Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Wild Wednesday - Camp Style

Ok, so this happened last week, but it is so WILD Wednesday that I had to post-post it.

We have a Canoggan at Camp. For those who don't know what that is... its a Canoe on Wheels with steering levels and "a brake" that we pile counselors and campers a like in and go cruisin'.


Well, I was assigned to accompany one of the Pine (younger boys) cabins for a ride. My first time ever in it. Their counselor was at the steering levers in the very front. There were 5 young boys and me on "the brake". I was told that the brake is really for aesthetic purposes and bringing a little comfort to the nervous. Well, I for one was a little nervous. I had seen others ride in it and even seen a crash. Actually given the choice, I don't think I would have gone in it, but I wasn't asked. So, we all put on our helmets and knee pads and elbow pads and wrist guards. We piled in and off we went down a winding path.


Having never ridden in it before, I didn't know what was "normal" and had to put my trust in the person steering. We were swerving quite a bit, but I thought the driver was doing it on purpose to make it more fun for everyone. It was fun until we approached a steeper slope and started to go much faster. Still trying to trust it was under control, I said the driver's name to express concern and then waited for a cue to brake. We were going fast and swerving down this winding path and all of a sudden....we flip. Screaming. Me and one of the boys face planted in the dirt. Ah, the gritty taste of dirt. Me and a different camper ended up in the ditch of sticker-y plants. We were all mangled together with the Canoggan on top of us. The Canoggan was lifted off of us and we crawled out of the ditch.

My injuries included a banged up knee (internal only with only bruising visible), a scrape on my hip with quite a bit of bruising, a couple cut toes and some minor scratches. The worst injury was the camper in front of me who's knee pad must have slid down. He ended up with a big hole in his knee. It was pretty gnarly. A few of us took an after photo and we all stopped by the nurses cabin to get fixed up.


A few days later, another counselor gave us each a bracelet for 'surviving the canoggan with Ronnie' (that was the counselor driving). It was definitely a bonding experience for us all.

Canogganing. Only at Camp Augusta!

4 comments:

  1. Great post! That looks more dangerous than kiteboarding. I'm glad you survived to tell the story. I noticed you lost a couple kids somehow between the 'before' and 'after' shots. Do you guys have 'surviving the canoggan' offered during every session?

    The middle boy in the top pic reminds me of the shy kid in Meatballs.

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  2. WOW! One more gnarly adventure. Glad you weren't hurt too badly.

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  3. Looks like fun ... Nice pictures too! ~ Josh U

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