Young Men Campout at Beavers Bend
This summer, about 20 teen boys and their adult leaders from the Watauga, River Trails 1st and 2nd Wards (congregations) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enjoyed a five-day campout at the Beavers Bend campsite near Broken Bow, Okla.
Activities included knife and tomahawk throwing, ziplining, kayaking and tubing as well as lessons to help them draw closer to Jesus Christ.
Image courtesy of Frank Walker.
A youth throws a tomahawk at a throwing board set up near the campsite. Image courtesy of Daniel Merrifield.
Bryce and Logan Farrar, youth from the Watauga Ward, describe their experience with some of the activities:
“We did tomahawk and knife throwing. I mainly did the throwing knives. It was hard to do but it was definitely fun,” said Bryce Farrar. Adding to his brother’s comment, Logan said, “I helped set up the throwing board. We had ropes around it so no one would stand behind it. It was easy to set up. It was almost always up. You had to ask the leaders for the tomahawks and throwing knives.”
Another activity was ziplining. It was Bryce’s first time to experience it. He said, “At first, I was a little scared but then I really enjoyed it once I got off the platform. I really enjoyed going through the whole thing. We did one quarter mile, actually. It was over a lake. It was cool!”
Bryce Farrar beginning his quick journey along the zipline. Image courtesy of Steven Wright.
After ziplining, everyone enjoyed some time at an information center near Broken Bow. Inside, there were several things made of wood and pictures with information regarding American Heritage.
Some young men enjoyed cliff diving. Bryce said, “It wasn’t part of the agenda, but when we went over the main river area some people wanted to go cliff diving so some people went. The water was really cold. I went but I didn’t jump because by then I was too cold to jump.”
Later in the week, the boys enjoyed going down the river in kayaks and a canoe. Bryce said it was 8 miles. “There were rapids for the first part [but] in the end, it was just calm streams which was kind of boring because rapids were the best.”
Kayaking down the river. Image courtesy of Daniel Merrifield.
A few of the young men making their way down the river. Image courtesy of Steven Wright.
Some kayaks were for two, some were for a single rider. Bryce had a turn in the single. He said,
“It was a lot simpler than you would expect. I got there [to the end] before a lot of people, and I thought I was way behind. But because of the single, it’s not as much weight, so you actually go further faster. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.”
Logan Farrar. Image courtesy of Steven Wright.
“I got a single [kayak] for the whole thing until the end,” said Logan. “The flat river was boring, but I liked the beginning when it was rapids.”
The boys were told to watch out for certain parts of the excursion, but for Logan, kayaking was easy.
“There was a three-foot drop in it, but it was fun. I didn’t capsize like everyone else did. I’m a kayaking expert. I’ve got the badge for boy scouts,” he said.
The boys also had a great time riding in a tube pulled behind by a boat. Bryce, with a smile and a laugh, told his favorite part of the story.
“I went out with [my friend] Henson Walker. I stood all the way up on it. Some people tried to stand up on it but had to get back down on their knees. I stood up for a second or so. But as I was standing, Henson tried to push me over. The time when we actually fell off was when Henson literally tackled me and we flipped it over!”
Logan had a similar experience. “I stood up for about three seconds. I also tackled someone off of it. It was Ethan (one of the four or five Ethan’s that were there.) I told him to stand up and then I attacked him! We both fell in.”
Two of the boys enjoying a turn being pulled behind the boat. Image courtesy of Daniel Merrifield.
When asked what he would say to convince one of his friends from school to come next time, Bryce said, “One of my friends already wants to come to church with me. I would say we get to do things like zip-lining and throw tomahawks and knives and go in the river and have fun.”
In addition to enjoying outdoor activities, the boys also participated in spiritual devotionals.
“One of the devotionals was about trusting your bishop (pastor,)” said Logan.
Logan described an object lesson where there were two items for someone to choose from. The items were labeled A and B. Everyone was yelling out which he should choose. One was a bag of gummy bears and the other was a piece of wood.
“The one making the choice was going to pick the gummy bears, but the bishop told him to pick the wood. And he did, and he got $10 dollars. It was taped to the bottom of the wood and no one saw.” When asked if he should listen to his leaders, Logan replied: “Yep!”
William Scott, from the River Trails 1st Ward had this to say about how he grew from his campout experience:
William Scott. Image courtesy of Steven Wright.
“The young men’s campout that we went on was special. It helped me grow towards my Savior by trusting in and relying on His will as I felt alone at times. On the way to and from the campout, we had some setbacks. At the campout we experienced a lot of rain. To this day, I do not know why that’s the case, but I know that it was the Lord’s will in His own way to let us grow as young men and overcome our trials and hardships.”
The young men who attended the campout had fun, formed lasting friendships, and their testimonies grew about the importance of not only trusting in their leaders, but also trusting the Lord to help them overcome obstacles and face the future with faith.
Article by Rachel Scott of the River Trails 1st Ward.
Panoramic view of the area. Image courtesy of Steven Wright.
Left: Some of the young men cliff jumping. Image courtesy Adam Camphuysen.
Right: Some of boys getting a ride to the zipline. Image courtesy of Daniel Merrifield.
A few of the group back at the campground. Image courtesy of Daniel Merrifield.