These are the pictures I took while at Camp Feral! (Index)
The pictures were taken using a Nokia
6275i and some pictures (001a, 001b, 113) were taken with a AVLink
PRC-6621.
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(If you want to skip reading and see all the photos, click here
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And here are the pictures:
The day prior to camp (Sunday) I printed out my conbadge and packed my bags, which now my cat takes over, as per tradition.
Getting on the bus and driving down the road was pretty uneventful, though Bungee Skunk recorded a bit of the trip.
We soon reached the road to Arowhon, which had a nice view. We needed to get over a narrow bridge at one point.
We unloaded and I got my third impressions (1, 2). (First impressions if this was my first time at camp, no?)
The main lodge is where we eat and gather. This year they added a covering over the normally dull lights.
I found out that the minor's cabin had been moved to Curve 1 (LOTS of graffiti 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and I was cabin-mates with Timber, while our semi-official cabin-leader was Potoroo.
During sunset the surroundings look very beautiful. Shortly after the full moon rose. I enjoyed the drum jam at the upper campfire and played around with the laser I had brought. Folks seemed to enjoy the effects that could be produced and I received a warning from security (Growler and Wily) to not be a ass with it and to send anyone who had a problem with me to them, rather than to get into a verbal fight.
Now, there was an eclipse that would occur that night (Around 5am), so we were asked to wake up at 4:30am and meet at the main lodge. I couldn't get to sleep until 2am (poor sleep habits before Feral!), and woke up around 4:20am. It was wet and cold, we (I'm guessing 17 people) stood watching the start of it on our side of the shore, then took a large canoe to the center of the lake and watched it fully eclipse before going below the tree line. We then returned to camp and I went back to sleep before the 8am breakfast. This is how cheerful I looked after that night. (I might also mention that I thought I heard wolves a few times while trying to fall asleep prior to 2am, but I was uncertain because it was similar to the sound the loons make, just a different pattern to the sound)
Breakfast was a pretty tasty (With syrup) meal consisting of breakfast sausages and toast.
A few pictures from the morning including Chrono, the flag raising, spectators on the steps, and more Chrono.
We had a quick workshop for starting fires then I went to archery. Our instructor, as from prior years, was Dave. He mainly taught the form as accuracy was gained as one masters the bow. Branwyn brought his compound bow.
After an hour of archery I went to the rock wall. There were some good attempts made. I too got stuck at the overhang on my first attempt, seeing no way past it and forgetting to conserve my energy on the way up. Before coming down I took some pictures.
Chrono had a try at the wall too, but though he persevered it was the next person who learned from prior mistakes and got up. I learned from the both of them, and from my original attempt, as well as a 'do or die' attitude, and got to the top.
After the climbing I went to lunch, where I started refilling my gatorade bottles with milk. Devvyn had his own way of going about lunch.
Following lunch there was a dodgeball clan challenge. It was quite competitive, with our side ('xplosion!) implementing a catching strategy to rise up a few times.
The game having ended I went down to the dock to relax and soak my feet. Unfortunately I discovered leeches love ankles when they are holding still, but it had only the chance to latch on yet not draw blood. I decided to lie on the dock with only the occasional dip of the feet.
It wasn't long before we had Predator VS Prey. To this day I am still surprised I did not injure myself any more than extremely sore legs and lower back. I took video footage for 47 minutes of my point of view. It was terrible quality but amusing in some ways. Also, if you find video of a psycho running (at breakneck speeds) towards the camera pretending to be a WWII fighter, that would be me. I found I had lost my conbadge at the end of the game (wind blew out the little piece of paper) and I searched everywhere (Found half-buried shoes and a broken bottle though), but some kind soul had found and returned it to the main lodge where I picked it up. A bunch of folks took a swim at the dock after Predator VS Prey.
After dinner we had the trading post (I'm $60 lighter), then I went to the lower campfire for 'discussion'. I went to bed around midnight, thoroughly broken from the day's activities.
Morning found me extremely sore for the majority of the day, to the point that to bend my legs and sit down I would say "Ow" about ten times in the process. Getting up after lying on my back was much more difficult. Regardless, after breakfast I went straight to dodgeball. When that was done I saw the last few bits of the survival workshop then played Cribbage with Dan Skunk. After the game was over I taught/played a Russian card game I knew. Took some pictures from our playing table. (The flies! Oh god the flies!)
I spotted the car version of a fursuit and took a picture of the rave poster.
Growler, Potoroo, and Bucky sat around near the huge pile of wood Bucky intended to be a campfire, until Bucky was called over for posing.
I missed Capture the Flag because I believed it would the 'running through the woods' version, instead of LARP, and nobody knew for certain either. I'll aim to partake next year. The positive outcome of that time period is that I was enjoying myself in the water at the dock abusing Xion and Hiker with a wet noodle (I got some return fire for that though).
During dinner I ate two bowls of ice cream (Oatmeal cookie with French vanilla and caramel on top, Yum!) and felt sick as a dog, so I lay around on the table outside the main lodge, enjoying the rain.
The dogs of the camp came over and it was just coincidence that they happened to take the exact same path I took on my way to my cabin. They went a little beyond so I went inside before seeing what they were up to. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
After that bit of fun I went over the the lower campfire to find that the staff had reduced it in size by half of what it was, but it had been covered with a plastic garbage bag to prevent it from getting wet. Finding no lighter on the staff I found myself appreciating the convenience of the smoker's porch, as I just had to approach and ask for a lighter before the the fire was lit and going.
