Backpacking food

Sarah and I are going backpacking with some cousins. This is the food we will take for 5 days

Nelke is coming backpacking. This is what she will eat for the 5 days.

Wake me up when September comes

Summer camp is over, has been over, and will stay over for several more months. In the mean time, I am faced with a to do list that is over a page long. Things like: "Hire staff" and "build a challenge course element" each taking up a single, 12 font line.

How to raise leaders? That is the question I need to be able to answer by next spring's training. I was one of them once and someone saw my gifts and put them to work. Now I have to do the same.

I have had the vague phrase "lead by example" bouncing around in the back of my mind. I'll lead them by example, and they will lead theirs' by example, while we all follow His example. I guess that will be my plan.

Next week Sarah and I will be backpacking on the AT from the PA/NJ line north toward home. For me it is a way of extending a trip that started in the fall of '02 when Jeremy and I hiked from the point south to Camp Hebron. For me this trip is much better planned than the trip of '02, I have training, experience, equipment, and a degree in the area. We will be accompanied by an entourage of cousins who's skills range from advanced to first timers. This group is generally good at two things: problem solving and getting hurt. I'll post pictures about the former if I don't experience the latter.

Unattended

Last night Sarah and I were looking for some Christian Brothers. We stopped at a convenience store with a liquor store attached. When we poked our heads into the liquor store there was no one there, not even a clerk behind the counter. I'm not sure how you stay in business if you prop the door open and don't stay behind the register

Missed the Ice Cream truck in Brooklyn

This week starts the last week of regular camp. I'm 12 nature classes, a back 40 hike, 3 sessions at Freedom Farm, and 1 rafting trip away from relaxation. I've accumulated enough comp hours that I can take a backpacking trip in the catskills.

Good night!

Nature Deficit disorder "don't let the ticks or bears get us"

I took this picture last week as I was preparing to lead a hike. It was a warm sunny day. Somehow campers had been told that ticks were a dangerous issue. As a precaution this girl tucked her pants into her socks, wore two shirts, a sweat shirt, bandanna, and sunglasses. (I'm still not sure what the sunglasses do)

Shortly after I took this picture I asked for someone to pray. This girl volunteered and her prayer went something like this: "Dear Jesus, keep us safe from all the wild animals as we hike. Don't let the ticks or the bears get us. Help no-one get hurt and I hope we all are alive to come back"

While not a clinical term, Nature Deficit Disorder is a phrase that has been used to describe a type of life style which most of our campers live. It is an environment characterized by technology and where the only living things are humans; no trees, animals, plants, or untamed areas.

I think this little girl was beyond Nature Deficit Disorder. She was genuinely fearful to go into the woods. Her views of the wild, and especially bears had been shaped by Disney. Even a small conversation about the need to check for ticks by her consoler would re-enforce her paranoia of nature's danger.

I would encourage your comments

Rembering Matt

For those of you who don't know, my cousing Mathew Garber drown in Costa Rica on July 1st. Death isn't somthing I've grown up being surrounded by so this is kind of a new thing for me. I'm struck by how many memories suddenly come back as soon as a person is gone. I've posted a few pictures of Matt that were taken on my wedding day.

Pictures

Pictures from the Cape May tripThe house we stayed in was right in the heart of the historic part of Cape May

The beach was nice in the evenings but the bugs were really bad.

On our way home we visited the Cape May County Zoo. It was small, but free.

Forward Momentum

Life doesn't seem to slow down. The heat of summer is here and the campers will be too soon. Oh boy!

My job is going well. My first project was compiling and submitting paper work to the NYS health dept. There was a lot of it and it took me several weeks. Now I'm out in the field more working on redoing part of the low ropes course which is fun. I get to build things, haul wood chips in the gator, and generally decide how I would like things to be.

Our social life is improving somewhat. We have been visiting churches and hanging out with some of the other camp staff. Sarah is part of a Tuesday morning book discussion and is meeting ladies through that.

