So the first week of my two-week program was focused on rafting which I updated y'all on last time around. The second week was about caving and camping! We traveled with another group to a campground near Mt. Saint Helens and the views while driving and even at our site were once again postcard perfect. I don't think that the PNW gets enough TRUE credit for the beauty it offers ones' senses. So here are some shots of our campground where we pitched our tents and cooked our meals on propane stoves and played super fun no tell games:
We drove to our site on the first day of our trip (after a quick jaunt to the car repair place to plug a tire on a 12-passenger van....no big deal) and then unpacked and got situated. Then our adventures really began on the first full day out which took us to various points around Mt. Saint Helens including: the Trail of Two Forests, the Ape Caves, and the Lava Canyon. The Trail of Two Forests was a quick little stroll that included educational information about how the lava from previous eruptions has molded the landscape surrounding the volcanic mountain. There are tubes under ground where tree roots used to be that the girls (and I!) were able able to crawl through. Lava is cool...not literally but....hehe pun. Then we went and walked through the Lower Ape Cave which was pitch black dark and was quite frigid! We walked as far as we could then at the end had to army crawl a bit to fully experience the lava tube we were walking through. There is an Upper Ape Cave as well (no idea why it is called Ape Caves because we saw no monkeys) which is more strenuous (and most likely more fun) to walk through but we opted out of hiking that and went to the Lava Canyon instead. The hike at Lava Canyon led us to a voracious waterfall and exciting suspension bridge; we were very pleased with our choice to include the Lava Canyon in our adventures! This finished out our day and once back at the campground we enjoyed a yummy dinner and early bedtime to rest for the next full day out.
Trail of Two Forests
Ape Caves
Waterfall at Lava Canyon with Bubbles
Suspension bridge at Lava Canyon
Lava Canyon-view while on the bridge
On the suspension bridge
We drove about 2 hours from our campsite to walk the Hummocks Trail and see Mt. Saint Helens from a well known view point. The Hummocks Trail continued to teach us how the landscape has undergone destruction and regrowth since the infamous 1980 eruption of the volcano and even the more recent eruptions in the early 2000's. The trail was in full bloom and I cannot pass up an opportunity to photograph flowers and nature so needless to say I was lagging behind in the group just clicking away. When we finished the trail we went to the view point just as the early afternoon clouds were beginning to break away from the summit and we were greeted with a majestic MOUNTAIN view! Full disclosure, I was screaming MOUNTAIN and pointing like a lunatic at Mt. Saint Helens because that is just not a site I will ever get used to. As I kept telling my girls, "There are no mountains in Ohio....LOOK AT THAT MOUNTAIN, LOOK AT IT!!!!" After being convinced that we needed to leave the mountain view and return to camp I begrudgingly got back into the van and we resumed our drive home. All in all, the camping and caving and MOUNTAIN viewing trip was a great time had by everyone!
Hummocks Trail
Hummocks Trail
Hummocks Trail
Hummocks Trail---also, check out that first aid fanny pack!
Hummocks Trail
Hummocks Trail
Mt. Saint Helens!!!!! MOUNTAIN!!!! VOLCANO!!!!
Mt. Saint Helens (with the flat top peaking through)!!!!! MOUNTAIN!!!! VOLCANO!!!!
Week three of campers was a fun one, extra fun!!!! I have a group of older girls who are here for two weeks and this past week we went white water rafting together! I have never been rafting so it was super interesting to learn about and experience. We rafted in the White Salmon River which holds year round at a fairly constant 42 degrees meaning we were most definitely wearing wet suits....super fashionable! We rafted for just about seven miles and our guide made it super duper fun. At one point he had us paddling upstream into a rapid and caused us to fill our boat with water...he called it surfing a rapid while I called it stupid fun. haha One spot along the river has a 15 foot rock formation that lends itself well to being jumped off since the water below drops off very deep. He brought us over to the edge of the river and asked if any of us wanted to jump off so myself as well as four of my campers jumped off and plunged into the chilly waters below. It was bone chilling but definitely prepared us for the rest of the trip when water would splash us as we navigated the rapids. Our guide also filled his water bottle with fresh spring water that helps fill the river and allowed us to taste the crisp natural spring water. No need for extra refrigeration of that, it was ideal on such a sunny day! We steered through class 2, 3, and 3 plus rapids but chose to walk around a 15 foot waterfall that essentially would have turned our raft completely vertical with persons inside. (Girl Scouts don't exactly find that safe.) It was super fun to experience rafting for the first time with campers and I definitely plan on signing myself up for rafting again in the future.
We went rafting on Tuesday and when our muscles were back in "regular working order" we were ready for Thursday, or as we call it at camp, MOUNTAIN DAY! We offer three different hikes on Thursdays and I was able to do two of them during staff training. Camp is located on part of Wind Mountain and from camp it is another 1.2 miles up to the summit. That hike is almost completely incline after incline but the view was so worth it at the top. So since I had hiked to Twin Lakes and up to Wind Mountain already I signed up to hike Dog Mountain this past week. Dog is the most difficult of the three hikes we offer and is 3.8 miles to the peak. It was a great day to hike, not too hot and what we thought was not too cold....the wind surprised us at the top and was totally chilly and brutal but we dealt. The elevation of Dog Mountain is about 3000 feet and is significantly taller than Wind Mountain so we could clearly see Wind Mountain from the summit of Dog. All in all, the trip took us about seven hours round trip because campers move at sloth speeds, and below are some photos from the top. It is Sunday and my calves still hurt from the trek!
