Stuck - Part I

I didn't want to let him down. That was my sole reason for going in in the first place. Trouble was, it was nearly a mistake I couldn't live with.

We were staying in the Adirondack cabins up on the hill during that sweltering week of July Scout camp. Only High Adventure Scouts got to stay up there. The younger Scouts had to sleep in the regular tents with large wooden pallets beneath them. I'd stayed in those a million times, it seemed, beginning when I was a Boy Scout myself and ending the year before as a leader. I always found way too many spiders, Daddy Longlegs mostly, in my sleeping bag.

The Adirondacks were different, though. They were square, wooden cabins with three walls, the open side actually a large porch that overlooked the valley. Bunk beds were built along the inside, up to six people sleeping in each cabin. The smell of cut pine greeted you each day when you awoke, and it was the last thing you smelled at the end of the day. They reminded me of small ski chalets, only it was a lot hotter.

We'd arrived at Camp Powhatan on Saturday evening, a full day ahead of the rest of the campers. Church on Sunday morning and a quick lunch at mom's house broke up the weekend. When we arrived back at camp that Sabbath evening, it was crawling with Scouts, young and old.

Having unpacked the day before, I went into my Adirondack and got my towel, a razor, some soap and some new clothes. It was hot, and I wanted to take a cool shower and get a fresh start to the week.

After drying off and getting dressed, I went out to the water trough that served as a wash basin, my trusty razor in hand. Every year I'd gone to Scout camp as an adult I'd shaved my balding head to the scalp, prompting many of the boys to call me Stone Cold. The boys had almost begun to expect it, and I was not one to disappoint.

That night I felt very comfortable lying in my bed, the cool pillow feeling refreshingly cool against my bare head. "Lights Out" had been called several minutes before and I was ready for some serious rest in anticipation of the high adventure week. The only problem was that James Jackson snores.

James is one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. He's a faithful member, loving father and devoted scout leader. But he could snore the stripes off a zebra.

Several years before he'd been sleeping in a tent that was several tents down from mine. He'd kept me awake nearly the entire first night. The next day I moved my stuff several more tents away and across the compound. I could still hear him through the foam ear plugs I'd bought at the camp store, but it wasn't enough to keep me from sleeping.

This night, though, he was sleeping in the bunk directly above me. Having prepared for such inevitability, I'd bought some extra strength ear plugs before I traveled to camp. Those, along with the Tylenol PM I took, kept me sleeping hard the whole night. They had to shake me the next morning before they left for breakfast. I hadn't heard a thing.

To get to the mess hall from where we were staying, you had to descend from your mighty perch on the hill and then meander across the parade grounds, a long piece of grass where everyone assembled each morning to greet the day. When I was a kid during the 70s, one night I'd taken all of my clothes off and streaked across this grass. Today I was dressed in a camp T-shirt and scruffy jeans.

Most days the other 200+ scouts in camp were already there when we arrived, dressed and ready for the Pledge, the Scout Law and an opening prayer. Today was no different.

"Decided to join us, huh?" joked Larry, who was at the back of our chow line. Larry was the Scoutmaster of our troop, but at 26 he looked more like 14. A Major in the Air Force, he was literally a Rocket Scientist, but he was also repeatedly mistaken for one of the Scouts.

I smiled and stretched my arms high above my head. "Yea, I guess I slept pretty well."

Our High Adventure scouts were ready to eat. There's was the privilege of going into the mess hall first since they had to get out into the rivers, lakes or caves before too much daylight was burned. Today, the first day of camp, we were going caving, so the younger scouts gave us some sideways looks as we sauntered in in our holey jeans and t-shirts. They were all required to wear their Class B uniforms to breakfast, so we felt special.

After cramming down some pancakes, a little cold cereal, and some fruit and milk, we were on the bus and ready to go. I was particularly excited about today's activity as Spelunking had always been a favorite activity of mine when I was growing up in Southwestern Virginia. The hills there are laced with relatively soft limestone, and with names like Pig Hole, Stompbottom, Locomotive Breath, and Smokehole, caves are everywhere. Today we were on our way to one named Horsehead.

Horsehead Cave lies in the middle of Pulaski County, about a 25-minute bus ride from the camp. We were all excited to get there, if not for the adventure of Spelunking, then for the fact that it was only 45 degrees inside. It was the only time all week we got a reprieve from the stifling heat.

Coming soon - Part II - The conclusion