This past weekend we went with Sean and Kim who live above us to a vacation house in Cape May. His Grandpa owns a 1848 row house that is nicely located next to big fancy hotels, the strip, and the beach. Among other things I: ate over priced ice cream cones, made a half finished sand castle, kayaked in the surf, rode bike around the town, went running after midnight, watched a horse race on T.V., and splashed around in a very cold Atlantic Ocean.

Pictures coming sometime.

Some notes

We have been in our new place for about a week and things are starting to clean up. The cabnates are stocked and I think I know were everything belongs. I've included some pictures. I had some reallly great ones but had technical issues and didn't want to fight it. But you can imagine me learning to use Camp's Wood Miser, our living room, and our lovely kitchen. Below is the packing scene in Houghton.

Some of our new fish in our new tank (30gal high)

Nelke in the Bathroom

The bed room, sorry the rest of the house didn't work out.

This morning Sarah and I planted our garden. There is a little fenced garden plot that no one is using this year. The soil has been improved over the last years and seems to be very nice considering everything else is a rocky gravel. Soon we will have all kinds of good things to eat.

Flip the tassle, over the hill and through the woods to Camp DeerPark we went

So I hope that this post will break a long streak of non-posting. Now that my living situation has changed and internet is at my doorstep (literally, it isn’t in the house but almost) I hope to be able to get back to my regular routine of posting.

Graduation happened not long ago. Sarah graduated co-Salutatorian (that means tied for second best grades of the 250+ class) and I was more of an honorable mention. My parents and youngest sisters came up for the event. A good time was had by all.

Backpacking happened the next week. The Mast men and myself took on the Black Forest Trail. It is a 42 mile loop in and around the PA grand canyon. It would be better named “The Slate Run water shed tour”. The trail followed tributaries of Slate Run to and from their origins, and then up and over mountain to find the next trickle. It was beautiful, miles of hiking by babbling brooks and cascading waterfalls. The views were very viewable. It was also a brutal hike. To go between creek and vista the trail was constantly making 1000 foot climbs and drops. Actually, about 2/3 of the time was spent going up or going down. The pictures show some of the beauty, but I really haven’t found a trail this challenging and rewarding this side of the Rockies.

Our sweet tarp set up. There was only one half-ok tarp site so we improvised on a wet night.

Creek crossings totaled over 20. I rocked the Crocs and kept my boots dry.

A typical view except for a cloud of gnats around your head

Ethan mastered the stove quicklyOne of the better views. The two black spots in the image are gnats circling my head and camera as I took the picture

(Above) Micah strikes a pose after a creek crossing (Below) I took a shower in the waterfall on my 25th birthday eve. It was cold.
This week has marked our move to Camp DeerPark. We arrived with our embarrassingly large U-Haul (I recommend not doing business with U-Haul, they are not very upfront or customer friendly) and began the task of moving into our basement apartment. We quickly found a very open handed approach to our furniture which helped things fit. Currently the place is very cozy and walking space is limited. Nelke is adjusting and has even been going back into her box. The transition was very difficult for her and tiring for us. Hopefully she will forgo the howling this time. Who knows, maybe she is howling now.

its been a while

We don't have internet in the house, so updates require some treking through the snow to campus. I'm not finding myself with lots of time so somethings have to give. Here are a few pictures with comments, see if you can figure out the story that goes with them.

A mosaic (above)

The oldest piece of glass known to man (below)

Sarah and pretty things

Jared goes up the pile, Asher strikes a pose

Inside and out

Degree in hand

After some speculation about if I would get one, I now have a paper degree. It has a lot of hard to read font and a few names on the bottom. Maybe I'll put it on the wall.

I'm sore from swinging chairs at the ski lift today.

Holimont

So I got a job. I'm working at Holimont ski area. Holimont is a private ski resort. People pay $15000 to join and another $2500 each year to ski.

My job is helping people get on and off of the ski lifts. Mostly it is a lot of holding the chair while people sit down and watching chairs empty go by. This week was slow so I did more of the watching than the helping.

I work with a diverse group. Yesterday I was with the retired guys operating "Meadow" The day before I spent time with a bunch of 18-20 year-old guys at "Expo" I'm slightly overqualified for the job, but it's a good exercise learning to relate to people of all types.

New Year post