Obstacle Course Progress!

It finally dried up enough that the pea gravel was able to be delivered for the Obstacle Course.  After another week or so of waiting out the subsequent rain, I spent another week trying to line up someone to move it from being "Gravel Mountain" to its intended purpose of lining the course. 

Phone calls had not produced a taker so I was prepared to go and rent a bobcat and do this myself when Wells Johnson gave me a call. "You still need someone to help with the gravel?" he asked. I told him, yes sir, I do. He responded that he and Gordan Rainey were willing to come up on Wednesday morning and help.

They arrived around 9:00 on Wednesday morning--both with tractors with buckets--and were ready to go. I spent several hours the day before, raking out the leaves and clearing sticks and rocks from the course.  Needless to say I was a little sore but when you are working with volunteers I have learned you have to be able to move when they can come!

This part of the project would prove to be a little bigger than I thought. They brought the gravel in with the heavy equipment and I spread it with a rake. I managed to keep up for about, oh ... 30 minutes. 

Before it was all said and done they spent most of the day up here and finished at about 3:00. They did an excellent job and have been so helpful to me up here at the camp.

I must say that with the gravel down, the Obstacle Course is really looking good. The only think left now is to tighten up a couple of braces and hang the ropes. I believe this thing can be finished and ready to go before May gets here!

Survival in the Wilderness

The weather could not have been any more perfect for a weekend of survival training. Boy Scout Troop 633, led by David Smith, made their first visit up to the camp to do just that -- survival training in the wilderness. 

The boys were split into three groups of four, each with an Eagle Scout 'counselor'. The groups were each put in three separate spots in the camp and, with minimal supplies, had to use their training to set up camp.  The first night's objective was to set up shelter and make a fire.

The group at the bottom of the hill made short work of putting up a shelter and thought that the long grass up in the meadow might make a good thatched roof.

The second group down near the Hidden Path trail fared well, though they were down in the swampy low-grounds. Their evergreen thatching was smart looking!

The last group went down off the hillside past the obstacle course. They used an uprooted tree to help provide shelter (and it made a great windbreak, too).  They were a little tougher to get to, so there aren't any closeups of that group!

Let's make one thing clear ... this was NOT training for the adult leaders of the group!  They made their base camp around the pavilion camp fire ring and had a mighty fine little setup . . .

They had mighty fine food, too . . . the smell of which I'm sure was quite tantalizing to those in training.  The first night, while the groups got their shelter and fire situations figured out, the leaders sat around a great fire and swapped stories.  Darin Lightfoot (who had been up here before with his youth, from Morningside Baptist) happened to be up there for the first night, so he pulled out his guitar and strummed for a bit.  It made for a most pleasant way to spend a Friday evening!

On Saturday morning the small groups had to pass some training in order to 'find' some eggs to cook and eat.  At lunch time, provided they'd passed off on their fishing skills, they got some trout to prep and eat.  

I came up on a group of guys on the dock and they showed me their lunch . . .

Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, right?!

The group at the bottom of the hill decided at some point that their thatched room wasn't quite going to cut it, so they switched it out.

The smart thing about their setup was that it was so close to water ...

Which definitely made the water-fetching a LOT easier.

The afternoon was fairly quiet.  I'm not sure what skills they were working on, but I do know that all the guys earned their supper ... a skinned rabbit and a couple of cans of vegetables!

Rabbit stew was what each of the groups decided to cook and serve.  All of them told me their dinner was quite tasty!

Saturday night was a little warmer than Friday night -- a fact I'm sure the boys all appreciated.  Troop leader David did relay a great story about their group camp fire time from that night.  Evidently at some point in the evening they had a little UFO encounter.  As they sat in the dark, they watched about 15 glowing globes of light flying up over the hill.  At first, because the globes of light were in a loose formation, the guys thought perhaps it was helicopters, but there was absolutely no noise.  Then, as they watched them climb higher and higher, they globes simply disappeared!

David said the guys were all a little stunned and very curious about the lights ... until one of the other adults remembered seeing something on YouTube about Japanese Floating Lanterns . . .

And they decided that was what they'd seen.  The guys had heard voices and music in the distance and had figured there was some type of party going on.