Since my campers are here for a two week trip we were able to go on a Saturday adventure together with some other campers that came to visit from another Oregon camp. It was over 90 degrees so we spent most of our time viewing different scenic spots from the van. Would you believe that we saw zebras and giraffes and buffalo in a remote part of Washington?! Well, we did! A little private farm is home to a host of exotic animals and it is open to the public to drive through for funzies. We also saw a fish hatchery that had been used by Native Americans, a dam that Benjamin Bonneville helped start along the path that Louis and Clark took of the area, and drove along a historic scenic byway that passes countless popular waterfalls and trails. And perhaps the best part, a trip to a local ice cream place to finish out our adventure and cool us down.
A week ago I was able to visit Portland (finally!!!) and befriend this infamous city! (Now I can officially say I have visited both Portlands in the US and I believe each of them are super charming!) There are so many wonderful places to see and we simply had a day to explore so plans to visit again are in the works already. I was able to go with two other counselors, one is a Portland native, and our boss.
We first went to this great area of food trucks and we each got delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. And since my boss didn't want her pickle I had two! Then we needed dessert so we went to Blue Star (for those of you that know Portland well, I promise to try VooDoo donuts next time) and I devoured a Blueberry Bourbon Basil donut like it was my job! I insisted upon one thing during my maiden voyage to Portland, a visit to Powell's bookstore. I could have easily spent a full weekend exploring this wonderful place and will definitely revisit. My favorite thing I found in the bookstore?! A pop up book of The Little Prince ----best.thing.ever! We enjoyed some delicious coffee and then headed towards the zoo. My boss had tickets for the Indigo Girls concert so another counselor and I just tagged along. I have to say, the concert and the people watching were quite a good time. We played Phase 10 and Heads Up while we waited for the concert to begin and then enjoyed three hours of good music; I really appreciated the quality showcase of musical talent rather than a fancy theatrical performance. It was a full day but I know there are more wonderful things that await me upon my return!
Week one is done and week two has begun. Here are some highlights....
1. Climbing the Orange Trail takes me 4:30 minutes to do it alone but with campers it takes over 10.
2. My girls changing the name of their program to Just Rice instead of Just Camp because of a rice growing conversion we had the very first evening.
3. Trying natural spa treatments including an avocado face cream and an oatmeal honey hand scrub.
4. Setting of the fire alarm in the unit house and filling the room with smoke...no worries.
5. Always being prepared because now that our county has an all county fire ban we are only allowed to use charcoal.
6. Feeling completely exhausted due to having fun all day!!! And all that walking/hiking probably has something to do with it.
7. Going to bed and then waking up with camp songs stuck in my head even though I only knew two when I came to camp.
8. Having hilarious staff conversations over the walkie talkies..."everything is awesome!"
9. Having a camper find the elder wand and another with the invisibility cloak (a camo coat in the woods definitely counts) so now the staff is obviously looking for the resurrection stone.
10. Getting to spray the pressurized water into the dish bins which makes heaps of bubbles!!!!
Another thing bringing a smile to my face, these two crazy gals that had their own way to celebrate July 4th since they are the only international staff!
And now another song for you which we often sing just before bed:
"There's a wee baby moon
Lying on his back
With his funny little toes
In the air
And he's all alone
In the big blue sky
But the wee baby moon doesn't care
Two weeks of staff training came and went so quickly. We have a staff of around 20 people and everyone has varying amounts of camp experience. My camp experience multiplied tenfold in staff training alone. I started a fire and cooked over it, climbed to the top of a rock wall, hiked to a mountain summit and then back down, have seen scorpions, spiders, snakes and deer. We canoed and tipped on purpose to learn how to get back in, shot arrows at the archery range, worked on friendship bracelets, slept in cabins with only a canvas flaps as doors and sang lots of songs and learned loads of games.
Looking back on training I should have slept more because this is the first week of camp with the girls and I am exhausted!!!! I have the group of Cadettes, 12 of them, and we are doing all of the fun camp activities (archery, canoeing, rock wall, arts and crafts, and swimming) as well as things like learning about knife safety, building fires, natural spa treatments, and sleeping in the meadow!!! The temperature is in the upper 90s with no rain in the forecast which means the stars and moon shine brightly in the clear night sky.
One of the most beloved camp songs is called "On the Loose" and I happen to feel very connected to the lyrics because they exemplify the wonders and excitement that life unplanned has to offer.
"Have you ever watched the sunrise turn the sky completely red?
Have you slept beneath the moon and stars, a pine bough for your head?
Do you sit and talk with friends though a word is never said?
Then you're just like me and you've been on the loose.
(Refrain)
On the loose to climb a mountain
On the loose where I am free
On the loose to live my life
The way I think my life should be
For I've only got a moment
And the whole world yet to see
I'll be looking for tomorrow
On the loose
There's a trail that I'll be hiking
Just to see where it might go
Many places yet to visit
Many people yet to know
For in following my dreams
I will live and I will grow
In a world that's waiting
Out there on the loose
(Refrain)
So in search of love and laughter
I am traveling through this land
Never sure of where I'm going
For I haven't any plans
Do in time when you are ready
Come and join me
Take my hand
And together well share life out on the loose
(Refrain)"
Video credit to youtube channel, not from me or my camp.
