cyclist that had started the episode had swerved off to.  I’m pretty sure that provided the drivers with far more of an adrenalin rush than the mountain coaster had managed but as they say, no harm, no foul.  The rest of the trip home was uneventful. 

We arrived at camp and began work on dinner – taco salad.  Well, that was what the menu said.  Instead, it appeared that most of the youth must be lettuce intolerant and so they instead had nachos rather than salad.  Isn’t there some saying about you can lead a young man to lettuce but you can’t make him eat it?  After dinner another game of volleyball took place.  At one point my team was included 3 Nates and 2 Scotts.  “Nate that’s yours” didn’t work so well… 

Once again as nightfall came on us we gathered at camp for devotional.  Bro. Casillas had asked all the boys to gather up a stone and they each had a chance to nail a Goliath forehead (simulated by a tin can lid taped to a tree at the appropriate height) with a wrist rocket for a crisp $20 bill.  While I think Hunter came the closest, no one was able to hit the target.  We then had a discussion about David – about his faith and courage.  We talked about his life and how he eventually made poor decisions that ruined not only his life but his afterlife.  We talked about how faith is needed for miracles.  The spirit was really strong and I think we all enjoyed it.  Not too long after he concluded, my peach cobbler was ready and it must not have been too bad as there were no leftovers. 

It was a great day with a great group of young and not so young men.  It was a day well worth the cost, the hard bed at night, the mosquito bites, the vacation time used. This was a day I’ll hopefully remember for a long time. 

Quote overheard at dinner:  “That’s not Carrie Underwood, that’s Quiet Riot!”

HIgh Adventure 2013 - Swallow Falls

High Adventure - Team and Crew 1106
Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Once more boldly (or at least with far less trepidation than the 12-13 year olds) going where no men have gone before (because, admittedly, this trip was based at least in some part on the outline from girls camp last summer – thanks Cheryl and Donna!) – I have been embedded into 1106’s team and crew as they embark on High Adventure this year.  Because it is summer and teens tend to avoid those pesky early a.m. hours (unless, of course, you consider early a.m. hours those from midnight to say three a.m. in which case I would think you would find a much larger portion interested) the departure time is set for 10:00 a.m. with arrival at 9:30 so that “tetris” can be played with gear.  As we have done the math, we have 4 drivers for 17 young men and all their gear including tents and food which we generally don’t have at scout camp.  However, John Evans, our de facto leader as anyone with higher rank than him is 1) hard to find generally and 2) smart enough to have made other plans, has through his cunning ways acquired a suburban for the trip and masterfully fills it to capacity plus.  No wonder he is in charge.  We pray and then forget the obligatory first photo and load up.  However, we aren’t quite ready to all head out as one family has to make what seems to be a record 3 trips back to their home for various and sundry items including, of course, their paperwork.  So rather than a caravan, we head out at slightly varied times. 

We put the info into the on board navigation and rather than sending us up 15 as I thought, it sends us west on 7.  Everyone else followed the directions John had printed.  We instead enjoy a leisurely stroll through VA, WV, and finally into MD.  We arrive not long after John and decide that our routes are probably pretty close in drive time but not distance. 

We arrive at camp and check in with the rangers.  They ask us for the paper ticket.  We have no paper ticket so we furiously ping Bro. Linton to find out about the ticket.  He has received no such ticket.  It remains to be seen if this will be a continuing headache or not as they let us in at this point even without it.

The youth group area has 3 camp sites.  We are assigned to #3.  There is a scout troop from GA here – they have matching tents, a big trailer to haul their gear.   Very impressive.  Our camp is, well, let’s just say that our free spirits apparently aren’t too comfortable with that level of conformity.  Youth stake out tent sites and tent mates, check out the bathrooms, try to hold the door shut on each other, have slight water fights, and we realize it must be time for a hike.

When John was in talking to the ranger, he inquired about swimming at the falls and was told that if you do, death or dismemberment could happen, but that there were some places you could get in if you wanted.  Most of the boys thought that was clearly enough of an invitation and switch into swim gear.  The hike was supposed to be 1.5 miles.  After a pretty short haul we come to the falls and they are pretty impressive.  They also have many people frolicking in them.  Hmm, the “getting in” situation is not quite what we have been told.  However, we are on the top of the falls and one could get injured from up there, so we tell the boys we will finish the hike loop and then come back.  So we continue up the path and get to very relaxing little falls and then in what can’t be more than 5 or maybe 8 and a half minutes after we left it, we are back at the big falls again.  We headed down the path, passing a family in swim gear with sub-baptismal age youth with them giving us further inkling of the awaiting “death waters” we are approaching.  We all head down and remove shoes and socks and shirts for a little gentle wading in the stream below the falls.  After discussing the buddy system and the safe swim methods with the boys, we let them in the water to enjoy the cool water on their legs.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  The boys have a great time and then we head back to camp for dinner.  On the way I stop at the office/store to pick up some wood since we can’t bring our own.  Jacob and Hunter and one or two others curiously join me.  Curious to me at least until I meet Erika behind the desk.  I had no idea what her name was, but strangely Hunter and Jacob did.  I reckon Erika sells a lot of drinks to thirsty adolescent males.

