Quite an Ordeal

[yarrow]

Wow.......talk about a real OA ordeal. My son went to his ordeal last weekend when we had an incredible storm come through. Rain, 30 degree temperature drop, snow, hail, lightening. At 2:00am they finally decided the boys had had enough and the lightening was intense so they hiked them 7 miles back in to the lodge. He said he was under a dead tree and the hail was knocking branches off on his head. 3" of hail/snow outside his tarp and below freezing weather. Now that's something to remember.

[purcelce]

Guess that's why the call it an Ordeal

 

I remember mine vividly. It was July 1980 at Camp Roy C. Manchester. Back then all you could take was just a sleeping bag. I was put on the shore of Kentucky Lake. Had no rain, but I slept on a bed of rocks, and had bugs all over me...

[saltheart]

Some folks get all the excitement...

 

Our ordeal overnight, with only the sleeping bag, presented us with perfectly clear skies, fall moon bright and clear (like a light bulb in your face), cool temperatures and no bugs, and soft sweet meadow grass on which to make a bed. Ah yes...I remember it well.

 

Of course, many I participated in after that were downpours at 2:00AM. Guess we were just lucky.

 

[LauraT7]

In Girl scouts, we did a "solo" wilderness test for a patch at camp - but were were to camp on our own - cooking meals, too - and complete a service project of some kind - mine was marking a trail with plant identification signs - which meant more equipment than just sleeping gear. I seem to remember making a pine bough bed and having a tarp over me - not a tent, though. We were allowed to talk - IF we happened to see someone - but few did actually see anyone in the 24 hours alone.

 

so what ARE the boys allowed to take on an ordeal?

 

 

and what about us oldtimers? if I sleep on the ground, someone is going to have to carry me out, as my back would be too stiff to get out of the sleeping bag the next morning. i may not talk - but you sure would hear alot of moaning & groaning! OUCH!

 

lauraT

[eisely]

LauraT7

 

Your question about oldtimers deserves an answer. The OA people in charge of any given ordeal will typically have very limited information about the health issues of any particular candidate. Our lodge is now finally at least asking the right questions. If you or anybody else has any limitation, this should not prevent you from participating in an ordeal, but it should be brought to the attention of the adults in charge so your needs can be properly accomodated and the ordeal still be a meaningful experience.

 

Yarrow's original post reminds me of an incident when I was a scout involving a tornado. It was not an OA event. I was leading an overnight canoe trip on the Lake of the Ozarks ten miles from the main camp. We were in a completely isolated camp site accessible only be water. A tornado passed nearby that night. We got a little wet, but everybody just sucked it up and lived to tell about it. I do remember standing in the rain with the lightning and trees crashing about us asking myself what the h--- I was doing as an 18 year old out there with all these kids.

[Mike Long]

eisely

 

You were having fun. Well, that's the theory anyway.

[MrMic-O-Say]

Its simple! You were donating your one hour a week to the Scouting Program....

 

In Mic-O-Say we have a similar situation to Ordeal where we spend the night away from our troop and their campsite. However, we are always with a buddy. For my night out, I had a small but rahter infected bug bite on my right calf. I had been to the health lodge earlier in the session and the staff knew about it so my "buddy" and I were brought to the front of the line so we would be the closest to camp. That was 17 years ago....