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Here are some photos from my second year on staff at the Teddy Roosevelt
Program Shelter.
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The Teddy Roosevelt
Program Shelter as seen from the Skeet Range. |
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The Teddy Roosevelt Staff
Area, as seen from the Archery Range. It's hard to believe I spent
several summers living in these tents. |
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This deer was the shelter
staff's pet in 1968 and 1969. We fed it fruit and vegetables from
the dining hall, and as time went on, it became bolder and bolder.
Not only would it pass through the archery area as seen here, but it
would also push its head inside the tents if we didn't feed it on
time. During a trip to OSR during the 1968 winter I hiked up to the
Shelter through the snow, where the deer remembered the summer and
came up for food. Luckily I had some with me, but I worried about it
trying the same trick with hunters. Happily it was still there the
next year. |
The Great Flood of 1969
During the 1969 camping season it seemed like we
needed Noah to come back and build another ark. During one session it rained
13 days out of the 14. This was the year Mike Brenner and Jim Van Tassell
canoed all of the way from camp into Livingston Manor, and from there on
to the Delaware River! It was also the
year I received my Eagle Medal in a very wet ceremony in the Amphitheatre.
My dad still reminds me that when he stood up to join me on the stage, he
heard a sucking sound as his shoe vanished into the mud. Ah, the joys of
Onteora! Hopefully you'll be nice and dry as you look at Onteora during
the wettest year anyone can remember.
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This is not a
waterfall! It's actually a trail meeting up with one of the camp
roads. It gives you a pretty good idea of the amount of water
flowing through the property. |
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This is the junction of
the roads to the Chief's and Tribe's Camps. The water was moving
pretty quickly down towards the lake. |
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Due to crowding throughout
the camp in 1969 a number of new campsites were added. These lucky
Scouts are venturing through the Johnny Appleseed campsite, which
was "conveniently" located on the banks of Sprague Brook. |
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This is a view of
something you don't see every day - water flowing over a
bridge! This is on the road out to the Buckskin Camp area, near
Johnny Appleseed. |
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This is the main road - in
fact, the only road - into the camp. Taken from the bridge across
Sprague Brook, it shows how the brook has cut across the road to join
Orchard Lake. At times it got so deep it wasn't safe to cross the
stream. |
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Looking from the Buckskin
Waterfront across the lake towards the Chief's Waterfront. The lake
had risen so high that the dock has all but disappeared beneath the
water. The canoes are tied to the end of the submerged dock. You can
see how brown the lake has become from all of the dirt washed into
it. |
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Another flooded trail. It
sure made hiking interesting! |
I wonder how many first-time campers from
1969 returned in 1970!
If you have any photos of your own please
let me know. In the meantime, you can head back to the main Onteora page
or the main Photos Page.
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