the crew at girls camp

When I put “go camping” on my list of possibles to do for my 50th year, I didn’t envision the kind of camping it turned out to be. A few months ago I was asked to help with Girls Camp for the young women in our church ages 12 to 18. The timing wasn’t great but I felt like I should help so I said yes. I had lots of fun working with Cherri as co-directors of camp. We have different strengths but similar views on how things should be handled. She took care of all the food planing and I got to do the kinds of things I like to do. Well this week the rubber meet the road when we headed off to camp bright and way too early Monday morning.

two bucks who walked through camp

We were lucky to have a spot at the wonderful Heber Valley Camp. It is a lovely place with lots of evergreens and quakes. The cabins are nice but simple with electricity. There are flush toilets and hot showers. The cooking arrangements are great too with a fridge and two-three burner propane stoves. The only downside was the fire ban due to the dry conditions.

On our three mile hike

It was a fun week with lots of hard work by both leaders and girls. Not everything went according to plan but most things were successful. The girls got to take part in a challenge course with a pole climb, a walk across a wire and then a zip line. They got to ride in canoes while the leaders tried to navigate the lake in paddle-boats. We had a hike everyday including a sunset and a sunrise hike (I think the girls might hate me for the sunrise hike), plus a three-mile hike to fulfill the requirements for the first year campers.

Pat and Pam in the paddle boats

We made survival bracelets out of paracord and had bedtime stories every night. The food was great and we had more than enough of everything. One of the high lights was when the older girls when on a short overnight backpack trip. We had a small group left in camp with just the first year girls. For a special treat Cherri took clay pots lined with foil and put in a couple of briquettes. Then the girls roasted marshmallows, Starbursts and other things over the hot briquettes. It was lots of fun to experiment with adding things like strawberries to s’mores.

Legacy Lake

Camp was a ton of work and I wish I had been more organized when we left. But overall I think it was a successful week with lots of opportunity for the girls to learn new things and grow in their appreciation of God’s creations.

Monk’s Hood