Shadow Valley Camp: Sorry we're late

Yesterday was a blur of activity. Work in the morning and then a hike to the high mountain lake Darling in the afternoon. The hikers set off with a myriad of plans; fishing, swimming, and napping. Some of our group reached the lake well before others but in the end we all made the trek and found ourselves facing one of the more spectacular views that God has ever created. At that time various plans were put into action to varying degrees of success. Tim managed a nap in his hammock that he carried. Nathan, Misha, Dave, and Karen headed around the lake and managed to catch around 20 fish, unfortunately, Tom was left with no worms and no trail to follow and managed to fish only for mud as he worked his way around the opposite side of the lake. But he was not alone. Kristina waded into Lake Darling and it responded warmly wrapping its muddy shores around her legs right up to her thighs. At this point Kristina decided that perhaps the lake was a bit too fresh and she kept her feet planted firmly out of the water for the rest of the time.
In the evening there was a rush to finish out the chess and ladder golf tournaments. Nathan and Megan beat out Myleah and Chris at Ladder Golf and Chris and Kaitlyn played a tense game of chess ending in a stalemate. As they began another game the air was full of anticipation and in the end Kaitlyn won the game setting up a father-daughter final game and securing the trophy no matter the outcome for Goat. Randy did manage to pull out a win but next year may be Kaitlyn's year.
This morning we said tearful goodbyes to the Becks and Uthoffs and found ourselves amazed at how the time flew by. But we entrust them to God's care for another year remembering fondly the laughs and joy of their presence and anticipating being with them again next year.