Day three of Frontier Week promised more outdoor action, more campsite prep, more competition, and a postponed ROPE BURN!!!

Well, three out of four isn’t bad.

The morning started with a do-over of yesterday’s rained-out afternoon activity, Overland Overwater. Similar to the Ultimate Olympic Challenge, this is Frontier Week’s version of an all-camp relay race. Starting at the front gate off of Route 6, a camper bicycled into camp, up the hill of the Ridge, across the Lower Field, to the lacrosse net. From there, it was non stop action as the next tribe member was tagged and took off dribbling a soccer ball. The relay included running, shooting baskets, canoeing in the lake, balancing a golf ball on a spoon, a wheelbarrow race, shooting a bow at an archery target, and much more! The big finale of the race had the Chief or Chiefs from each tribe sprinting across the Lower Field to the backstop of Danny’s Diamond and blowing a whistle attached to the fence. This signaled the end of the race for that tribe.

There were two heats of three tribes each. First up was Creek, Modoc, and Mohegan. Creek’s bicyclist lost a tire as he approached the Ridge, taking a tumble. But in true Owego fashion, he dusted himself off and ran the rest of the way to preserve his tribe’s time. Luckily, he was unhurt, and everyone was impressed by his resilience. The entire relay lasted about 15 minutes, and culminated in the Chiefs blowing one of the whistles attached to the baseball fence. After a brief resetting of equipment (and a thorough safety check of the bicycles), it was time for the second heat. Ojibwe, Shakori, and Yahi spread out across camp and waited to be tagged to signal their time to shine. Once again, the relay took campers and counselors from the fields to the courts, to the lake to the archery range, and back again. This finish was a nail biter, as Ojibwe just barely edged out Yahi as all three runners collided with the backstop at the same time and scrambled to reach a whistle.

It was sunny and hot for the duration of Overland Overwater, so everyone was optimistic about the likelihood that Rope Burn would proceed this evening.

Mother Nature had other plans.

The thunder began to rumble towards the end of Rest Hour, and the deluge followed shortly after. The Special Event activity scheduled for the afternoon was set up and ready to go. Most of it could be moved to an indoor space or covered area. So when it became apparent that the rain wasn’t letting up anytime soon, the decision was made to proceed with the Special Event.

The brainchild of Junior Head Counselor Mike, along with input from other Key Staff, this activity was a variation on the “Escape Room” concept. Basically, the Chiefs and Head Coaches were “trapped” in Crockett and could only be freed by their tribe members. Across camp, the divisions worked on puzzles and trivia to obtain clues that would help to free their Chiefs and Head Coaches. The Juniors and Seniors shared the HBC. Hi-Seniors worked in the dining hall, finding names on the Olympic and Frontier Week plaques hanging on the walls and matching them with corresponding areas of camp on a sheet of paper. One of the tribe members would run to that area (in the pouring rain, no less) and collect a colored cone to bring back to his team. Once all of the cones were retrieved, the team had to put them in a particular order based on numbers written on the paper.

Sounds complicated, you say? Very. Sounds really cool? Also, yes.

All of the clues deciphered by the various divisions were communicated via walkie-talkie to  Crockett, where the Chiefs and Head Coaches had to use their tribe’s clues to choose the correct trophy from a few dozen arranged on a table. Narrowing it down with clues like “birds” or “blue” was challenging, but all Chiefs eventually chose the correct trophy and were freed. The overall winner of this competition was Ojibwe, with Modoc coming in a close second. Everyone used brainpower, everyone got really wet, and everyone had fun!

We all eagerly anticipate Rope Burn, which had to be postponed another day. It can’t possibly rain again tomorrow, can it?

Can it???