Those Wonderful Hardships
August 3, 2023
My son Mike, the program guy, came up to me after lunch and said “Dad, I think you are the guy to pick up the Carter-Moriah hike.” Being as old as the hills, I know the hills and when Mike explained his reasoning — that the group had decided to extend the tip to the very steep Wildcat Ridge –I knew it would be a late day for both the trampers and for me.
It was such a pretty day, cool and with low humidity, that I could not fault the revised plan. We have this app called Zoleo, which allows for instant communication from deep in the wilds where phone service is usually unavailable. The proposal had been approved. I got there plenty early and maintained close contact with Des, the leader, via the Zoleo. “A mile to go and the boys are very tired,” he texted me at 7:30.
That last mile down Wildcat is as steep as the ascent part and I was mildly concerned, but not too much, as these are our best hikers and Des runs a very good trip.
At 8:35 pm, the boys popped out of the woods and my worries instantly evaporated. One fellow griped that he had to poop, another suggested that Des had fibbed when he described the descent as a cakewalk (I always used that tactic!) and Adam M. acknowledged how flabbergasted he was to come to one overlook after another where the valley below looked no closer than it had before.
“Those wonderful hardships” is a phrase I have been uttering for ages and this endeavor was no departure from the norm. The boys had hiked constantly from 8 am, for a total of 12 ½ hours. “We would have had to wake up at 1 am in order to be back at camp in time for dinner,” said one lad in the van drive to McDonalds, a mere hour on the ride home, not far by north woods standards. I would describe the overall mood as exuberant and, honestly, this is what camp is all about. These kids knew that going in.
Sara has posted Des’ fantastic photo album of the trip as well as her album showing the day’s action on campus to include the cooking clinic, trash ball (don’t ask: it is obvious,) the birthday skit celebrating JP’s 10th year, the Lake Swim event, and gosh only knows what that hubbub in the council fire was all about.
Final note regarding the hiking trip: When we got to McDonalds, the boys had stiffened up and I got my jollies by not being the lone invalid hobbling into the joint.