The Pok-o Patch

On Saturday after dinner, Luke presented the group and Joe with their Pok-o Patches.  The Pok-o Patch is a specific honor created for "campers" at Pok-o-MacCready.

There are four peaks to be summitted to earn the Patch.  That meant four hikes (and an overnight) for the group.  The first was Bare Mountain, on Saturday evening.  The second was Rattlesnake Mountain on Sunday.  The third was the summit of Pok-o-Moonshine, the morning after our overnight stay 0.3 miles below the peak.  The fourth and final mountain was Sugar Loaf, on Thursday afternoon.

All four peaks required the use of snowshoes, and some were more difficult than others to summit.

Bare Mountain:  1198'
Rattlesnake Mountain:  1285'
Sugar Loaf Mountain: 1467'
Pok-o-Moonshine: 2293'

As a part of the presentation of the patches, Luke had the group repeat the Pok-o Pledge.

Congratulations, climbers!

The presentation of the patches after dinner on Saturday.

Luke having the "inductees" recite the Pok-o Pledge.

Astronomy (Saturday evening)

3/21/15
There was some uncertainty about how much of the night sky we would see on Saturday, given the cloud cover overhead.  By the time they'd finished writing their own celestial mythology and layering up, the sk had opened up and hundreds of thousands of stars could be seen overhead.

Art in Nature (Saturday afternoon)

3/21/15
Joe spent Saturday afternoon inviting the students to see art through the lense of nature.  The tone for the session was set indoors, but then everyone headed outside to let the creative juices flow among the trees and trails.

1812 Homestead (Saturday morning)

3/21/15
The week is winding down.  There was no better way to begin Saturday than by visiting the 1812 Homestead.  We visited the School House (where Master MacCready took the students through their paces), the Wood Shop (where craftsman Evan apprenticed us to help him make shingles for the town hall), the Inn (where Baker Tree was baking maple biscuits in a dutch oven), the Candle Shop (where Joe Wicker helped us make candles), and finally to the Sugar Shack and the Blacksmith's Shop.

Early morning at the 1812 Homestead!

Master MacCready is not pleased that the students did not arrive in time to light the fire in the school house.

Lessons in mathematics, literature and penmanship were the order of the day.

Master MacCready making a selection for the students to memorize and recite.

Craftsman Evan explaining that the town hall needs several thousand new shingles for the roof.

Apprentice Olivia hard at work, shaving a shingle

Apprentice Nikoo working at splitting logs.

It takes two to shave off one shingle from the split log.

Baker Tree explaining the step by step process for making maple biscuits in the dutch oven.

The Gazelle was over-seeing the process.

This will be biscuits soon!

Joe Wicker playing his banjo in front of the hearth in the Candle Shop.

Each home would burn at least two candles each evening.

Katniss has nothing on this group.  Using a spile to tap sugar maples!

Using the hand drill to ready the tree to be tapped.

Luke explaining the way to determine which trees are sugar maples.

Blacksmith Charlie showed us some fantastic handiwork, including the fireplace poker he gave to Ms. Hehs as a gift.

Snow Tubing! (Friday night)

3/20/15
Good old fashioned fun was had by everyone while snow tubing down the prepped hill just up the road from Camp.  The starry night was a perfect backdrop for tubing.

Reflection by Sara and Amelia:

When we arrived at the hill we first thought it was going to be a short ride but soon found out it was a ride of a life time. There were two lanes and the girls were trying all sorts of postions. Some of the girls went head first and others decided to make a chain. Also some girls even did a runnning start head first. There was a curve on the hill that none of the girls were expecting so to see there faces when they hit it was priceless. We were blessed with the tempeture because most of the girls were peeling of layers as they came up from the hill. All around this was one of the best night activity yet! 

Lulu giving Nikoo and Sara a push down the snow tubing hill.

The Ice Wall!

3/20/15
Imagine hiking up a small mountain (ok, a hill), turning the corner and running straight into a wall of ice.  That's what greeted the group on Friday morning. The adventure began almost immediately, while trying to find a flat area to set up camp and build a fire.  The whole area was a sheet of ice.

The ice wall was a perfect place to use the skills learned at The Crux. The addition of crampons and ice picks didn't deter our young climbers.  Everyone was able to really "dig" in and climb their way to the top.

Amelia and Sara have this reflection:

Waking up in the morning required a lot of effort on all of our parts but as soon as we smelled the delicious food waiting for us at the Poc-o-Queen we were all ready to start our morning. After our hardy meal of bannana muffins, eggs and oatmeal we drove in the van to an ice wall. This area was by far one of the most beautiful areas that I have ever been to, as you will see in the pictures below. Before we even thought of starting to climb the wall we were given lessons on the proper use of the iems that we would use to hike the ice wall, on the first picture you will see Evan teaching us about crampons.  While some of the girls started to set up for their climb a group stayed back to build a fire. We started with a flame that quickly developed into a perfecf fire for rosting marshmellows and keeping warm. We set up a resting area next to the fire that we used to eat our lunch on, Under the ice wall there was a very slipery patch of ice that we all used to slide on while the girls finished up on the ice wall. After a hard morning of work we came back to the camp were we all took naps and waited for dinner to come.

Evan teaches us the basics of ice climbing.

Amelia attending to the fire

Alexa showing great form on the ice wall.

Kennedi making it to the top of the wall.

The Crux (Thursday evening)

3/19/15
The "crux" of a climb is the most difficult part of the climb, not necessarily the moment at which you reach the summit.  And so, the group set out for the indoor climbing wall, The Crux, to practice their skills for Friday's ice climbing adventure.

They learned to belay (to secure the rope) for their partner, they learned to tie themselves into their harness (mastering the "figure eight" knot) and they "climbed on".  Everyone had a chance to play both roles - the part of the climber and the role of the belayer. It was great practice for the upcoming ice climb!

Lulu has a reflection on her experience:
There's a lot that goes into doing this kind of activity: the climber, the belayer, the instructor, not to mention the balance, strength, and trust needed. I started out as the climber, with Sara as my belayer, which basically meant she was making sure I didn't fall and severely injure myself. Alex, our instructor, was standing right there to make sure nothing went too wrong, so I was not really worried, but that was before I started climbing. At the beginning, it was easy, because there was a lot of hand and foot holds, but as I got higher, it got harder to find a stable place to put my foot, and I started realizing just how high I was and how awful it would be if I fell and Sara couldn't catch me. But once I reached the top, I looked down and saw what an accomplishment it was to be where I was. That didn't stop me from breathing a small sigh of relief once I hit the ground. I didn't have too long to rest, becuase I then had to reverse situations with Sara and make sure she didn't fall. That was a whole new kind of scary, because the responsibility of her health was in my hands. When she climbed up, and then when she came back down in one piece, I breathed another sigh of relief. This activity, though sometimes stressful, was actually really fun, and I love that I had the opportunity to do it.

Alex introducing wall climbing at The Crux

Lulu ascending to the top of the wall

Alex supervising Sara as she practices the "PLUS" (Pull Lock Under Slide) belaying method.