Dinner is our foil dinner that they (and when I say “they” I mean the 30% of us that showed up on Thursday evening to make ours and the rest of them get what Bro. Evans tossed into tinfoil for them) pre-assembled.  Of course we used pre-cooked hamburger patties and veggies, so this is really more of a warming exercise than a cooking one.  But of course, one does need fire for things like warming.  The prior group left a lot of charcoal briquettes (Bro. Haselden told me once that an American dictionary maker changed a number of words just to be different from the Britts – I’m curious as to why he didn’t change that one…but I digress).  Jacob “fire starter” Hamm is given the task to get the firewood we just purchased to burn such that we can cook.  He is experienced and starts making some kindling and setting up his log cabin.  He does a tremendous job.  All except for actually starting the fire.  There are complaints about it being wet wood but regardless, we still have cold or frozen dinners.  Various other plans are hatched to generate fire – I use my chimney and the “left over” charcoal won’t light.  Conway pulls out his one burner stove and we fire it up and put the wood right on the burner and it lights – somewhat and then goes out as soon as placed on the fire.  I finally get my own charcoal and get that started while Bro. Evans runs to the store to see if they have any scout water.  They don’t, and that is all Erika tells him.  But being used to rejection but not failure he rummages around the store and finds they do have fire starters and he purchases and returns and since we have pretty much dried out the wood now – we get a fire started. 

The boys then dump their dinners directly onto flaming logs in a rush to eat.  There is a constant call for the tongs and they are passed along continuously as foil packets which used to have names on them are turned over and over in a mostly random manor, generally with multiple boys thinking it is their meal, the anticipation, hunger and curiosity overwhelming them resulting in it being pulled out, finding it is still somewhat frozen, re-wrapping not ‘quite’ as well as it was previously wrapped and dropping it back into the flames to be turned over shortly by someone with the power of the tongs.   I’m reminded of that saying about power corrupts and trust me the power of the tongs is ultimate power.  I grab most the leaders meals and place them on the briquettes I started.  That is some good even heat.  I find the hickory seasoning very good and Doug Nichols secret weapon adds some additional very enjoyable flavor and I quite enjoy my dinner.  We have cheater smoores for dessert (using chocolate covered graham cookies).  Very good.  Most folks eat a dinner that is a little burned and a little cold.  Yep, typical foil dinners. 

After dinner we head down to the field for field activities.  There is a sand volleyball pit with a net and the crew gravitates that way.  If you have ever watched beach volley ball on tv, like at the Olympics, it was exactly like that.  Only we weren’t in really small bikinis (thankfully) or speedos, there were about 9 per side rather than 2, and our apparent efficiency experts decided that a set was less efficient than simply pushing the ball immediately back over the net.  Despite what you may hear from some boys, despite playing for quite a while, I saw but one partial block and no real good spikes. But we had a great time, and of course my side won. 

While nearly all the boys were enthralled with the game.  One member of the crew found other interests.  Well not so much other interests since some YM were playing catch and that is what he ended up doing, but with a couple YW for company.  Casanova was making friends and influencing people.  When this was noted by some YM they were very jealous and wondered how he did it.  I told them that among other things he might have going for him, he had at least one thing that they would never have – a really cool accent.  We played Frisbee, shooting sports and volleyball until it was so dark that we had a hard time doing most those things and then headed back to camp. 

At camp folks re lit the fire and we had devotional by Nate B. who talked about the differences between Ammon and Jonah.  Prayer was said and I went to bed.  Looking forward to tomorrow – white water!

Goshen 2013 Adiou

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

We awoke to a foggy morning but with a clear promise of burning off and providing a beautiful day which it turned out to be.   The trek on the dirt (aka mud and tidal basin) road was a little slipper y at points, but I didn’t see any scouts fall nor any scout leaders needing hip replacements so everyone managed. 

