Trip Report

We enjoyed an outstanding Summer Camp with a wonderful group of Obsidians, inviting and comfortable facilities, a hard-working and friendly camp staff, interesting hikes, and near perfect weather!
Camp Ruzicka (named for our Board President, Angie Ruzicka, as is our tradition) was headquartered at Lake Creek Youth Camp (LCYC), near the Strawberry Mountains and Strawberry Wilderness south of John Day, in Central Oregon. LCYC is operated as a non-profit on a special use permit from the Malheur National Forest, and is located in an area of open forest and range near the edge of the Wilderness. About 20 campers took advantage of the comfortable bunkhouse cabins, with 2–4 campers to a cabin. Tent campers found lots of room to spread out in the shady, grassy area between the irrigation canal and the creek, while RVs set up in the open field beyond the parking area. It was a bit of a challenge to haul our camping gear from the cars to our camping spots, but many hands and a couple of garden carts were very helpful. Two bathhouses provided a total of 13(!) sinks, toilets, and hot showers.
The Lodge is a beautiful wood-beamed building that houses a dining area, kitchen, and a lounge with couches, books, and games. Outside, several picnic tables provided additional fresh air seating. Buffet-style breakfasts and dinners were served by the hard-working cooks and staff. During breakfast time, a variety of items were set out on separate tables for folks to assemble their own sack lunches. Thank you, Toby’s, for the donation of the paté that we brought with us! If we thought that we would lose weight while at camp, we soon discovered that it was not to be. I cannot thank the LCYC staff enough for their friendliness, hard work, and excellent meals!
The hub for our daily activities was a covered outdoor shelter with a concrete floor, counter space, electricity, and a few picnic tables. Some of us met in a nearby grassy area for stretching sessions before breakfast. Coffee and hot water for tea were made available by camp staff here in the mornings (Thank you, camp caretaker Rex, for turning the coffee urns on to brew at 4:30 AM!). Bulletin boards were set up here with reference maps and information that Bea Fontana had carefully laid out. Nearby tables held the clipboards with the hiking signup sheets, pencils, and camp booklets. Each afternoon, hungry hikers met here to socialize and sample Obsidian-provided snacks and lemonade. The concessions table offered Obsidians Camp bandanas and logo items for sale, while we gathered to await the dinner bell.
Each morning, most of us piled into cars to head out for a day of hiking adventure. By the end of the week, our group had gone on at least a dozen different hikes. The most frequently visited trail was High Lake/Slide Lake (8 trips, 70 hikers), a short, easy, restful place to hang out and swim. Almost everyone saw mountain goats and kids there, sometimes up very close! Also popular were hikes to Strawberry Lake/Strawberry Falls/Little Strawberry Lake (6 trips, 41 hikers), Strawberry Mountain Summit (5 trips, 48 hikers), Malheur River Recreation Trail (4 trips, 30 hikers), and Monument Rock/Bull Run Rock (2 trips, 21 hikers). Hikers on trails that passed through wildfire burn scars found the tread considerably overgrown by ceanothus brush, which required considerable route-finding skill and resourcefulness. Other nearby adventures included walks from camp to nearby Big Creek, bike rides on local Forest Service roads, and fishing. Excursions away from camp included trips to the John Day Fossil Beds Painted Hills Unit, and to John Day, Canyon City, and Prairie City. A tour of the Kam Wah Chung State Historical Site & museum was very worthwhile. Unfortunately, some of the other area museums were not open during our stay.
Back in camp, we entertained ourselves with games of cornhole, badminton, and volleyball. Vern Marsonette planned a hilarious team competition game that involved throwing accuracy, puzzle assembly speed, and kazoos (?). Okay, you just had to be there! One picnic table was dedicated to weaving friendship bracelets. Hammocks were strung for naps and books were read.
Because of the wildfire risk, campfires were not allowed. We held our evening gatherings in the outdoor shelter, with café lights lending a bit of ambiance. After dinner one evening, Teresa Bowen and Diantha Hull led a rousing songfest. In addition to announcements, we enjoyed a mixer activity that helped folks get to know each other, heard creative and fun trip reports from the day’s adventures, including an epic audience participation performance of the hit song I See, I See, A Sea of Ceanothus. We heard a Northern Paiute story, How the Stars Got Their Twinkle and Why Coyote Howls To The Sky, honored our current Obsidians Board President, Angie Ruzicka, for all of her hard work on our behalf, and thanked the kitchen staff with a standing ovation for their efforts (plus head cook, Diane, gifted us the coveted recipe for Crème Brulee French Toast!) On the last night, we were treated to a clear dark sky and an almost full lunar eclipse. It was magical!
Bringing Summer Camp to life takes a community. I am beyond grateful for the contributions of so many Obsidians who made this year’s camp possible: the 2026 Summer Camp study group (Angie Ruzicka, Kristen Anderson, Denise Rubenstein, Lisa Van Liefde, Jim Northrop), the Summer Camp Committee (Angie Ruzicka, Committee Chair; Pam Caples, Treasurer and Registrar), Lana Lindstrom (insurance, worthy advisor), Camp Book editors (Holger Krentz, Angie Ruzicka, Sandra Sigrist), Scout Trip (Angie Ruzicka, Sandra Sigrist), Bulletin article authors (Sue Wolling, Marti Gerdes), Food Liaison (Kristen Anderson), Snack Maven (Kim Davidson-Ruby), Bulletin boards (Bea Fontana), Concessions (Lynn Meacham, Nancy Whitfield), the mixer activity (Susan Wanser, Angie Ruzicka, Nancy Whitfield), the President’s Honor Guard (Dorothy Van Winkle, Denise Rubenstein, Nancy Whitfield), and the Setup/Check-in Crew (Angie Ruzicka, Darko Sojak, Steve Johnson, Lynn Meacham, Bea Fontana, Alex Lockhart). And to everyone who saw a need during camp and stepped up to help, thank you!