By Everett Watterson

When I heard that there was going to be a revival of the outpost program, the first in twelve years, I immediately knew that I wanted to go.  When I applied for the second week, I didn’t get in, I was not extremely sad, because it meant that I could spend more time doing programs. The night of the Community Barbecue and the night before the Outpost left, my friend and I were sitting under the apple trees, waiting for the guests to arrive, when Nick came up to me and told me that I had gotten into Emily’s! I was the last person on the waitlist.

The next day, hiking up the trail from the swimming hole, on the other side of the river, we were too busy avoiding poison oak to talk much, but once we reached the trail to the Gap and started walking down to Corral Creek, we were able to talk. When we reached the top of the hill overlooking the meadow we saw the cabin, and re-energized by the sight of our destination, we increased our pace. When we reached the cabin, we unloaded the truck and started to explore. I got one of the last picks on my bed, and I got one with a huge dent in the middle. I was a little annoyed, but in the next couple of days, I would come to realize that a dent in the bed was good for raising your head above your body, because I had forgotten my pillow.

I went into the cabin to check it out. It was about 20×15 and inside was a 1950s era stove, some pots and pans, an old water heater, and a butcher block countertop. There was a ladder that led up to the loft, which had an old bed frame in it. There was a bookcase in the back that had all sorts of old trinkets, such as gas cans and packaged food tins. It felt humbling to be in a structure that had been built by kids my age, three generations ago, who were also on an outpost. These relics furthered that feeling. After lunch, we went to the swimming hole. The trail was very steep and technical, but the swimming hole was worth it. I like the Emily’s swimming hole much more than the normal swimming hole because it has a jumping rock and is very smooth and calm. After we all swam, we began the treacherous hike back up to the cabin.

The next day, Jean taught me how to make shakes, which are hand-split shingles, so I did that for project time. They were for the spring box lid, the old one of which had long since rotted away. After lunch, the water stopped running! Nick asked for two volunteers to go to Big Flat and fix it with him, so Jack and I volunteered. We drove up to Big Flat, where they hold the long shoot, and walked into the forest with some tools and water. We found a connection that had popped out and popped it back in. We walked downstream to the water tank and found that it was completely empty. The pipe had probably broken over a week ago and we had just been using the water from the tank. We went to check out the other tank and found that it had also been disconnected. We tried to fix it, but we couldn’t. We explored a little more and then headed back.

The next morning, we had breakfast, and Jack and I nailed the shakes that I had split the previous day onto the spring box. It was during this that I got my first and last injury of the trip (aside from a slightly turned ankle). I was getting some more nails for the shakes when I stepped on a shake, which then flew up and hit me in the face. It hurt, but I kept on working. I finished up the job with the shakes and sat down to rest.

I volunteered to stay home from the swimming hole and got to swim in the horse trough and play the bean game (Bohnanza) That night, we played a game called Murder in the Dark. It was the best game that I had ever played. The concept is that the gamemaster picks a murderer, and we all run off, murderer included. The murderer, unbeknownst to the rest of us, taps someone on the shoulder. Ten seconds later, that person dies a silent death. When someone finds the person, they call out, “Murder in the Dark!”, and we all congregate to discuss who did it, and then call it to a vote.

The next day, Quillen and I worked on re-doing the drain, which was previously non-existent. We got a piece of rubber flashing and tied it to the drainpipe with a screw tie. The drainpipe led straight to the foundation of the cabin, so we dug it up and routed it down a hill to a vernal pond. After lunch, we went down to Emily’s swimming hole and river-walked up to Below May’s. The day before, the people who went to the river discovered a new jumping rock there- Abe’s Dad’s Point. It is now the second highest jumping rock at camp.

When we returned to main camp on the Friday I immediately joined the firehose dance where all of the campers were dancing the Amos Moses to every dance. It was very fun and hectic, and a bit of culture shock too, after four days four miles from camp. Going to the outpost changed me for the better. I learned tons of new skills and I also met so many new friends. We chat every day in a very long iMessage conversation! (Once, I got 72 messages in six hours) In late August, I went back up to camp for alumni weekend with my family, because my grandma worked as a ceramicist there in the 1980s.  Both my dad and my aunt were campers during that period, too. I spent most of my time with Weston and Olin, but we went on a hiking excursion to the Bar 7 and to Emily’s in a car. It was all the same as I remembered it, and there was a swing that had been added during the third session. The drain still worked, and that was probably my favorite part about the outpost: making lasting changes to a place that people will enjoy for generations to come, partly because of my efforts! I had the time of my life at Emily’s, and I would wholly and totally recommend it to any camper who is interested.