Camp Oljato

Camp Oljato is summer camp for the Scouts. It provides an opportunity to work on merit badges and rank advancement requirements, and to have some extreme fun. Lasting either 1 or 2 weeks, it is located at beautiful Lake Huntington in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at a 6000 ft elevation. Scouts have their choice of activities that include Sailing, Hiking, Motorboating, archery, and much more.

Camp Oljato 2003
by Sally Longyear

Summer camp brings with it a lot of memories. I asked the scouts who attended for some of what they remember. Here are some of the replies that I got:

Oljato this year was great! My highlight was winning a rifle award for being the most accurate and getting first place in an Oljatocade event. - CJ

The most memorable thing that I did at Oljato was COPE (challenging outdoor personal experience). This is a class that takes place during the first two merit badge classes. I spent the first two days of COPE doing team building exercises with the rest of the people in the class. On Wednesday we climbed a "giants ladder" with a partner. It was a giant ladder that had 10 steps in it; the steps got farther apart as you got higher. The next day we did two activities, they were the vine traverse and the leap of faith. For the vine traverse you walk on a steel cable that is suspended above the ground between trees. You can hold on to pieces of rope that are connected to a steel cable above you. The leap of faith takes place after you finish the vine traverse. Once you get across the cable you jump and try to hit a tennis ball. The last day of COPE we went down a zip-line. I really enjoyed COPE and I suggest that you take it next year if you can. - Peter

I really enjoyed my first week at Oljato. I liked the merit badge
opportunities and especially the lanyards and foosball. The only problem was the rain. It rained nearly everyday and canceled many fun activities. However, I look forward to going again next year. - Russell

An Average Oljato Day
by David Veuve,
Former Troop 14 Senior Patrol Leader

Most days at Oljato start out the same, give or take 15 minutes. Somewhere between 6:30 and 7:00, reveille sounds off. “Bear”, the camp’s head commissioner wakes up early to wake everyone else up, and whether you’re up at 6:30 or 7:00 depends on his particular mood for the day. After reveille goes off, all the younger scouts begin to get up. If everyone else is lucky they will change their clothes, and then slowly start to congregate around the fire circle in our campsite. About 7:20, I shout from inside my tent where I still haven’t left the warmth of my sleeping bag, “5 minutes till assembly”, announcing that everyone has to be ready. Oddly enough, at about 7:23, I shout from my cavern of comfort, “Everyone lets go.” 4-5 minutes later, I sprint out of my tent, still putting on my uniform so that I’m not late for morning assembly.
At morning assembly, all the troops line up to hear announcements, and watch the flags go up. Then the most important part of the morning comes; Breakfast. The staff picks whom gets to go in first, and the line begins often with Troop 14 at the front. After a delicious breakfast consisting of eggs, fresh fruit, oatmeal, cereal, and whatever other surprises the cook has ready, everyone gets ready for their first classes. Whenever we had to do latrine duty, it was done during this time. Although this year I went to the SPL meetings during this year, I have fond memories from past years of the wild adventures of “plunger man” and his sidekick, “the TP kid.” At about nine o’clock, first classes start. Depending on where you are in the path to eagle, you may be taking Skills Patrol, First Aid or Woodcarving if you’ve been to Oljato a few times already. Skills Patrol is where you get lots of requirements for the early ranks signed off. First Aid is one of the most difficult merit badges, and Woodcarving is for someone who has taken all the useful badges already. I’ve been to Oljato for ten weeks over 6 summers as a camper. You can probably figure out where I fall.

After first class, comes the second class at 10:30, followed by lunch. Lunch is unique from the other meals in that anyone who is a member of the elite T14 power group stands together in line, usually towards the front. The older Troop 14 members know and are friends with a lot of staff members. Perhaps Troop 14 parents breed more intelligent scouts. Perhaps we’re simply more socially adept than other troops. Whatever it is though, we tend to be good friends with staff, which allows us special privileges. There is a group of us, including some other scouts from other troops, such as Zack from Troop 33, the Oljato bum, and some of the higher-class troop 57 and troop 5 members. This elite group tends to amoeba our way to the front of the line while others push and shove at the back. An amazing phenomenon to say the least.

After lunch comes third period, which is followed by free time. During free time you can go swimming, tie knots, paint, or even shoot shotguns at flying clay discs. Free time lasts until about 5:30, after which we have time to prepare for dinner. Everybody assembles for dinner just as they do for breakfast. We stand at attention and salute, as the flag is lowered and then listen to the staff announcements. Following the staff announcements are SPL Reports.

SPL reports are my favorite part of the day. Troop 14 is well known for our mastery of SPL reports, by all the staff. During the second week, we were always the last troop to perform so that staff could say to us two thirds of the way, “Come on Troop 14, you’ve got to save us.” Those of you readers who attended the 50th anniversary celebration and saw the skits performed there saw only a taste of what we do at Oljato. Some may consider this paragraph me gloating about what Troop 14 does well, which is probably true, but I’m not alone in this opinion. Many times the staff member dismissing decides to throw it out to the troops as to who should go first. This naturally provokes every single troop to start shouting their troop number in what usually is just a chaotic mess. However at evening assembly, I don’t bother. I am silent. The rest of our troop is more or less silent. Yet there is a powerful “TROOP 14!!” being shouted out by many voices. Those are the voices of staff who are pointing at us and yelling. Troop 57, another troop from Palo Alto gave up after the first week. They didn’t try to make good skits, because they knew we’d probably go in first. All said and done, this year we got in first for dinners 56% of the time, and breakfast 60% of the time, bringing our overall percentage to 57.89%.

After dinner, we will usually have an evening activity, either a game or a campfire. At about 10 o’clock, taps sing out to lull all to bed. All the scouts retire to their sleeping bags, and rest for the next day, where it will all start over again.