Breakfast was pancakes, sausage and eggs.  If those didn’t suit you, we also had raisin bran (which it turned out suited none of the scouts at all, but suited all the leaders!).  For those of you who may be unaware, our scouts do what is called “heater stack.”  There are two options at Goshen – patrol cook and heater stack.  When I was a boy and walking uphill both ways to camp we always cooked our own food.  I was hoping my kids would do the same.  However, the food delivery is sometimes spotty and when the food arrives a little late it becomes very difficult for cooking, eating and clean up to take place prior to them having to head off to merit badge classes on time.  And since merit badges are the focus at scout camp, we focus on the cooking requirements at other camps during the year.  So the food is delivered fully cooked.  The scouts have to go down to the commissary and pick up what is typically a food box and a garbage bag full of items that accompany the heated food in the food box.  There are carts which have evolved over the year to the current gorilla carts we are using.  We then pray and the food is served by a patrol to everyone hopefully before it gets too cold.  Another patrol generally then has clean up which involves dumping any leftovers in the trash and washing any utensils and the plates and stuff the scouts used.  The food box then has to be returned to the commissary.  The food is of varying degrees of edibility but most times it is cafeteria quality food. 

I’m sorry to have to report this, but I did wander from one end of the camp looking for someone who was doing some activity, but the first classes of each merit badge generally involve sitting, listening, and answering questions about safety and first aid for the various merit badges.  As such, there was not as much as a spit wad fired, let alone a 22 bullet, arrow, or shotgun shell at the range.  And down at the water front there were no kayaks, canoes, or sail boats on the water.  There was not even much swimming in swim class this morning.  So, I have no action shots to share.  But I assure you, they will all be doing those things the rest of the week – unfortunately, I will not be there to report and show you them in action.

In a stroke of luck, just before lunch, the swimmers were swimming, the lifesavers were throwing life savers, and the sailors were sailing (well, it might be overstating it to call it sailing but at least the boats were in the water!).  Yes!!

Lunch at Marriott is two hours.  Since lunch never has to be cooked the theory is that scouts can take a siesta.  Wonderful theory which is ignored in practice.  Generally it involves some sort of horseplay or tomfoolery, asking the scoutmaster if you can go to the store (it’s closed till 1:30), asking what time it is (time for you to get a watch), or the ever present “building quorum unity.”  I myself would prefer if we all just took a hour nap. Then again, they might stay up later, so I guess you pick your poison.     Photo below shows some scouts doing "camp improvements" which invlove sweeping leaves using a pine bough to create a path.  I bet you don't see that sort of activity at home - note to Moms: consider sacrafice of tree branch to increase productivity.

After lunch I took four boys to COPE and climbing.  They got to climb.  I also heard that kayaks went out on the lake and shots were fired at the range.  Ahh, camp! 

And then, it was time for me to once again bid a fond farewell to beautiful Camp Marriott.  Tomorrow I’m back under flouscent lights looking at a computer monitor rather than under sunshine looking across the lake.   Of course, I haven’t been bitten by a mosquito or had to kill any spider at work recently, so there are some advantages.

Speaking of spiders.  There are spiders at Goshen.  In fact, there are quite a few spiders.  If fact, there are even some pretty darn big spiders and some poisonous spiders.  However, there are not near as many as your scouts may attempt to have you believe.  However, spiders do love a nice dry tent.  Which lead to some semi-acute cases of arachnophobia.  But, for the record, we had only seen (and killed) one black widow and I didn’t hear of any verified reports of any brown recluses.

Tonight the dinner is foil dinners.  I’m a little concerned.  You see, last night some intrepid scouts attempted to start a fire using a box of matches.  And when I say a box of matches, I do mean they used a whole box of matches.  Given that the wood was damp we will give them some latitude, but I’m not even sure they had any matches left over after last night.  However, I feel confident that they managed.  I only hope some remembered the secret ingredient!

Lest you fret due to you being a fretter in general or maybe the tone of my posts, let me assure you that your kids a having a good time at camp.  There have been numerous trips to the scout store for “required materials” (which seem to include chips and soda), fire play, sticks sharpened, lake swimming, food snarfing, creature capturing, and the various and sundry other things that boys love to do at camp.  They are in very capable hands of leaders who are concerned about them and like you when they are home, do their best to shepard them along.  Your prayers for good weather, brotherly kindness, and the patience of Job are all appreciated.   I'm thankful for those willing to take the time to be there so they youth can have this experience.  This is most likely my son’s last year at camp.  It has been fun to spend time there with him.  The good news for me is that my next son will start his scout camp experience next summer!

See some of you then!

