Timberline: A third year of Bear visits.

Timberline: A third year of Bear visits.

(Timberline part 21)

One other year when I was getting ready to go to camp I had reports from the previous course that there was a bear that had been in their garbage during the week and so they had to lock it into the back of a vehicle. When we got there they told us that the bear had even been there the night before. I didn’t have my rifle this time since I pretty well figured out the first time that I wouldn’t get a chance to shoot even if it was the other old bear and I couldn’t really get myself to take the chance since I might only wound it and that would cause us to be in more danger than just leaving it alone since it behaved itself the last time after we learned how to keep the food locked up.  The previous course also had let us know what worked best for them to keep it out of the trash. A couple of days after we had been at camp I walked up the hill and just over form where the showers were located and found where the bear had taken the trash during the last camp. There was a spot under the tree less than 50 feet from the showers and yet still hidden from the showers by a small hill. There was a bag of trash torn open and laying around an area where it was obvious that the bear had slept and eaten. I went the 100 feet back to camp, picked up a new trash bag, returned to the spot and cleaned it all up. We didn’t see the bear nor any tracks or traces of it during the week we were there but I am sure it was probably not very far off. The boys all did as they were instructed on their outpost camps and we had no incidents like the earlier one where the bear had carried off the treats and breakfast items. I wondered if it was the same bear but had no way of knowing since it didn’t seem to stick around during our stay.

Timberline: Kiss the Girl

Timberline: Kiss the Girl

(Timberline part 20)

Just a little note about my Assistant Scoutmaster Duaine. It must have been fairly tough on him to be at Timberline during those three or so years that he was at BYU and with us. He had football practice to get in shape for and a girl to find and all sorts of single adult things like that but he never complained even when harassed by the rest of the boy staff about finding a girl friend. I think back about it and see where I should have probably curtailed those activities a bit but he did seem to be able to handle it pretty well. I think he actually had a couple of girls that he had liked during those years and I am not certain of my memory but I think the last year when he brought up a very special girl that she was the one he ended up with for the rest of eternity. The thing that was the most fun for the boys though was writing a song for him that they wanted to sing at the last ceremony when she would be there. It was a rendition modified by them for Duaine of “Kiss The Girl.” A Disney song from the Little Mermaid. They worked really hard to come up with the words and then all of the staff to learn the words so they could sing it to him. He turned pretty bright red but I think he loved it none-the-less.  I wish now that I had a video of it but we didn’t get to do that at Timberline back then since phones still were not equipped with video recording capabilities like they are now.

Timberline: Sacrament Meeting

Timberline: Sacrament Meeting

(Timberline part 19)

Each year the Timberline staff goes up to camp the weekend before camp begins. When I was first involved we would get permission from the Bishop of the ward that the Scoutmaster was from to be able to hold a sacrament meeting on Sunday morning. So we would set up camp on Saturday and then do things on Sunday that were more restful and in keeping with the Sabbath. That is when the boys would finalize their lesson preparation and even teach it to other members of the staff. The highlight for me though each year was to participate in the Sacrament meeting. We would prepare and bless and pass the sacrament and then some years we would have assigned speakers and other years a testimony meeting. Then after the main part of the meeting was ended the scoutmaster would offer the closing prayer and also dedicate the campsite and ask for divine protection and guidance to be with us during the week. That was the reason why I knew who was always in charge and why we didn’t have any major accidents or problems. One year in particular was very special to me because we had sung “How Great Thou Art” for our opening hymn and during the meeting it was cloudy and we had low clouds pass through the trees and area where we were meeting. It was like a light fog and the place was ultra quiet. It was so special. I loved those meeting and the spirit that would attend us there. In later years we stopped the practice of holding sacrament meetings since we realized that we still didn’t have proper priesthood authority to hold them and thus began going down the mountain to a local ward for sacrament meeting. They were also very special but I will always cherish the ones we were able to hold in the quiet of the mountains.

Timberline: Orange Beads

Timberline: Orange Beads

(Timberline part 18)

One year I had a particularly conscious SPL when it came to camp cleanliness. As we were cleaning camp the last day in preparation to leave he could not get the participants to pick up the trash. He kept showing them pieces that he had picked up just after someone had walked right over it supposedly also picking up the trash. Finally he came to me extremely frustrated and even somewhat mad from the lack of attention they were giving to the instructions to clean the camp. I looked at him and said “well lets see if we can find a way to help them have a desire to do it.” As we discussed it he reflected upon the past week and how eager some of them had seemed to collect beads and that orange beads had been particularly sought after. We decided that we would give an orange bead for every 10 pieces of trash that they brought to him and that after they had picked up 100 pieces we would trade the beads for a candy bar. Well the results were fantastic and we even had a bow saw and some other items found that had obviously been there long before we had set up camp the previous Saturday. It was fun to also note that they were a good number of boys who wanted to keep their orange beads rather than turn them in for the candy bar. I wasn’t too concerned because I had a supply of beads that would insure that the camp was spotless before I would ever run out of beads. It was really successful and saved the SPL from going into overload.

Timberline: Get Them Away.

Timberline: Get Them Away.

(Timberline part 17)

I have related how I know who directs these courses and this is to illustrate who protects them as well.

We were all down on the assembly filed playing some of the games when some rather large clouds began to float overhead. The assembly filed was located next to the cliffs and I kept going over to the edge so that I could see the clouds as they were coming toward us for the southwest. I could hear thunder but the storm seemed to be somewhat distant from where we were. A little later as I was standing observing the games a voice came into my mind saying “Get them away form here.” I didn’t think much about it until only a fraction of time had passed when it came to me a with a little more force and with urgency “Get them away from here, NOW”. I looked out over the field and caught the attention of my senior patrol leader. I yelled to him to get the boys to the tent by the cabin and to do it now and I yelled it in such a way that he knew I meant to do it without delay. They started running toward the tent and I followed. The boys were all closer to the tent than I was so I was basically bringing up the rear. When we all got to the tent which had been erected next to the cabin about 150 yards from the field I had the staff instruct all of the patrols to get inside and then for the staff to help me lower the sides of the tent so that we would be protected from the wind and rain. I was standing facing the tent in such a way that as I worked to lower one side I could see the field from where we had just left in my peripheral vision. As I was lowering the sides I jumped as I saw lightning and instantly heard it as well as it struck the place we had just vacated. One of the scoutmasters was still up at the staff area unaware of what was happening with us and as he heard and could also almost see where the lightning had struck became very concerned that someone might have been hit by it since it was in the area where he knew we were holding the activity at the time.  After the storm had passed over we went to the field to see if we could find any evidence of the strike but was not able to find one. He and I started comparing notes and knew though that it had to have struck the area by that field and had the boys all been there they might have attracted it to one of them had I not followed the voice that came to me with the instruction to get them away from the danger of the approaching storm as quickly as I could. The storm had come so quickly that had I not had the voice to warn me I would not have acted in that way since I had been checking the progress from the cliffs and didn’t realize it could move so quickly when it reached the change in landscape from the smaller hills where it had been while I was watching it. I knew I had been instructed to act and was thankful it was given to me in such a way that I knew I had to act quickly in order to do my part in protecting the camp participants.