It just so happens that friends of ours own some of the property that backs up to the camp -- and they had hosted a wedding and reception that night ... where Japanese lanterns were let aloft.  UFOs, indeed!

The guys of Troop 633 made terrific guests and we hope this was just the first of many visits for them.

Whitesburg Challengers

The weather was great for the Whitesburg Challengers. It was a small but dedicated group that came up for a night of camping, devotions and a few outside activities. 

Tim Lawrence and Ray Silar have been involved with the Challengers for 15 plus years and have been coming up here to the Camp long before we got here. 

They always seem to have the most respectful and behaved boys. I always try to spend a little time with them when they come and and this time was no exception.

It is very encouraging to see a ministry like this still going on and the dedication of the men involved.

A Little Family R&R

It was Spring Break week and Jeff Whitehead had called and said he and the family wanted to get in a little R&R before Easter weekend. If you have ever been in the ministry--especially as church ministerial staff--you know you work on this weekend; Sunday is not a day off.  Unfortunately Spring didn't cooperate, as the weather switched to rainy and cold for the first part of the week, so Jeff called and said they would wait until the end of the week. 

I have gotten to know Jeff a bit over the last few years and he is one busy man. He is the children's minister at Hillwood Baptist Church and wears many other hats as well including a stint there of preaching every week when the pastor was having medical problem. Well around noon on Thursday, Jeff and the family came rolling in. They unloaded everything at the pavilion and started a fire, mostly for recreational purposes as the day was quite nice. There is just something about a fire going . I went over and spoke with him, met his wife and answered a few questions he had. He has three boys and wanted to know the location of the trees that were down across the trails. I told him not to worry about those things and just to relax but he said they liked doing that kind of work. I told him he could just pick a trail as we have trees blocking all three of them. The boys were on the playground while Jeff and his wife were sitting around the campfire as we left them.

A couple of hours later I saw his truck pull out of the pavilion and the next thing I know the sound of a chain saw was echoing through the woods. Denise and I headed out later that evening to Rosie's to celebrate my retirement but stopped to say a word on our way out. He said they were only staying until about 7:00 p.m. and then going home. He said one of the boys had an appointment in the morning and that it would mean leaving the camp at 5:00 a.m. if they stayed overnight. I said it was such a shame that they couldn't stay longer and he agreed.

The next day as I was walking the trails I saw where they had done such a fine job clearing two of the three trails. A big thank you goes out to Jeff Whitehead and crew!

D-Now to the Rescue!

On Friday morning I got a phone call from Rob Collins, the youth guy at Locust Grove. He told me the church had a big D-Now event going for the weekend and had run into a little problem. He had lined up a couple of service projects for one of the groups and both had been canceled--at nearly the last minute. His question: could we help them out? Oh, and by the way the group--about 22 in all--would be made up of 9th grade girls. I asked Rob to give me a little while and told him I'd call him back with a list. 

The girls arrived in 4 vehicles at about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, raring to go . . .

I had three projects ready for them, so they decided it was best to divide into two groups. Little did I know that they had allotted 3 hours to do the tasks.  

The first two involved cleaning up an area just off Cedar Top Campground which had literally hundreds of old plastic flower pots (many semi-buried) and a bunch of other old stuff . . . 

Forget the forest -- sometimes it's hard to see the girls for the trees!

Teamwork always pays off.

Heave-ho!  Look at them handle that huge tire!

And clearing the Obstacle Course area from rocks . . .

They all had a great attitude and made quick work of both of these projects. 

The last chore was to move a woodpile from down the hill to the pavilion fireplace area. 

They formed an assembly line and knocked this one out very quickly as well, I was impressed. As a matter of fact within a little over an hour all three projects were completed. 

They were so efficient and fast in their work, they had some time to spare!  After hearing there were trails,   they decided to go for a group run/walk. They took off down the Nature Trail for about 20 minutes or so...came back to take  a few pictures and then called their rides to pick them up. 

We really appreciate all the hard work they put into clean-up -- they did a fabulous job! Thanks, girls!! We hope they'll be regular visitors at the camp, now that they know it's here!

And so it begins . . .

Our first camp-out of the 2013 season - the Father-Son Camp-Out from Willowbrook Baptist Church.

