A man lives on the 10th floor of an apartment building. He uses the elevator to go down to the lobby every day, but every time returns to his apartment he only takes the elevator to the 7th floor before taking the stairs up the last 3 floors. However, if it is raining he will ride the elevator all the way to the 10th floor. Why?

It’s Monday June 16th and session 1B is starting off with a bang! And by bang I mean Rusty Walden’s famous pre-Morning Yell speech: “Gentlemen, lend me your ear! For today is a new day, and a glorious day! We must proclaim our presence to the world with the sound of a thousand rushing rivers, a thousand screeching bald eagles, and a thousand horses stampeding across the mesa! So when I raise my fist, you know what to do.” After a delicious and manly breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, and biscuits the 103 men of Timberlake yelled the loudest and strongest yell of the summer. By the end of Adam Boyd’s chapel about the importance of the Bible and why our chapels are so strongly focused on the relationship between the Holy Trinity and men, the beautiful mountainside was already warming up for another gorgeous day at camp.

The now completely full camp was teeming with excitement and energy as the first classes of the session kicked off at 9:30. Trevor C. dominated an intense game of “Jail” in Tennis after the class worked on backhand and Wes H. showed off his artistic side with an impressive vase in his first pottery class of the year. Swimming jumped right into Breast Stroke and Freestyle lessons after their safety talk but ended class with Bryce K. showing off his picture perfect dives into Lake Doris. Riflery, equipped with some new slings and a strong desire to earn bars held a prone shooting clinic where the boys leaned some finer points of this deceivingly difficult-to-master position. The class was amazed when Thomson B. shot a very strong 1½ inch group from his National Matches worthy sitting position to bring him one step closer to his Silver Bar.

Since today was picture day the whole camp looked sharp for Taco in a Bag right after their pictures. This camp favorite is a wonderfully simple Mexican lunch of taco meat, salsa, cheese, lettuce, and any number of other toppings all tossed together in a bag of Fritos. The question on everyone’s mind is not “Is this the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted?”, but “Do I have time to pour this on my plate or should I just eat it right out of the bag?” (Most of the kids ate in silence with a bag of Fritos and taco meat in one hand, a fork in the other, and a huge smile).

Directly after lunch tribal elections were held to fill the incredibly important openings after we said goodbye to some of our tribal leaders on Saturday’s closings. Herbert “Hache” de S. and Archie B. were elected as Lookouts to help Chief Will C. and Med-Man Josh H. lead the mighty Seminoles. Lawton H. and Hudson S. were also elected to the respected role of Lookout. The two of them will join their Chief Quinn M. and newly elected Med-Man David G. in leading the powerful Iroquois for the next 2 weeks. Congratulations men!

Everyone needs a good long rest time after such a beautiful and hot morning, but by the time they were released for Trading Post (or just “TraPo”) and free time, the boys were raring to go again. Mountain biking hosted a safety and training ride in preparation for their upcoming trip and the Thunderball pit was full or high-energy kids as usual. The ever popular Free Swim offered an excellent opportunity to cool off and for Brenden D. to show off his signature Cannonballs. Ryan C. stunned the crowd with some mind blowing flips and tricks off the diving boards. Tyler S. was not the least bit upset about loosing 3ft. of tippet to a healthy 2lb. bass in the lake as “even a rough day fly fishing is better than a good day at school”.

After free time the afternoon activities offered more opportunities for the boys to grow, learn, and have fun in ways never conceivable outside of camp. Fernando B. and Josef M. blazed through the low ropes courses like long time pros in their Camp Craft classes. In his kayaking class Grant H. showed off his prefect Paddle Rolls and Wet Exit to the class as they learned basic kayak safety. Caio de A., inspired by the ongoing World Cup, was an inspiration and a leader in his Soccer class as they did passing and team coordination drills. During a classic NC mountains 10min. long thunderstorm the Soccer class also decided a Beluga Whale would make the best goalie of any animal. Go figure… The Wrestling class worked on footwork and proper stance as Paintball talked about proper gun mount and shooting movement techniques.

By mid afternoon Henry M., Harrison C., and Jack E. had returned from their kayaking adventures on the Nantahala. Even though it was their first time Jack and Henry proved themselves to be impressively strong kayakers on even such a challenging and violent river as the Nantahala. Cody F. recalls that “all the guys paddled exceptionally well and had a blast. It was an amazing trip and a beautiful day on the river!”.

After an awesome dinner of Chicken Lo mein and eggrolls the boys were informed that the evening activity would be the timeless tradition of Sock War. The dining hall erupted in cheering and chanting in excitement as Sock War is one of, if not the, most beloved and cherished Evening Activities in the history of Camp Timberlake. The intense combination of Capture the Flag and Dodge Ball (but with knotted socks and all around camp) brings out the best of both tribes and their leaders. The match was close as always and the announcement of the winner tomorrow at lunch will undoubtedly be one of the proudest moments of the session for the victors. But wait, it’s only 7:30, there’s more! Soon after the tribal activity each cabin will be setting off on its own adventure! Tomahawk will be making S’mores at the Camp Craft building. Little Piney will be making its own S’mores up on Spencer’s before spending the night at the Mark. Big Piney will be having a free swim and Stomper’s Knob will be hiking to the Shelter for a cookout and a night on top of the world. Finally Big and Little Slaty will join Grey Beard to watch reruns and the end of the US v. Ghana World Cup match.  It’s ‘Merica Monday and what better way to end it than cheering on our country in one of the biggest sports events in the world? Go USA!

He is a little person who can only reach the “7th Floor” button, but carries an umbrella with him when it rains and can then press “10”. –riddle courtesy of Thomson B.