Tradition reborn

The "Farmhouse" (left) with office, housing, and dining hall.
The "Bungalow" (right) our home away from home for a week.
The rest of the cabins are more rustic - we lucked out with a
floor and bathroom to ourselves!

We just returned from a refreshing vacation in the Adirondacks. It was more than a vacation though. It was a visit into my husband's past. In the late 1800's his great grandparents had a hand in starting a rustic hiking camp and for many years, off and on, generations of his family have gone to that camp. We've been talking about going there for years and we finally got is squared away and went for a week.

We were not alone. We were with 16 other family members all returning for the first time in many years. Ever since I first heard about the camp, I've heard about things like "The Stoop", the pancake flag, drak chocolate chunks, recitations, hikes, waterfalls, "The Ladies Pool" and more. It was a delight for all of us to find that many of those things still exist and really haven't changed much!

A typical day at camp goes like this... Breakfast between 7am and 9am - which always includes some freshly baked delight, oatmeal, coffee, and hot milk kept warm on a small wood stove, fresh fruit, yogurt, and eggs cooked to order. Then each person packs their own lunch from the items provided - usually peanut butter and jelly or deli meat, nuts, fruit, and chunks of dark chocolate chipped off of a huge block, and freshly baked cookies.

Most of the group hiked Mt. Jo
in Lake Placid - my first "23er"

After those two meals are all set, it's time to head out for the adventure of the day. We had a large group that varied in age from 8 to almost 80 so we sometimes did things as a whole group and sometimes we broke up into smaller groups and did a variety of activities. The list of things done includes: Hiking three "23ers" (mountains with elevations around 2,300 feet) and one 46er (... around 4,600 feet), swimming in waterfalls or sliding on the river rock slides, canoeing/kayaking at a nearby pond, visiting Lake Placid including a few of the Olympic venues or visiting the Museum of the Adirondacks. Even though we had 18 people to get moving in the right direction every day, it went surprisingly well most days!

"Swishing the Swash" - a term used for sliding down
the river rocks into the pools below.

After returning from the adventure of the day, many people choose to visit one of the three "pools" at camp. There is a mountain brook that comes right through camp and traditionally there have always been three pools - a "Ladies Pool", a "Men's Pool" and a "Family/Alternate Pool". Unfortunately Hurricane Irene did some major rearranging of the brook last August so the pools lack much of the traditional privacy and most folks no longer opt to skinny dip in their respective pool. The pools are lovely though... if a bit chilly. The warmest the water ever was while we were there was 62 degrees. That's cold. But for someone like me who is still recovering from hip surgery, it was perfect as it was like sitting in an ice bath that soothed my aches away. It was the best that my hip has felt since surgery and I had pushed it a bit by hiking more than I should have. (Don't scold me Mom. I said "no" when it was too much. :-)) There is biodegradable soap at each pool so if you wanted to, you could just bathe there all week and skip the hot showers. I did a little of both.

Then folks gather for cocktails and snacks as dinner isn't served until 7pm. This is a great time to share stories of the day, whittle your new hiking stick, play some whiffle ball or croquet, and begin discussions about the follow day's activities. It's also a great time to have a glass of wine and some Advil for those that might have overdone it during the day.

Dinner is served promptly at 7pm. There is a dress code for dinner and if you are late, there is a silly song that everyone sings to you. Dinner is served family style and the food is fantastic! I haven't had such good roast beef and Yorkshire pudding in a long time! Each meal has three courses - salad, entree, and delectable dessert.

Campfire - we developed a reputation for singing a lot.
According to the old journals, it's not a new reputation for this family!

After dinner most folks head up to "The Stoop" for coffee and tea, games, songs and recitations, and planning of the next day. The Stoop is an open air building with logs dating back to the 1800's, photo albums, maps, books, games, a fireplace, and rustic furniture. It was much fun to listen to various family members sing songs or perform recitations done by their grandparents many years ago and to find log entries from when my husband was a child. One of my favorite evenings was when my husband read the book out loud to the family that had been read to them as children complete with the intonations and word play done by the original reader - the kids loved it and soon we had other people's kids sitting on The Stoop listening to him read. Another favorite evening was sitting by the campfire singing and listening to more recitations.

Because the days are so packed, things wrap up pretty early at The Stoop and most folks head to bed around 10pm. There is no TV, no internet, no cell service etc at the camp and many nights we fell asleep listening to the brook, the owls, and the peepers.

The whole experience was like stepping back in time and it was wonderful! I'm not sure if we will be able to go every year but it certainly won't be 25 years until we go back!