Stovykla
August 9th, 2009 by Danny
I had the privilege of going up to Big Bear this weekend with Janina to Stovykla. What’s a Stovykla? Well think of it as summer camp if you were in the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, but with the added bonus that it includes your culture, in this case Lithuanian. All the events are in Lithuanian, all the meals etc.
Janina has been in the scouts since she was really little. She goes up every year too. I was honored to be invited along. A lot of times cultural gatherings like these might not be too cool with having an “outsider” come down to observe, but everyone was really welcoming.
The only route up to the site is on a fire route. That meant a few miles of bumpy jagged rocks. Not sure my car would’ve made it. When we arrived we said a few hellos and went off to adventure on our own. Our first stop was this semi dry river bed with tons of little frogs jumping around it. Janina made a few attempts to grab one, but no dice.
From there we headed up the road to take in the beautiful landscape. I was told that the whole area used to be an old mining community. So there are a few little structures still standing. We made out way to a little cabin, but made a quick stop at “The Hangman’s Tree”. That was kinda creepy and I felt awkward getting a photo so I didn’t. Basically it was the tree criminals were hung from in this old town. The branches still slightly bowed out from the weight. Pretty disturbing.
We got back from our hike and drove into town to get some lunch. Food is always better when you’re exhausted. From there we made our way back up the mountain just in time to see some of the scouts get honored. After their ceremony the older guys toss the little ones in the air. Pretty rad.
After those festivities, we head out for another hike to Mushroom Rock. We got a little loss but the hike was totally worth the beautiful view from the top.
We got back to camp and everyone was getting ready for the bonfire. I guess in regular girl/boy scouts, this is when everyone gets together and tells scary stories, smores, that whole deal. However, they gather around this big fire pit and sing songs, do skits, have a good time. It was pretty interesting. And it looked pretty rad.