Goshen 2013

Monday, June 24, 2013

Against what is almost certainly my better judgment and the strict advice of my Doctor, I am once again embedded like a lymes disease carrying tick into troop 1106 as they venture off to scout camp down in the land of Goshen at beautiful camp Marriott (where we don’t run, because, well, there is no running in beautiful camp Marriott).  As we gathered at 5:30ish i noted that the sky was fairly light and the scouts were not nearly as subdued as I would have hoped given that we have a 3+ hour drive ahead of us and a sleeping scout is nearly always better company than a boisterous one.   The novice yet knowledgeable Bro. White leads us as Scoutmaster this year.  His faithful side kick is Bro Haseldon who has experience in spades.  In fact, I believe that I heard him make reference to Moses when referring to himself.  I don’t know, he doesn’t have enough gray wavey hair for me to see him as Charlton Heston, but that’s just me.    Bro Wilhelm is once again there to join us with the 4 boys from his troop.  In all we have 24 scouts, meaning the leadership is seriously out numbered.  The mix is also interesting.  We probably have more teachers than I recall in prior years.  We have a lot of 2^nd years and then a couple rookies/green horns/greenies.  Obligatory picture while they are still relatively clean is taken, prayer is said and off we go. 

Somewhat unfortunately, the drive is relatively uneventful as we cross the Wayne Janzen drive (aka the Knob) and arrive before the rest of the cars in our group once again.  We are assigned camp#1 and the group excitedly chants “We’re #1” which echoes off the surrounding hills until we look at the map.  Camp #1 is a long way from….anything.  I’m not sure we can be in Marriott and be any further out.  Excellent.  That means they will be tired when nighttime comes if just from walking back and forth to the campground!

Scouts walk while their gear is driven to the camp site.  What follows is difficult to describe.  Chinese fire drill?  Protons in an atom?   Scouts have only tentatively been assigned tent mates so they hustle around pairing up, claiming tents, staking out patrol locations, and attempting to get the best cots into the best tents.  As it starts to subside, the asst. scoutmaster asks them to get into general groups by patrols.  This causes some anxiety and resistance.  This might be a record - I see my first tear well up in an eye at 10:27 a.m. on a Monday.  Not sure they spilled out, but the morning is a little stressful for some.

After what must be 10 or 12 hours in scoutmaster time, they finally get that done and we get orientation from our site leads – both young women.  Lest the mother’s (and priesthood leaders) fret, while very nice, one needs them to stock deodorant in the camp store and the other… well, I’m not sure if it shows or not, but indeed, the hair on her legs are a item of comment among at least the older scouts.

Unlike other years when they have asked us to get set up and return as quickly as possible, we are instructed that we have a time for med checks – 12:05.  I’m not saying camp doesn’t run on a schedule, but the impression that a 5 minute scheduling is realistic seems highly suspect to me.    It was a long ways off, but as I mentioned, I think this group took longer to get into tents than any prior group.  Amazingly, we all pass med exam and head down to the waterfront for swim check.  Just as we get there they indicated that the water front is closed so that they can do staff introductions.  Most of our crew have just taken off their shirts and shoes and socks and are less than enthusiastic about putting them back on to stand in the sun and listen to the names of the individuals with whom they will participate in a sort of mutual annoyance over the next week.  As such they  stay bare chested under the lake awning during the intros and are strategically placed where they can cut in line when the event is over and are subsequently able to get done relatively quickly after – well almost everyone, a few somehow get separated because the dock was a capacity and they trail a bit.

We dine on tube steak for lunch and then it is time to get them to classes.  Of course, very few of them know where they are to be and Scoutmaster has that information but of course they schedule a scoutmaster meeting for that inconvenient time.  But everyone eventually gets to where they belong.  I have taken a few scouts to the COPE and climbing area.  I have never been here before.  The climbing is done on a tower which is impressive. But seriously, after watching them climb up a rock face at Roc Enon, I’m underwhelmed.   It is in a nice grove of pine trees which gives a nice setting  Then again, there was no climbing yet since they have to learn about first aid, safety, and tying knots before they can climb.  The cope folks were chasing each other with water noodles. 

Back at camp there was tragedy.  The soda machine was out of service!  When I was there it was determined that part of the issue might be that the door was open…  That taken care of we will see if it is back operating tomorrow – there were also rumors that it was passing out two soda’s for the price of one.  Not what the quartermaster expected.  Since one cannot get a soda outside you have to go into the shop to get stuff.  And let me tell ya, this ain’t Wal-Mart.  They only let in a few folks at a time and once you are in there you are there for a while.  It takes forever for someone to check out.  Not sure why, but it does.  Two of our scouters went in and came out qualified for social security!  Ok, not that bad, but about 30 minutes to buy a soda.  Ah, the joys of camp. 

Dinner consisted of chicken that looked like it had been bleached, the flavor sucked out, smooshed, crushed, or processed, then frozen, then thawed, sprinkled with a little season salt and sent out to the camp with love.  However, not a single piece of chicken was left on the table (not sure how much ended up in the trash bag).

