Summer Vacation 2009

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION

If you read my blog, I'm sure you're aware of my love of the mountains, particularly Mingus Mountain. From my front yard in the valley I can look northeast and there she is, a mountain range that goes on for miles. I do not know exactly where it begins nor where it ends. At its acme it is 7800 feet in elevation with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees cooler than here in the valley.

When the opportunity arose to volunteer at the Mingus Mountain Methodist Youth Camp, Lloyd and I embraced the idea of spending a couple of weeks on the cool, pine-studded mountain.

We set up our travel trailer and joined a few other work campers in the private on-site "workcamper" campground.

Our work duties were helping with food preparation and cleanup in the kitchen, which didn't seem like work at all, it was more like hanging out with friends. Evenings after the day was done, we visited with our new-found workcamper friends, congregating outside our place overlooking the meadow where we watched deer and elk come down to feed at dusk. Other times we exchanged stories and experiences sitting around a campfire.

On our early morning and early evening strolls around Mingus Lake we marveled at the patience and intensity of the Blue Herons standing perfectly still, frozen as statues along the shallow waters edge waiting for a fish to swim into the space it had staked out for himself.

Hiking is something we enjoyed as well, and there are never a shortage of hiking trails to choose from, rating from easy, moderate to difficult, winding through oak, ponderosa pines and juniper. A variety of wildlife inhabit the mountainous terrain, and hiking early morning or late afternoon is the best time to view elk, deer, bear, javalina, wild turkey or a mountain lion.

Brandon and Chris Hill, Camp Managers, treated us more like guests than workers. After sixteen years of managing a busy schedule of campers and employees they make it look so easy, however easy as it may seem to the casual observer, there is more to it than meets the eye to ensure this smooth operation.

All too soon our alloted time at the camp came to a close and it was time to move on. But I have many happy memories of how I spent my summer vacation.