Trip Report

Welcome Back Summer Camp!

Summer Camp is back after a three year hiatus. This year we made our camp at the Cascade Peaks Campground near the town of Packwood, Washington. This gave us hiking access to not only Mt Rainier but also Goat Rocks and Mt Adams. It's always a weather gamble going to the Mt Rainier area where I've encountered snow, even in August, but our week was filled with mostly blue skies giving us spectacular views with bountiful wildflowers and occasional glimpses of wildlife. With such a vast area to hike in our group participated in over 40 hikes to at least 22 different destinations. Naches Peak was the most popular hike with six trip reports followed by Silver Falls with five and Burroughs Mt, and Skyline Loop with four each.

A typical day of Summer Camp began with a hot drink from the coffee table followed by a hearty breakfast of oatmeal or cereal with toppings, fresh fruit, and muffins. After breakfast campers would prepare their lunch for the day from a great selection of breads, fillings, chips, and cookies before getting their gear together for the day's hike. After returning campers could get a hot shower from either the campground restrooms or our own Obsidian shower house before having a delicious meal prepared by Dan and Chris of Bonanza BBQ & Catering. We ended the day with a campfire where we made announcements, heard trip reports, gave awards, offered up some interesting speeches, and honored our three term President, Maryanne Reiter, with the President’s Tea.

Summer Camp always involves a lot of work in preparation and execution and wouldn't happen at all without a lot of Obsidians working together so I wanted to be sure to thank these lead people for their help in making this year's Summer Camp a success.

Booklet editor – Joel Greer
Breakfast – Richard Hughes & Randy Sinnott
Brewmasters – Judy Terry & Karla Rusow
Bulletin Board and Signup Sheets – Bea Fontana
Campfire – Sam Tracer
Camp Clean-up – Jonathan Jost
Concessions – Nancy Whitfield
Duties Roster – John Jacobsen
Dinner set-up and clean-up – Julie Dorland & Beth Roy
Dishwashers Evening – Jim Pierce & Suzanne McQueen
Dishwashers Morning – David Strutin
Egg Boilers – Holger Krentz & Marguerite Cooney
Evening Beverages – Kathie Carpenter & Emily Rice
Greeters – Lynn Meacham & Linda Anson
Lunch clean-up – Joanna Alexander & Valerie Metcalfe
Lunch prep – Lyndell Wilken & Lynn Stearney
Lunch set-up – Sue Wolling, Susan Wanser, & Brenda Kame'enui
Menu Planning & Food Purchase – Lynn Stearney & Lana Lindstrom
Oatmeal Chef – Diantha Hull
President’s Tea – Marci Hansen
Registrar and Treasurer – Dave Hawkins
Safety – Lyndell Wilken
U-Haul truck drivers – Brad Bennett & Holger Krentz

I especially want to thank our Summer Camp Committee Chairperson and tireless Summer Camp Coordinator for all of her experience, wisdom, and tireless energy in making Summer Camp a great annual Obsidian event, Lana Lindstrom.