At 7:00 p.m. we gathered for FHE at the water front.  Just as we are getting down there a storm is coming in.  We can see the rain pouring down just off the other side of the lake.  The wonderful brother in charge knows that FHE is not to be skipped and so he is determined to continue.  The lightning strikes off in the distance are impressive and turns out – quite distracting to the scouts.  With the wind in the trees so loud that hearing the speaker is difficult, our own Grant Bankus takes part in the program.  He did a good job maintaining his composure in the face of both mother nature and distracted scouts!  We finally had a crack of lightning and burst of thunder which seemed closer and a scoutmaster jumped up and sent his troop off, at that point we lost about half the scouts from the camp.  Our boys remained calm in the face of the chaos (I’m sure they also realized that FHE simply cannot be skipped – especially the lesson part!).  The program finally ended and we made our way back to camp.  As we arrived the skies opened and down came the rain!  I rained pretty steady for about 45 minutes or so.  The scouts started in their tents while the leaders were under the group dining tarps having a lovely conversation.  After about 15 minutes the scouts got bored and came to join us, thus ending the peaceful rain and conversation and increasing exponentially the entertainment factor as the joys of having a new poncho were discovered.  And don’t believe what you read on the packaging – they certainly can be used as a toy!

As dusk faded to dark, we were treated to an amazing display of fireflies flickering on and off if the woods around our camp.  It was simply stunning.  I tried to capture it, but it really is something you had to be there to appreciate.  Not unlike scout camp.  I do my best, but it is really hard to capture all the sights, sounds, smells, and experiences of camp.  I hope this at least gives you a flavor of what we experience here.

It was a good day.  I think everyone got into the limited enrollment courses that wanted to.  No one was injured in the storm but it made FHE much more entertaining.  Tomorrow is another day.  Pray for good weather!  Too many merit badges can’t go if we get lightning. 

Camp Marriott 2012

Our tale begins at the usual rendezvous point at oh-six-hundred (which sure seems to have more sunlight than I remember) with all of the scouts in their class A uniforms.  Ok, I think they all had them on, some had them buttoned and some even had them tucked in.  Our Troop this year consists of a number of rookies as well as some seasoned vets.  Our leader is Bro Haseldon - a man who reminds us that the United States and Great Brittan are two countries from a common heritage that are separated by a single language.  Brother Baker is his #1.  Brother Baker is back joining us at camp after a hiatus of sorts but brings a lot of Goshen experience back with him.  Bro Wilhelm is again back from last year and wraps up the crew with his group of 4 scouts who are embedded into our Troop for the duration of camp.

Our trip begins as always with group supplication to the Almighty for a safe journey and individual supplication from the leaders that we manage to bring back as many scouts as we take, from mothers that their boys actually change during the week into some of the clothes they packed (especially underwear), and from the scouts that they get into the “cool” car (which definition varies depending on the age, friends, and Rubik’s cube knowledge of the asker) for the trip.  I think most of the scout’s prayers are answered.  Final resolution of the leaders and parents remain unknown at this juncture.

Transportation is provided by the aforementioned leaders, myself, and Bishop Holtom who is humbly driving a mini-van this year rather than his nicer set of wheels.  Close to the appointed time the wagons head out.  As I’m preparing to put us into line I note in my rear view mirror that of the 7 scouts in my car (my son Nathan in co-pilot position, Miles, Scott and Alex in the middle row, and Michael, Will and Blake in the rear), I see a number who have not buckled up.  I inform them that the vehicle will remain in a locked and standing position until such time as they are all buckled up.  Due to this delay, we end up as the last of the 5 vehicles. 

Bro Baker had ditched us before we can get out of the parking lot.  At the top of the hill turning south onto Belmont Ridge the rest of the train leaves us behind by darting through what I refer to as a “deep shade of pink” turn signal.  Little did we know that was the very last of them we would see on the trip.  Someone in our vehicle clearly isn’t living right as we have mostly poor luck with all traffic signals.  We are also very fortunate to have a police escort for a long stretch of 81 to help us progress along at proper speeds.  Prior to leaving the drivers had a brief conversation about routes.  The Bishop was considering using 7 all the way out to 81.  I did that coming home one year and indicated that I didn’t care for that route.   Bro. Baker determined that he would take 81 all the way down and then come across to Goshen rather than going in the back way in an attempt to reduce the windy roads and reduce the odds of cookie tossing in his brand spankin new truck with it’s nice leather interior.  As for me and my ride, I planned to use the back way including the Wayne Janzen Memorial Highway (don’t worry, he isn’t dead, he just doesn’t join us at camp any more so we can technically have a memorial highway) also known on less informed mapping services as “The Hob.”  For those of you unfamiliar with this route, suffice it to say that it was a “miracle”route discovered by Wayne using a GPS prior to actually inspecting the route and it is actually a one lane gravel road that goes up and over the hill between the main road and the scout camp.  I continue to give him a hard time about it, but I still use the route to this day. 

We hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the other vehicles as we turned onto the Hob.  Unfortunately, the hob was “under construction” – a road grader was, well, I’m not sure what it was doing, but it was messing up the Hob. There were piles of dirt and rock on the road including some very large rocks in places that it wasn’t possible to avoid even with my mad driving skillz.  As far as I know we managed to make it without puncturing my oil pan. 

We pulled into Beautiful Camp Marriott at about the 3 hour mark of the journey – par for the course.  We were the first ones from our group to arrive.  The Hob wins again!  We had barely gotten out of the vehicle and most of the boys “hustled” off to the latrine when the other’s showed up. 

Last year there were a record number of boys there.  This year there are a lot of boys here, but it doesn’t seem as crowded yet.  We will see when the official numbers are announced but that is my impression.  We check in and are assigned an 8 year old as our site guide.  Ok, he probably wasn’t actually 8, but he did look closer to 8 than 16.

We are assigned to camp 6. The scouts walk and we haul the gear by car to camp.  We leave the camp, drive out of camp and along the main road, keep driving, drive past the first turn in, keep driving, and then drive a little more and then finally there is the turn in for our camp.  Last year, we were assigned a camp that if you are looking at the Lake, was to the far right.  This year we are assigned to a camp, which if you have your back to the lake, is to the far right.  However, having walked both routes, I think this camp might actually be closer despite the driving distance.  However, that may also be because I hadn’t walked it many times yet. 

This year there were plenty of tents for everyone.  It appeared that they hadn’t been used for a while as most of them had leaves on the floor.  One tent even had a field mouse occupant who was unhappy to be rousted from its warm dry location, but realized it was most likely easier to find a new home than to attempt to live with two loud, rowdy, and sometimes smelly scouts.  With gear unloaded and tent mates having chosen their living quarters for the week, everyone changed to head down for med check and swim check.  We either had bad timing or the camp is crowded this week.  The line for med check was quite long.  We managed, by occupying 4 check in tables to move this along quickly.  The adults received our coveted yellow arm bands and we all headed down to the water.   The queuing theory being used was something from either military/government use or a form of medieval torture.  They had us stip down to nothing but our skivvies (ok, we were all wearing our swim suits, but skivvies sounded more torturous), paraded us out onto the dock and then despite having all the lifeguards in position, had us remain there on the tottering dock in the sweltering sun without water or food for what by my reckoning was 2 or 3 hours (but by my watch was actually closer to 15-20 minutes) while administering no swim tests.  No one had thought we would be out there for over 30 minutes so there was little or no sunscreen which had been applied.  It one point they did a check and there were over 103 people standing in line.  Finally, after no discernible change in circumstances, they apologized for the delay and began…  There were 3 of our scouts who didn’t attempt and one who did but didn’t quite make it.  I think all the rest qualified as swimmers including our leaders.  The water was nice and refreshing.  Marriott has a nice waterfront area. 

Right after that we were told to get in line in front of the flags for “staff introduction.”  Some of the scouts from the troop, um, opted out of this event.  Those that remained were treated to the kind of fun one can only have at scout camp as the staff would call out the names of the people in charge of the various areas and their assistants and they would run out in front of the group doing some unique step or action or something.  Moses is still here (much longer and we may change her name from Moses to Methusala).  Enrique is back at water front.  Given our prior time spent standing in the sun, we decided that at least during that experience we had cool water to look forward to at the end making this sun baking exercise less rewarding.  After the introductions ended, we were allowed to walk up the commissary and pick up our zip lock bag lunch including a roast beast sandwich, fruit, chips, carrot sticks and juice.  Given the number of half or less consumed sandwiches I noted laying around camp, I would say the boys were less than enthusiastic about the new Marriott food service. 

One thing that camp does get right is siesta.  Lunch is two full hours giving everyone a chance for a nap.  However, the scouts never want to take naps, which can be somewhat disheartening to the leaders.  However, on Monday that is also when the site guides want to come and teach you about what to do if there are camp wide events such as fire or missing swimmers.  The scouts listen intently about what to do if they hear a air horn blast or a bell ringing.  Ok, they didn’t really, but trust me, if something were to happen, we feel comfortable that there will be enough going on that even most 12-14 year old boys will realize something is a foot.

