Catwalks
The catwalks are the floating docks in the swim area that span off the main dock. The catwalks have been formed in a few different ways over the years. In the early years they formed a large "L" to create one cradle but at some point camp changed them to a "T" to define two cradles and the deep water sections of the swim area. Over the early years, when it was in the "L" form, the boys had worked away all of the branches, sticks, muck, etc, but when it was changed into a "T" suddenly camp had one cradle that was nice and sandy and another side that was full of leaves and sticks. This cradle, to the left of the main dock, was called the "muck" cradle by many campers for years but is slowly transforming into a nice cradle like the one on the right of the main dock. During General Swim, the staff stand on the catwalks to supervise the campers.
For many years, the catwalks were carried into place by the staff at the beginning of the summer and then hauled out at the end. Now a backhoe is used. During the winter, the catwalks are stored near the pump house and Injun Joe's and are installed in the early summer using a backhoe to lift them into the water. The staff float them into place and attach them to each other and to the main dock using bars and eye bolts.
The current catwalks were built before the summer of 1991. Prior to '91, the catwalks were a few feet shorter than those currently in use. As a result, the cradles are now larger than they were. In addition, the raft is further from the catwalks now than it was in the 20th century. Before it was moved it was close enough that campers would attempt to swim underwater all the way from the raft to the catwalks. Waterfront Director Jerry Curry could swim underwater from the raft all the way to shore—an unthinkable feat today. One of the tougher contests of the Water Carnival was to dive from the raft to the bottom in an attempt to collect mussels. The raft is in deeper water now so this would be much more difficult.
Birch Rock will be seeing new catwalks and docks soon.
