2012 Day 4-Climbing

Hello all! This is Colin and Michael bringing you the story of our Tuesday rock climbing adventure. It started out with us waking up to a delicious pancake breakfast prepared by our five star chefs. Then, after cleanup, we packed into our climbing apparel and we headed down to the outfitters once again. We then gathered and received our harnesses and helmets and we spent about 2 and a half hours learning the proper knots and safety rules to use when climbing. After our learning session, we were, once again, prepared sandwiches and cookies with iced tea and water.

Following lunch, we packed in the vans and headed on out to parking area. From there we had to travel through a wooded path which took about ten minutes to hike. Once there we waited for the guides to set up our climbs and rappels on three large boulders. There were three different climbs for us to choose from: One that was fairly short but was incredibly difficult for some to start, another that was easy to start but was even more difficult to finish due to the lack of grip areas, and another that had a giant split down the middle that made it very easy to climb but could be a little tricky to rappel back down. Aside from that, there was a rappel station that was a lot of fun, especially the beginning where it was a straight drop right around a tree. The requirements for the merit badge were to climb three climbs, belay three climbs, rappel three times, and belay three rappels. We spent about five hours total meeting all these requirements.

When all was said and done, we packed up everything we had brought and packed (literally “packed”) in the van they provided and in Big Blue. We drove back to the outfitters and we bought some snacks, returned our used equipment, and the five guides that helped us all day talked to us about what we had accomplished and that we should all be very proud of ourselves for giving our best efforts. After that, we jumped started the Mr. K’s car, which died, and we made our way back to camp, where an excellent pork and rice dinner was prepared by our very own “chef Cummings and crew.” All in all, it was a great day out at the rocks. All the boys and adults tried really hard to get their badge and either have completed it all or will be very close to completing what’s left when they return home.

It is time for campfire and skits now, so we will fill you in on that part tomorrow!

Postscripts:
Parker asks please pray for my dad, if he doesn’t pass his kidney stones by tomorrow, he will go into surgery around 3:00 p.m.

Please re-check the Day 2 pics – many of you got a black box, they are back on line now.

We want to thank our guides from the last 3 days – Wilderness Voyageurs (http://wilderness-voyageurs.com/).  Our three main guides were absolutely fantastic – fun professional, safe, and really, really good with the boys.  Specifically we want to thank Garrett, Keith, and Krash.  We also really enjoyed Grizz, Keith #2, Ashley, and Lisa!  Great guides all, and really fun people who clearly enjoy their jobs and teaching people.  They really inspired our boys to succeed and continue in these sports.