It's an annual event, though I am not sure just how many years it goes back. I do know that they've been up here every spring since we've been here. Chris Wilson and Sam Kelly are always prepared and make this event pleasurable for all who attend. They usually get here before everyone else and are here long after all have departed. 

Attendance this weekend was in the mid 50's with several dads attending who had never been up to the camp before. 

The first scheduled event on Friday was the official flag raising followed by supper. Groups divided up later and went in separate directions all over the camp. 

The sun setting didn't dampen the fun ... quite to the contrary, it brought into play the traditional game of  flashlight tag which keeps things interesting long into the evening!

I did notice several different type of sleeping arrangements while tooling around in Easy (the golf cart). 

There were tents pitched, of course, one dad brought up his RV, there was a sleeping bag laid out on an old church pew under the pavilion, and someone had a cot tucked up underneath the porch on the new almost finished bathroom in the main campground. 

As always there was plenty of food and a couple of fires going the whole time. 

They chose a perfect weekend as the daytime temps were close to 70 and night right above freezing.

Cub Scout Pack 3350 - Den 5

They came with poles and bait and all kinds of other equipment ready to take on the fish up here at the camp.  We love to have the scout groups up and this was a first visit for Pack 3350, Den 5.  

They did catch a few fish, but it didn't take long before the boys were off to do some exploring up and down the trails.  

They made an afternoon of it and seemed to have a great time.  

We look forward to having them back out in the future!

Walking Through MACOBA Land

Currently there are about 3 miles of trails up here at the camp and I try to make it a point to walk them all every day I am not at work...except Sundays.  It takes about 45 minutes to an hour and it is always an interesting trip.  Lately I have seen a couple of hawks along the way and the other day I walked right up on a huge owl.  I had seen him before but he usually flies off before I get anywhere near.  This time I was right under the tree before he took flight.  A mighty pretty bird..I would love to get a picture of him. One time I got very near to a possum.  It might have just been the oldest possum known to man as every single hair on him was gray.   This very close encounter was due to the fact that he was almost blind.  As I was standing not 20 feet from him he would stick his nose up in the air as to smell me but he evidently could not see me.  It never fails that a few does are jumped here and there and sometimes they will just let me walk on by without getting up at all.

Occasionally the Secret Creek will jump it's banks and run wild all down below Beech Bottom Trail.  This happened recently after raining almost every day for a week.  This time of year with all the leaves off the trees you can see for much greater distances down through the woods.  Well except down by the creek that is.  The Beech trees like to hold on to their leaves all winter long, that coupled with the thick bamboo growth keeps this area secluded.  The bamboo and ferns do add some color to an otherwise brown and gray landscape. 

The weather here in Alabama is always changing and nature has a surprise for us every now and then.  Anyone who has lived here long enough will experience a glimpse of false spring where things begin to bud out and bloom before they normally do only to be killed back by Jack Frost.  February and March are known for just such type of occurrences.  As I was finishing up my walk today something green and near the ground caught my eye so a closer look was necessary.  Not only did I discover a daffodil sticking up above the leaves, but it was about to bloom ! As much as I love Spring can we slow down just a bit here.  This is January not February.

     

Scout Pack 391

I called Barry with Cub Scout Pack Pack 391 just to get a feel if they were still coming up on the weekend because the SEC Championship game was scheduled to be played on Saturday and he said that they were coming. 

The weather was very nice for their weekend with daytime temperatures in the mid 60's.  Another scout group came up on Friday and planned to merge with them for the weekend.  While so many of the groups camp-out around the pavilion, both of these groups spent most of their time in the main campground area or as we like to call it "Acorn Hill Campground".  

There were badges to be earned and posted was a list of activities scheduled for the weekend.  I was in and out visiting with them throughout the whole weekend.  They had a nice fire going and I believe the boys had to do some cooking on their own.  There was plenty of time for some exploring and games as well.  

This group has been here before and on the exact weekend last year if memory serves me well.  Somewhere in the afternoon on Saturday, around 1:30 I think, a truck pulls up full of equipment and some determined folks jumped out and went to work.  

As I came over to the pavilion it was clear what was going on, especially when I say them set up a satellite dish. They say part of the scouts motto is to always be prepared and they were.  

There was a slight break taken from scout activities as the men gathered around to watch the SEC Championship game.