“Making do with what you’ve got” is not a bad motto for those of us who are here at Kingswood this summer.  Of course it is depressing not to have camp in session, and especially when you walk into the empty Dining Room or walk across the soccer field that is lush-green with inactivity!

The upside, however, is that we are getting things done that we never seem to have time to do once camp is in session.  Some examples:  We noticed rotten wood underneath a window in the Main Lodge.  In the past, we would have replaced a board or two — a bandaid as we call it — and get on with it.  Not this time.  Mike Fusco and Spanky have been working for several days on not only replacing all the bad wood, but extending the roof line so that winter “snow avalanches” can’t pile up at the base of the building — which is the basis of the problem to begin with.  You will notice the difference right away next summer.

Yesterday, Sam Cain went around with a hammer and pulled unwanted and unnecessary nails from the walls in many cabins.  He came down the hill with a bucket full of his sharp extractions.  Bragging that he had pulled more than 200 nails, we teased him heartily about exaggerating his effort.  “Not one more than 176 nails,” said I and others guessed numbers in that range.  Jay announced that Kiera was the best at this counting business and more than once had won prizes for her accurate assessments.  A few minutes later, she appeared and immediately remarked that there were 246 nails in the pail.  So, we counted them very carefully:  243

The weather, honestly, has not been that good since the days when camp would have started.  It’s been warm, and we have enjoyed the beach, but it rained at all the wrong times such as the first three days of what would have been camp plus yesterday, where games with Pemi would have been cancelled.  “I’m so glad boys are not here right now” has been uttered by many of us over this time span.

However, we have had a few gorgeous days and on one of them, Rob, Mike, Jay,  Klaus and Sam ventured off to Sugarloaf Mountain, the next mountain over from Black Mountain which many of you know quite well.  We very seldom climb Sugarloaf, and for good reason.  Following are a full photos of that jaunt and some commentary.

That’s 11 year old Rob Wipfler in 1985 atop Sugarloaf.  It was not his, or anyone’s finest hour, as the trail was very steep and dangerous in places.

No, Sam, that’s not the trail.

But, this is and it is very rough.

Hikers have to pull themselves up this rope.  We were thrilled to see new rope in place as rumors had it that the rope had frayed badly.

Then, there was a ladder section.  Fresh wood, as you see here.

Rob was delighted to find the remnants of the 1985 ladder, which was dangerously rotten then, and now sits in a pile at the base of the steep section.

“This is not a junior hike,” reported Jay.

The summit is mostly open, like Black.  That looks like Liberty and Flume in the distance.

Black Mountain, of course.

More on this some other time.  But, the distant rock ledge is called Hogsback Mountain and we were led to believe that maybe there was a link from Sugarloaf to Hogsback.  Nope.  There are no formal trails on Hogsback, but many locals tell us there are ways to the summit and that the views are spectacular. How nice to have the time to explore all of this before sending boys into the fray! Stay tuned.