Summer affected, from canoeing to campfires

The boys at Camp Alpine haven't had their traditional bonfire ceremony this summer.

A lack of rain at the camp near Mentone in northeast Alabama put a damper on the custom, but not on the creativity of the camp staff. They built an imaginary bonfire using about eight Coleman lanterns and some flashlights, placed at center circle in the amphitheater.

Alabama's summerlong drought prompted a no-burn order for the northern half of the state by the Alabama Forestry Commission. It was downgraded Tuesday to a fire alert, although burning in many localities remains banned.

The no-burn order has also brought a change in the way campers prepare a favorite snack, smores.

Instead of using a campfire to make the gooey treat of chocolate bars and marshmallows, smushed between graham crackers, camp counselors have shifted the preparation in some cases to the camp kitchen.

The same is true at other camps. At the YMCA's Camp Cosby in east Alabama, for example, smores are made in the dining hall and delivered to the campers, director Wheaton Griffin said.

Creativity and flexibility are at a premium this summer, because much of the ground is dry and water levels are low, said Ann Bryant, spokeswoman for the Association of Alabama Camps, representing 90 facilities. Some camps also have shifted their canoe fleets to different parts of their lakes or rivers and moved floating docks to deeper water, because of a lack of rain.

Leisurely canoe trips down the winding Cahaba River have been impossible for Girl Scouts at Camp Coleman in Trussville because the river has been too shallow.

In summers past, the girls would launch their canoes in downtown Trussville for a three- to four-hour trip down the tree-shaded river to the camp.

The Jefferson County Department of Environmental Management reported that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, the Cahaba River at Trussville was just under a foot deep.

This summer, canoeing at Coleman is limited to a 50-yard-long section of the Cahaba near the pier.

More than water:

Campers such as Liane Stevens, 11, of Attalla couldn't care less about the drought.

"You can still be with your friends," she said. "And if the canoe flips over, the water is so cold."

Laura Elliott, the camp's director for the past 19 years, said she's never seen the river so low.

There are other challenges at camps this summer.

Allen McBride, a co-director at Camp Mac, near Cheaha Mountain, said one of the two lakes has been closed to water skiing because the water level has dropped so much. A water slide has also been closed.

"There's no water to slide into," he said.

It's a similar story at Camp Cosby, where a sliding board that used to deposit campers into chest-deep water of Lake Logan Martin has been closed for safety reasons. Water at the end of the slide is now only about knee-deep.

Griffin, the camp director, said plans for a sandy play area were speeded up to give younger children a substitute for the waterfront slide.

Older campers continue enjoying water skiing, water boarding and tubing in deeper water of Lake Logan Martin.

Glenn Breazeal, director of Camp Alpine, said the drought will leave the 2007 campers with unique memories.

"We had to get creative," he said. "Summer of 2007: That was the year they couldn't have fires and substituted lanterns and flashlights," he said.

E-mail: wbryant@bhamnews.com