Camp Update

By Boyd Ruppelt

Photos

The realization hit me recently that WOW! I have a LOT to catch up on… I’ve been so busy I haven’t even had a chance to think about it… so here goes the ‘cliff’s notes’ version:

So, for those that don’t know or don’t remember. I spent a couple months in rehab for my back… stabilizing my lumbar spine while trying to regain mobility in my thoracic spine… long story short: the physical therapy crowd at Momentum Physical Rehab did AWESOME and I was finally cleared by the doctor for action… (still dealing with 2 bulging discs in my lumbar spine… but a HUGE improvement from where I was) That very weekend me and Samantha were in an extremely bad car crash (both of us are completely fine) but my truck wasn’t to say the least…. Basically, she flipped us off a 50′ hill at 70mph, a 100′ and a bunch of rolls later we were trapped in the cab and it was on fire. We got out just in time with only a few scratches… We had some serious help on this one…a true miracle that we’re alive, not to mention having only a few scratches and bruises! I promised pictures of my truck so here goes:

After that, I bought a new 2007 Toyota Tacoma! I’m now in love with my new truck… though I miss the sweet setup on my old one…. the gas mileage is SaWEET and it drives extremely well!… It’s always amazing how disaster can bring bigger blessings.

After that I was off with Samantha to Kia Kima Scout Reservation, a Boy Scout camp in AR, working as the Business Manager and Kayak Instructor… Samantha worked as the Nature Lodge Director and as another Kayak Instructor being a HUGE help with the kayak instruction and a favorite instructor at the camp overall! The best part about working at camp is seeing the reaction when all those young guys get to try new things and overcome new challenges. Kayaking always tends to be the adventure of choice with these guys! They LOVE it! The progression in a lot of those guys was stunning… a few of them picked it up in no time and a lot of them left finding ways to do it again as a troop…

Last weekend on our way back from camp, Arkansas got DRENCHED with heavy rains and strong storms. So I took off with Sam in search of some of Cherokee Village’s steepest spillways and creeks! Anyone who’s ever been to Hardy, Arkansas knows better than to think about ‘local creeking.’ But being from memphis, I’ve learned that when it rains that hard and there’s that many lakes around and not much else to do… it’s a good time to go looking for some local entertainment. I didn’t have my creekboat with me so Sam let me grab her pink punk rocker for a couple hours of boat abuse and good times.

The first spillway had about an 8 or 10 ft man-made drop into a shallow sticky hole, followed by a manky sliding cascade….
The funny thing about this "illegal" drop is that it is directly facing the local police station with only a two lane road in between… we were hoping they were busy as quite a crowd had gathered around the spillway… all went well and we left fast with another cascade in mind just up the road.

The next one is an impressive, 150-200 yd stretch of high quality class IV+ whitewater flowing out of Thunderbird Lake. A spillway gives way into a natural creek bed before flowing through a sliding enterance and off a beautiful 7 or 8 foot waterfall. The creek immediately splits into 2 distinct channels, the right one being a completely fun, runnable, boulder garden with 2 more drops to run, the other involving a flume and a tight waterfall onto a shallow rock shelf that would probably hurt. The amazing thing about it is that the sharp and jumbled riverbed here is all carved out of one big slab of rock and never stops it’s entire way through the park. This made for one long, fast, fun rapid through the park.

Plenty more updates to come!

Boyd 🙂