By Clara Feldman and Ryan Tripp

Heading into the Emily’s outpost, we weren’t really sure what to expect. Being the only two CILTs on the trip and the oldest by four years was sure to bring some challenges. Our trip began with a hike out to Emily’s, about a four mile hike. Thankfully, our bags were trucked so all we had to do was carry water bottles. Like most days at camp, the hot sun was glaring down our backs as we trudged up the road to Emily’s. After numerous stops along the way including blackberry picking, water breaks, spring visits, and creek dunks, we finally reached the point on the trail at which we were able to see Emily’s, which was greeted with enthusiasm and a quickening of the pace. We settled in and relaxed into life at Emily’s.

We woke up each day and began with our breakfast of rice milk and cereal. The rice milk was hard to get used to, but in the end everyone coveted the shelf-safe containers. After breakfast was work time. Over our four full days at Emily’s, our projects changed. One of the projects on the first day was to dig a trench for Sprinkler Man Evan to install piping into the spring box. The spring box is a concrete container designed to constantly be filled with a trickle of cold water to preserve foods for as long as possible. Our team made quick work of the trench and completed it within a day. Possibly the toughest work was the notorious outhouse hole, in which progress was made in inches, not feet, per day. The exuberance of our fellow outpost-ers pushed the project through and we were able to make multiple feet of progress over our time there. The innovation that allowed us to do this was softening the soil at night by dumping water into the hole. One day, a few campers along with carpentry counselor Sam Casino came to help build some shelves for our sleeping area and to deliver mail.

After our delicious lunch prepared by campers and counselors, we headed to the river each day to cool off in the heat. We explored different stretches of the river, jumped off the Emily’s jumping rock, played capture the croc in the river, swam under waterfalls, and relaxed on rocks. The capture the croc was particularly memorable, a game we played nearly every day. CILTs and Counselors vs campers proved to be an even match. I (Ryan) loved being able to swim at Emily’s every day because it’s my favorite swim hole on the ranch. Of course, any day at the swim hole ended in a trek up the swim hole trail, leaving us sweaty and wanting a shower. Fortunately, the shower was remodeled by a previous outpost crew so that we were able to take showers-and not just cold ones. I often spent my time after the swim hole running or reading. It was really nice to be clear of distractions and find some time to really relax.

Dinner each day was an impressive feat of teamwork. Feeding fifteen people is no easy task. Fortunately, our amazing counselors Nick and Kira were able to guide us in our culinary pursuits and we ate a wonderful dinner each night. Eating family-style along the large wooden magical table (a story for another time) was a really great experience for all of us. Although we ate like this at main camp, this was a much more serene experience outside and under the trees.

Nights at the outpost were sure to be fun. Early nights of the outpost were filled with shouts of “COUP! COUP!” and in the end they progressed to enthusiastic rounds of the game “Murder” (in the light/dusk/dark). As older campers, we certainly lacked the ardor of the younger campers but nevertheless enjoyed dramatic double taps and impromptu card games.

Each night, we slept in a quaint circle of beds around a big tree near the cabin. Everyone had a comfortable bed which was fabulous after a long day. Before lights out we went in a circle sharing our favorite parts of the day, what we were excited for, and if we had any, things we didn’t like. It was great to end each night this way, as it let you know how excited people were for tomorrow’s projects and let everyone share something they loved about the day.

Being CILTs came with more opportunities to take on leadership roles and help out counselors Nick and Kira, who worked really hard to make sure everyone had an awesome time. We led dishwashing teams, group wide games, and helped prepare and cook meals. It was often hard work, but everyone on the outpost stepped up and made sure all the food was prepared, each dish was washed, and that everyone thoroughly enjoyed each game of “murder in the dark”. It was an incredibly special experience to take on more leadership at the outpost and watch each project start, develop, and eventually (thanks to everyone’s hard work) end. By the end of the week we all felt an amazing sense of accomplishment, and as CILTs it’s wonderful to see people work hard on projects and even better to see them proud and happy when they’ve finished one. Emily’s outpost is an amazing trip for anyone, but it was especially rewarding, memorable, and fun as CILTS; it was a highlight of the summer for both of us. It wasn’t only work, we had amazing times at the fantastic Emily’s swim hole, rest hour, games, meal time, hot showers (thanks to previous outpost groups), and lots of opportunities to work on special projects or just take time for ourselves. In our spare time we made a bench swing for the porch of Emily’s cabin out of a 4×12 board that we stained, and now future campers for years to come can swing on the bench and come up with their own special projects, read, talk to other campers, or anything else. It was our way of leaving a mark on Emily’s, and on camp as a whole. Hopefully, that bench will stay there for years to come so that we can sit on it when we return to the ranch.

Now, looking back on Summer, our days at Emily’s are some of the ones that we miss most. Sure, we were away from some of our friends but that didn’t prevent us from enjoying our time there. Emily’s was an incredibly unique experience that we’ll take with us for the rest of our lives. It is amazing to be a part of the camp tradition that hasn’t existed for the entirety of our camp careers and that it finally resurfaced in our last year. While both of us had qualms going into the trip about spending one of our last two weeks as campers away from main camp, we wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. It was truly one of the most special episodes of camp in our long and storied history at camp.

Clara and Ryan are both longtime Bar 717 Campers.