It was rather cloudy that night and I could see the dot of the laser against the clouds. BungeeSkunk and myself worked together to make some images with the 8 second exposure setting on his camera and my laser. It was a pretty enjoyable night and I was beginning to feel less stiff in the legs.
Morning came, I decided I was still too sore to do anything so I ate breakfast then came back to my cabin and watched an hour of 'Spirited Away' in the comfort of my sleeping bag. A bit later I got myself changed into my swim suit, marched to main swimming dock, took one of the three yellow tubes, then marched to the secondary swimming dock and waited for folks to arrive for the lake swim. After a good twenty minutes everything was ready, but at the last minute it was determined that we ought not to swim to a tiny speck of a buoy in the distance, but rather a rock that was 0.75 miles away. Realizing I had a chance I threw the tube to the side and decided I would swim without any floatation aid.
The first few meters were fine, then I realized I really needed to pace myself because the going was very slow. I wasn't even sure I was moving forward without seeing the trees to my right moving past. Halfway through I took a minute break on Cobalt's kayak then continued plowing onward. the last little bit I was losing breathing synchronization with the waves and began stopping to cough more often. Eventually I made it to the shallow bit to the right of the rock and realize I could not stand. In part from the exhaustion and because the rocks below were slimy. Dragged myself to the goal and said I would not be able to swim back (Waves were too much for me), so a motorboat came over and I dragged myself aboard. Heading back I made swimming motions to pretend I was still competing.
Upon my return I dropped in the water and sat around in the yellow tube I had dropped off earlier. Saw the rest of the group come back either by the power of their own arms & legs or by the power of a propeller.
I changed and had lunch (but not before returning the tube to where I took it from), then went to archery. It became a competition where if one hits the bulls eye Alvcard must remove an item of clothing. When that rule came into effect I fired the first shot hitting the bulls eye of the nearest target. The rule was instantly modified to 'minors don't count'. I managed another shot into the bulls eye later on then played with Branwyn's compound bow for the furthest target.
After that bit of fun D'Bandit and myself headed off. I later learned that Alvcard got down to his boxers, if not less, before it was over; I'm hoping there were pictures taken. :)
While wandering we spotted a large truck that had parked itself on a trail. I recommended it be implemented in Predator VS Prey in future years. During the scavenger hunt D'Bandit and myself went to the rec hall and watched 'Plague Dogs'. Folks came by looking for items, and I still do not know where somebody found a spinal column.
Getting back to the main lodge I saw a cute sight, and during dinner prizes for the raffle were announced while JJ received a gift from us.
After dinner I found out the plan for the cabin skits (It was originally assumed I would not partake because somebody thought I was opting out of camp activities, Hah!) and having time to spare I joined a game of Kubb with some fierce competition. Our own team was Dave, a constantly changing second individual which was Wily to begin with, and myself. Unfortunately, because it went 12 minutes into the Cabin Skit schedule I missed partaking in my own skit. I hear 'Yiff in Hell' went pretty well regardless. Here are some pictures from the event, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
When that ended D'Bandit and myself went to the camp fire near Curve 1 (It had wood for 2 days, but nobody did anything with it) and brought the wood over to the lower campfire with the help of one other individual I'm uncertain about as far as the name goes. We managed to light it just as darkness set and it stayed lit until 2am (At which point I went to sleep). Some pictures are of Bungee and Dan Skunk, three cold tushes, the owners of those tushes, the staff (We had 8 staff and 8 furs at one point), Branwyn (When he came to share some of his original songs), and the fire. Some other pictures: (1, 2, 3)
I decided against setting the alarm that night so I could sleep in. Timber left for breakfast and around 8:47am in comes Potoroo and Growler and demonstrate the 'Urine Puddle Dance', then telling me I need to pack and have the cabin swept before leaving. I get up, head out hoping to catch a quick bite to find from Timber that it has already closed, then heading back inside and packing up with Timber. Timber headed off and I swept up before taking my bags to the rec hall. I managed to spot two fursuits being prepared. One fella had to rearrange the bags he was carrying to get inside.
Finding nothing else to do I went over to the canoe launching dock and lay down, being noted as a corpse by passers. I had a nice view in general but what made the moment special was seeing a small otter swim right under me without noticing and continue on.
I got back to the main lodge to find folks getting ready for the group photo(s). When that was done everyone headed over to the rec hall where our bus waited. Some folks went by car. Potoroo came in as well, with the best expression I've had the pleasure of capturing on camera. Final words from Potoroo then we did a check of who was present (with an old list) and started up the engine. I noted the staff tuck shop and that they really enjoyed having us there.
As we were driving over the dirt road we encountered a car that refused to pass us, and a quick picture as we got onto the main road.
We got to Weber's where I heard a young girl noticed our tails when I was approaching the stairs. I also saw the traditional line to Weber's, so I went into New York Fries for relief and poutine, this year knowing I need a fork to eat it. I sat down with Max Black Rabbit and Rithnok on the grass and saw our luggage truck (We need a truck now?) had arrived, though it left 45 minutes after we did. More people joined us with their own food, having beaten the line at Weber's.
We got back in the bus and drove to Yorkdale, unpacked, and said goodbyes. It so happened my cell phone batteries died about then and I was to be picked up. I walked into the mall, got into a packed clothing store (after removing my nametag and camouflage jacket) and asked if they had an electrical outlet. They looked at me funny but told me to pretend I wanted to try on some clothes and use the one at the end of the hall where the changing rooms were. I did as told and confirmed how I would be picked up before heading home.
And such are my adventures.
