| By: Dana Thomas
On July 24-26 the West fork Mountaineer 4-H Club went on a camping trip to North Bend State Park. Thursday, July 24, the club members had a wonderful time. After setting up camp, we went on the Three-Tunnel Trail Ride that was led by Ranger Nick. Ranger Nick pointed out wild life along the way. He also explained the history of the tunnels.
When we returned we were hot and sweaty. So we took ourselves to the most relaxing place in the park, The North Bend State Park pool. That evening some campers decided to go to the Mini Golf Contest while others took the evening to ride to Cairo on The Rails-To-Trails. We finished the evening by roasting marshmallows and talking around the campfire.
We woke Friday morning to showers, breakfast, and fishing. Ryan Ellison, one of the members of the club, caught a 26-inch catfish. At 10:00 am, we went to the lodge, where we met up with Ranger Nick for The Great Pine Hike. He showed us the difference between the Virginia Pine and the Great White Pine. We saw Coral Mushrooms, and crawdads, and salamanders in the brook. After lunch we went to the North Bend Bug Bonanza. We teamed up with partners and a bug net to catch and identify insects with the help of Ranger Jody. After catching and releasing the insects, we couldn't go without our afternoon dip in the pool.
That evening we were back on the Rails-To-Trails for a bike ride to Ellenboro. Upon arriving, we visited the glass factory and were given a tour by the night watchman, he also gave us a tour of the marble factory. We filled our pockets full of marbles and glass jewels. After that, we topped off the evening with yummy Dairy Queen ice cream.
We spent most of Saturday packing for the departure of the campgrounds.
4-H'ers attending the camp-out were: Beth Richards, Sara Ragland, Sandy Ragland, Emily Thomas, Dana Thomas, Kenzie Laughlin, Ricky Allen, Jacob Jett, Sarah Moore, Austin Moore, Tyler Ellison, Ryan Ellison, Nathan Cosgrove, Jessica Cosgrove, and one visitor, Amber Wilford.
We would like to thank Rick Horsley for donating ice, Dee Wilford and Shirley Chenoweth for their monetary donations, the parents for the food donation and the chaperones Patty Laughlin, Dan Cosgrove, Betty Ellison, Kathy Ragland, Tony Richards, and Charles Thomas for making our camp-out a success.
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