At two o’clock merit badge classes begin.  I make my usual round to see if all the kids get into the classes they want.  It appears not to be an issue.  I wonder if they have scheduled more classes or if there are less folks here.  Looking at the lifesaving class I have to think there are less scouts around this year.  I took a number of pictures of the scouts in class, and they look pretty bored.  Trust me, scout camp isn’t like that at all.  Ok, well, maybe it is sometimes in some of the classes, but the first day is typically the worst.  They have to be taught how not to shoot themselves, cut off any digits, drown, etc. before they can shoot, carve, boat, etc.  I circle around the Handicrap building numerous times and think I must see at least half our troop in there at one time or another.  Including watching the excoriating of some troop members who wander in and ask the woman in charge “what is the easiest merit badge we can get here?” to which she replies that a person in her position might (who are we kidding here, it is obviously true in her mind) take offense at that question.  I hate to admit it, but I enjoy the entire scene.  While I think the woman is delusional if she thinks that most scouts in there are not there for a quick, painless and maybe sometimes fun merit badge, I also think it a good lesson for the young men to learn about both tact and tactics.  And after all, isn’t learning what scout camp is about?

Once classes end the scouts slowly drift back into camp.  I would be surprised if there are more than 10% of the scouts in the troop that haven’t made purchases from the trading post (including one scout wandering into camp just before dinner eating an ice cream cookie sandwich almost as big as his head).  Five o’clock is dinner time.  We send down a patrol to retrieve the grub.  This is going to be the first full test of the new food service for us.  We have some concern about the “slight” nature of the crew we sent down to haul back food for 24 folks.  However, we note that they have new carts to haul the food this year!  I apologize for not photographing them.  They are black and have more of a wheelbarrow shape to the top and resemble a monster truck on the bottom with oversized black wheels.  From our viewpoint from out camp chairs outside the Scoutmaster’s tent we watch a few troops going past with them.  While initially having some hope that they were going to last for years to come, I see more than one group plowing them straight into sizable rocks and hear the cart shudder, and revise my useful life depreciable life estimate back down to hopefully a single full season. 

Dinner arrived and while the menu indicated “ham stake” we instead had baked chicken.  It was - wait for it - delicious!  It may have been the best food I have ever had at camp – it was certainly the best meat.  The mac and cheese and mixed vegies are standard camp quality food.  Unfortunately there is a severe snack pack pudding shortage and a few of us unfortunate souls don’t get desert.

There are a few items to be washed after dinner and we had water heating for the occasion during dinner.  I help Miles and his crew prep the cleaning and rinsing area and pour in the water.   It was hot enough that their fingers didn’t appreciate the heat and so they had to run up and fetch more water.  Blake attempted to use the dish soap as a flame thrower.  If you ever need something burned with a flame thrower, I recommend you don’t ask Blake unless you have a very large object that won’t be easy to miss.  The three man crew washed the dishes and then asked where to dump the water.  As they were walking to dump the one carrying the washing pan said “I think there is something still in there.”  So they carefully walked them back over to the table and double checked and I believe pulled out a spork.  They then proceeded to walk back over and dump out the water and the two utensils that were still in there onto the dirt.  Of course at this point there was no more water to wash and rinse them with. I’m not sure what became of the utensils, I’m just glad happily assured they were not mine. 

It was then time to head down to the opening night fireside, aka FHE.  Unfortunately, my stay this year at Goshen is my shortest yet and won’t even include a night (which is shaping up to be a very comfortable temperature).  Sadly, further tales from the Scout side will have to await their telling from the mouths of your own scouts.

Till next year…   

Friday, July1, 2011
so close and yet so far from done…

As we are winding down the week there is still considerable work that must be done for the boys to finish up their badges. Having reached Friday I find that generally all in camp have a diminished fuse length leading to an increased level of snippiness. They indicated that they were cancelling the Friday carnival to allow boys more time to finish merit badges. That means that the whole camp could be full of boys with “nothing to do” all afternoon. That could be an unpleasant combination. Acting SM returns from his meeting indicating that many of the scouts are going to have classes Friday afternoon to finish off requirements. Crisis averted.

Alfred “Captain Ahab” Wilhelm went fishing and caught a 6lb catfish. He is very excited. That night before dinner he filets it and fries it up and lets everyone who wants to sample his catch. It is very tasty and many of the scouts enjoy not only a taste but seconds on tastes and the catfish, similar to a chicken bone in a pool of piranhas, is quickly consumed leaving nothing but bones and scales. It was apparently a good day to fish as Carter went also went fishing and caught 2 fish. He also told us “but my Dad didn’t catch any.”

The drivers determined that while they are in their own tents or scattered among the hundreds of acres that are Marriott Scout Camp, the boys are free to smell as they wish. However, hauling said extremely stinky scouts home for 3+ hours is not something we desire and have “strongly encouraged” the scouts to shower today (or find an alternative means of transportation). Since all scouts must be accompanied by an adult to the shower building, David, using the full power of the yellow wrist band, is designated accompanier. He makes 3 trips that day - the return trip being far more olfactory pleasing each time – and earning him the extra cookies from dinner.
We attempted to take a group picture in front of the Camp Marriott sign before dinner. As you can see, we were about 2/3rds of the way there. Right after dinner, the SM headed down to collect the blue cards. We were to meet him at flag retreat. Assistant SM Wilhelm did yeoman’s work cajoling the troops into packing up their tents. Before we left camp, I was able to get this group picture of the Troop and I think we had everyone there! And they were extremely happy to help me by removing their ninja hoods, their bandanas, and tucking in their shirts I can assure you.

