A Summer of ATVing, Camping, Volunteering, and Firefighting



This is my cousin, Cole, standing next to a very pretty 15
foot waterfall on the camp.  This picture was taken during
really horrible drought; normally water gushes down where
he is standing.

 The past several months have been great! We’ve been at the incredibly amazing Camp Eagle Rock, in southwest Missouri. This place is one of my favorites in the entire nation because of its beauty, seclusion, and history. There are about 35 buildings on the camp, which includes cabins, lodges, bathhouses, barns, etc. All of these buildings are on only about 300 acres of the entire 1500 acres the camp spans. So, obviously there is a lot of empty wilderness there; something I love! My whole family is part of an organization called MAPS (Mission America Placement System), that has set up a system with most Assembly of God churches and camps across the country for volunteers who want to work at them. We’ve been volunteering at Camp Eagle Rock since 2004 and enjoy it every time.


Mr. Roger and Mrs. Barbara, the camp managers, are both very nice and Mr. Roger always teaches me new things every time I go there. He’s also always ready with a funny comeback or saying for everything. For example: one day Mr. Roger and I were on our way to a different part of the camp and saw my mom talking to Mrs. Barbara. After stopping and talking to them both for a few minutes, Mom said something like, “Those kids have been so wild lately; I’m going crazy!” Mr. Roger, with a sly smile, replied, “Well, it’ll be a short trip.” I tell you what, if Mr. Roger hadn’t have sped off as quick as he did, I’m sure Mom would’ve gave him a earful!

This is my... I mean, the camp's Kubota that I brush hogged
with.  It could be 95 degrees outside, while I sat in the 70
degree air-conditioned cab.

Just some of the things I worked on while we were there are: brush hogging, installing air conditioning units, mowing, splitting and stacking wood, fixing toilets, installing windows, making wood trim, various woodworking projects, machine maintenance, painting, cleaning cabins, and much more! I spent most of my volunteer time brush hogging; using a 75hp Kubota with a heated/air-conditioned cab. It was great and I put a TON of hours on that tractor. The next thing I did the most was probably mowing. The camp’s zero-turn mower is like a small tractor itself; a 21hp diesel Kubota with a six foot deck on it.

There are lots of four-wheeler trails on the camp, and lots more in the national forest around it. I probably rode my Honda 250EX more than most people while we were there! I figured between riding for fun and getting around for work, I rode somewhere up around 10 miles per day. There are some amazing old homesteads to visit by ATV and a couple really pretty waterfalls that we went to several time during our stay.

Hanna and I made this Chippewa kitchen
from scratch.  We cut down the trees,
scraped some of the bark off, cut them to
length, lashed it in sections, then lashed
the entire thing together.  It made a great
place to put kitchen supplies and gave us
some "counter space" to keep our food
off the ground.

After Mom came up with the awesome idea, Hanna and I went camping for four days together on the camp property. It was a blast and we both learned a lot about each other and got to practice working together! We weren’t suffering too bad, ‘cause we had a huge 21x11 foot tent separated into three rooms. We also had lots of really good food and had fun cooking almost every meal over our campfire that I lit every time with flint and steel. Building and using our latrine was a very interesting experience, but we soon got it figured out. (ha ha) Several nights deer and coyotes came VERY close to our tent, and one night we think the coyotes got into our food bucket. When the four days were up we were both disappointed, but glad to be back with the rest of the family.

Not long afterwards, it was time for my birthday and I decided to have a weekend campout with a few friends. We chose a ridge above Table Rock Lake, which borders the camp, to set up our tents. We did lots of riding and hiking that weekend, and saw some really cool stuff! My cousin, Cole, found an eight-point deer skull that we stashed in an almost dry creek bed to return for later. As with Hanna and I, lots of deer and coyotes walked right by and even through our camp at night. After dark we spent hours sitting around the campfire laughing and telling stories. We also did some archery at the camp’s range, and swam a few times in two giant outdoor swimming pools. It was an awesome weekend and we all regretted having to pack up camp and head home.

Another adventure that we had, but that was a little more unexpected, came one hot dry day.  There was a brush pile burning in a field behind our camper, but very quickly it caught the dry grass in the field on fire and soon about five acres were burning.  My dad and I used two shovels to start putting it out while Mom went and got help from some people that were renting the camp.  The woods began to catch fire, but with the Lord's help we were able to keep a forest fire from starting and potentially burning down the camp.  After the help arrived we finished putting out the last of the flames around the field and Mr. Roger built a dirt berm around the brush pile to keep any more fire from spreading.  It was an intense few hours, and a day I'll never forget, that's for sure!



My cousin, Cole, found this falling rock ledge during a hike
on the camp and thought he could save it.  I kept telling him
it was a lost cause... but he gets an "A" for effort, I guess.

 I love Camp Eagle Rock, and it’s definitely somewhere I hope to continue going back to often; in the future taking my own kids to enjoy it as well! If you’ve never been, I would HIGHLY recommend going there as soon as possible. Try to go in the Spring or late Fall to avoid the stifling heat and bitter cold that can sometime come in the other months.

The camp hosts meetings, clubs, churches, individuals, and anyone really, in its wide range of facilities. Check out their website at: http://www.eaglerockcampground.com/.

In the words of Mr. Roger, “I’ll see ya ‘round if you don’t turn square!”