The Legend of Tin Man's Cave

The power of suggestion can be terrifying. Just the mention of Camp Atoka makes me shudder in fear. I think it should have been more appropriately named Camp de Sade. I don't know where the adult chaperones were....I can only remember that the 16 year old counselors terrorized us 13 and 14 year olds 24 hours a day for a week. Rumors of honey and saran wrap on the toilets made us afraid to use the toilets. Those who fell asleep early were at risk for having shoe polish or toothpaste smeared on their faces. Anyone foolish enough to play strip poker in the bunkhouse at night would find themself thrown out in the middle of the room and spotlighted with flashlights if they lost all their clothing.

Hands down....still the most terrifying camp activity was the night hike up to Tin Man's Cave. We all had to hike up a steep mountain trail at night with just flashlights to light the way. The desination was an outcropping of boulders dubbed Tin Man's Cave. The cave was just a crevice between the rocks. One of the counselors told us about a sheep herder who lived in the area. Once his life was happy. As his herd grew, his wealth grew. He had a pretty girlfriend in town and they were looking forward to marriage in the spring. One winter night, he couldn't keep the hungry wolves at bay and they attacked him. The ravenous wolves tore off his arms and legs. Somehow he stopped the bleeding and attached a series of empty tin cans to his arms and legs so he could stumble into town for help. At the sight of her beloved, now a "tin man", his fiance ran from him screaming. A rejected and bitter man, he retreated back to a cave in the mountains, nursing an everlasting hatred for all young women. Okay....the story is totally implausible, but when you're out there in the dark with a bunch of hysterical girls......imaginations run wild. On the way back down the mountain, we heard the clattering of cans against the rocky trail. That started a stampede. The sounds got closer and closer. Girls were literally busting their butts trying to get down the trail- tripping, falling, crawling, screaming. The counselors were loving it!! They had strung together tin cans on strings and had been throwing them down the trail to make it sound like the Tin Man was after us.

The next night, we met around the campfire to tell sing Kum-By-Ya and then the counselors started on the ghost stories. Someone said they saw a man standing in the shadows. We all screamed and jumped towards the fire. Smart? No! We were lucky that no one got burnt. The front row of girls got pushed into the ashes on the hands and knees.

Church camp....good clean fun? Not!