We met SM at the flags and he indicated to me that we were missing about 20 cards meaning that he would have an interesting evening attempting to track down whatever was going on with them. When we lined up for flag we lined up towards the right side, towards the campfire location. Rookie mistake. When we headed to the campfire, they started on the left side and led us on a long walk nearly silent walk prior to getting to the campfire meaning we were one of the last troops to enter. To our pleasant surprise, they had added more benches since Monday and everyone was able to sit down. Campfire was a few songs, a few skits (the one making fun of the staff – or more specifically the various areas in camp – aquatics, range, handicraft, and ecology – was pretty good I thought) and with a closing prayer we were back to camp.

Bro. Neuffer was back down again and he provided devotional and then took his grandsons and left. That fortunately allowed us to avoid having to have 3 scouts across any van back seat! That made car assignments much easier as we divided them up as best we could geographically so they could be dropped off at home rather than having to be picked up. We loaded up all the gear except their sleeping bags and pillows so that we could make a fast get away. We also told the scouts checking us out that we would be ready at 5:30am.

SM returned to camp a little after 11 with general success in resolving our prior issues and it appears to have been a pretty successful camp in terms of progress of the scouts. One last time to hit the cots…

David “yellow wristband of power” Mangum told to me that tonight feels a little like Christmas eve he is so excited. I think we are all looking forward to being home.

Heard around camp: Camper one with eye’s wide with excitement “…and after he cut it open, we saw the poop sack and we got to touch it!”

Thursday, June 30, 2011
Same song, next verse….

It was a chilly night last night as my toes will confirm. There were a number of folks who awoke with comments about having a bit of a chill. Scoutmaster has prohibited fire in our camp due to its distracting influence on the youth getting things done they need to get done rather than “tending” to the fire (and by tending I mean finding anything that seems like a fuel source and throwing it into the fire – typically these are smoke producing items). I ask Tall Cedars Troop if I can enter their camp and I enjoy some warm conversation with our old ward mates…not to mention the warmth of their fire. I return to camp when the food arrives.

I think that many of you will hear tales of how the food was not as good as Mom’s (certainly true) and that it was terrible (generally not true), but I can confirm a few things – everyone ate almost every meal, and we had to develop a plan for seconds due to the fact that some folks (generally leaders) were not getting a chance to eat before the ravening masses consumed all the food. So, while they may have negative comments, their actions indicate either a willingness to eat whatever was placed before them, or that they may have, at least at some level, enjoyed the food!

The march to merit badges is continuing. Most of the boys are on track to get most of what they have signed up for but the push for the finish is still necessary.
A strange phenomenon has taken place as I watched as a number of the scouts were involved in a unicorn game which play time lasted well over an hour this afternoon. I am attaching a picture of 3 of the troop members in their “unicorn form.” Jacob Holtom actually made this his photography photo essay (yes, he was passed off on that requirement although I’ll withhold the comment made by his merit badge counselor). I guess it is good that they have such vivid imaginations, but I would be dishonest if I didn’t say it gave me at least a moment’s pause…

Justin and David engaged in a stick flick competition and fortunately no one had an eye put out so it turned out to just be fun and games (the origin of said game is a DEEPLY hidden secret so I’ll have to leave that to your imagination).

Dinner was….wait for it…. late. Of course. Which isn’t a big deal except that we had 4 members of the troop attempting the mile swim at 6:45. The food showed up at ~6:15. It was fajitas and quite tasty if I don’t say so myself. The 4 milers then took off for the water front 15minutes later – most still chewing. Fortunately, I can tell you that all four completed the swim – both of Brother Neuffer’s guests and the two Hamms. It was then time for flag ceremony. I typically enjoy flag, but one of the LDS folks decided to take “a moment” and, well, I guess his time is reckoned in Kolob, but nonetheless we headed back to camp.

Tall Cedars joined us for a “ceremony” for the milers (they had a Schmootz who had completed the mile) which I can only mention involved an oath and a container of Oreos. After our guests returned to their camp, David Mangum then presented the devotional which was led by Miles and Nate H. (communication merit badge requirement…check ).

We had our typical scoutmaster counseling sessions and unfortunately one scout was sick enough that his father came to pick him up (don't worry, he is fine). That required that his SM stay up to make the connection and his assistants stayed up to keep him company. It was an enjoyable conversation, but there will be some tired leaders tomorrow. Till then….