In keeping with tradition of this blog, even my posts from camp have a common theme of food however with a slightly different spin.
Week 2 Senior High Camp
Senior High camp is designed to be intense and this week it was. My cabin consisted of a group of girls who were serious about camp and we had some serious fun. They were the 3 time defending champions at a game called Mission Impossible. This is an Echo Ranch favorite that involves sneaking around camp in the "dark" completing tasks without getting caught by the guards (the camp staff). We played from 11:30pm to 1am and it was never actually dark. I have never watched sunset before at midnight-- it possibly could have been sunrise. My cabin dressed in all black, we used black face paint, and even sported Amazon woman hairstyles. With stealth and speed we completed everything and were the first team to report again this year. They also brought a small arsenal of supplies to prank other cabins. I must say I was impressed with the leadership, organization, and teamwork that went into this project so I think it was a useful learning experience. They of course needed adult supervision so I found myself sneaking around camp armed with water balloons in my pockets at 1:30 in the morning. Some of you may have noted the amount of late nights I put in this week- it's tough keeping up with these young'uns. Another cabin bonding activity was learning how to punch through boards. The other counselor I worked with just happened to have a black belt in tae kwon do so we spent the week busting boards with our bare hands- as if the other cabins weren't intimidated by us enough already. In addition to Mission Impossible, another Echo Ranch tradition is Crud War which is basically a giant food fight. I was covered with spaghetti, oatmeal, apple sauce, refried beans, and shaving cream all in the name of serving the Lord. Sometimes I am floored by what God gets me into to serve Him. The day's lesson was about sin and it was great to talk about how messed up our lives are from sins with speghetti and oatmeal smeared in your hair and face. We plunged into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to clean up. I enjoyed the ocean the rest of the week since I was in charge of canoeing. Not many high schoolers were interested so I got to be a beach bum for a few days and just stare at the beauty of God's creation- there are some upsides to this job when not covered in crud. While this week was fun I also got a glimpse of some of the struggles kids in Southeast Alaska face- while probably not that different from teens everywhere it was a reminder of how Echo Ranch is a light in the darkness and how honored I am that God is letting me be a part of His work here.
So at camp we work hard and play hard during the week so the weekends have been a nice chance to relax and rest up. Our "resting up" has included multiple games of Ultimate Frisbee, an all-camp softball game, horseback riding through the meadow, and canoeing down the creek to the ocean. To tie into cooking once again this afternoon we went out on the boat to check crab pots and then had fresh Alaskan crab for dinner. I will admit it was good but for this Kansas girl steak is a lot less work to get into and eat. Since I am still working towards becoming a young professional I am taking an online graduate course in pharmacology this summer. I have noticed that it is kind of difficult to switch from kid, camp, and fun mode to serious, studious, grad student mode to do my homework on the weekends. Sadly the information I learn during the week about Justin Beeber's latest hits are never homework questions.
Week 1 Bronco Camp
During the first week of camp I sung about purple stew, decomposing moose, and crazy acorns. The song Purple Stew has developed into a love-hate relationship at camp-- the kids love and the staff hates it since it sticks in your head for hours. For those of you who know me well probably know how I feel about singing, all day long, at the top of my lungs. Despite this downside, the first week of camp went great. I had 9 10 year old girls with lots of energy but it was tons of fun. My week started out with a trek to town to spend the night with a few girls who flew in early and then 30 kids who arrived at 5am on the ferry. We hiked in from the End of the Road and I kept telling kids that camp was right around the bend in the beach (maybe it was 4 turns away). This month the theme is Adventure on the High Seas so we have sea monsters, pirates, fishermen, and crazy cruise ship tourists running around camp. We learned the story of Jonah during the week. We played fun games and at great food (the food is amazing since I am a counselor and stay far away from the kitchen). My campers were disappointed since the menu didn't include bear, moose, or rabbit meat but they got over it. I never know what I will be called on to do at camp-- on afternoon I spent an hour filling water balloons (I decided I could list it on my resume as aquatic ammunition technician). I have honed my air hockey skills after several hours of practice in the game room this week. I also had an interview with a cowboy and a pirate and then met a giant penguin in the hall afterwards- you never know what characters will be hanging around here.
Next week I am counseling at horse camp which is about a mile beyond base camp in the woods. I'm spending the week with middle school girls with only an outhouse and no plumbing or electricity-- it could be interesting. I have my radio, wilderness medical kit, and bear spray all ready to go.
Before I left the lower 48 my older brother decided that I needed to be prepared for surviving the Alaskan wild. So we watched an episode of Man vs. Wild where Bear Grylls conquered glaciers, forests, raging rivers, and inevitably ate something disgusting. Because of this training I was sufficiently prepared for my adventure this weekend. We were going to climb a mountain near camp but we woke up Friday morning and it was cloudy so we didn't since there wouldn't be a view from the top. (I'm all about enjoying the journey but the rest of the group wasn't willing to inflict personal pain without reason). Instead we decided to canoe and kayak to a waterfall. Thirty people showed up on the front beach ready to board our vessels- 6 kayaks and 9 canoes- for a 3 hour tour. It was about an hour paddle across the bay to the cove by the waterfall. My paddling partner sang the entire soundtrack from Pocahontas which seemed appropriate. We did see some whales across the channel. We usually see quite a few whales in the area we were paddling through and canoes don't make for the best close-up whale watching. Once we arrived we dragged all the boats up the beach since tide was coming in. We then hike a short distance up to a waterfall. We bushwhacked through Devil's club- this is a plant with prickles all over so you don't want to get too close. I learned this from Man vs. Wild and personal experience. We climbed above the falls and crossed the creek on a log that spanned it. About half way across all of us were wondering what we were doing on a log 6 feet over a freezing rushing stream with 20 feet of log to go still. I was just hoping my rubber boots didn't slip. The waterfall was impressive. If I were Bear Grylls I would have tried climbing down the wet rock face covered with moss or just jump form the top and get soaking wet but a 30ft fall into rock and rushing water didn't seem that appealing. We trekked back to the beach and began heading back to camp. We had some amazing rhubarb bars for dessert from lunch that I had stashed in my pocket so I enjoyed it- much better than eating reindeer liver as suggested on Man vs. Wild. 
