Three Days in the Adirondacks

V. REV. MARTIN KRAUS ON A DIOCESAN CAMPING TRIP

Last fall, some men from three parishes in our diocese took a camping trip in the Adirondacks, led by Fr. Martin Kraus. They hiked, made campfires, and conducted Divine Liturgy out in the relative wilderness. It was the first event in what Fr. Martin hopes will become a yearly tradition. Fr. Martin joined us to describe the experience and to talk about his love for the outdoors.

To begin with, could you tell us a little about yourself and your parish?

Yeah. I graduated from St. Vladimir's Seminary in 2002. I was the priest at St. Vladimir Church, in Trenton, New Jersey, for five years, and then I came here to Holy Trinity, in East Meadow, in July of 2007. My wife's name is Dennise. We met in college at Drexel University, and we got married in ‘93. We have five children.

As for Holy Trinity, it’s the first Orthodox parish here on Long Island— it was established back in 1924. It's a beautiful community. We have a beautiful property where we hold a festival and other functions for the church.

We’re here to talk about the annual camping trip—or retreat?—that you launched last year. How did that originally come about?

I'm the youth chaplain for the diocese, so I’ve been involved with all the youth events and retreats, and with our summer camp, for about four years now. My wife and I started by helping with a horticulture week the first year. Then the second year, we were asked if we would be interested coming for teen week. This year they added a second teen week—so it’s actually growing.

Last summer, at the end of teen week, Greg Fedorchak was there with his wife, helping out. Also there was one of the counselors, Delbert Clement. They were just chatting at the end. We were just finishing up and getting ready to go, and said, ‘Hey, we would love for us guys to be able to do more together.’ They were joking with me, and they said, ‘Do you know a priest who likes to camp, or who might be able to run something like that?’ I said, ‘I think I might know somebody.’ We started talking about it more seriously. Dell was key with the trip, because when he was growing up, he had camped at this site, the Cedar Lakes campsite in the Adirondacks.

Then we were in a mad rush to get ready, because it was July when we talked about it, and we actually did the trip in late October. It took a lot of preparation. I was a little concerned about it being too big the first time around. And for first-time campers, I knew it was going to be cold—there would be freezing temperatures at night. We also wanted to make sure we were able to have Divine Liturgy out there. 

Interesting—we’ll come back to that later. But how many people came out for it?

We had 10, guys, between the ages of 16 and 69, I believe it was.

And what did the weekend consist of?

We got there on a Friday evening. The most important thing is getting food in you, when everybody gets there. I cooked a big pot of vegetable soup for everybody that evening, and then we did in a compline service. Then we had this really interesting experience. We were just hanging around the fire, eating dinner, and this huge, menacing dog showed up. It was sniffing us. Next a bunch of hunters came over. They were camping next to us, drinking beer. They started joking around with us, and we got to know each other. We told them we were going to be hiking the next day, and we asked if they knew where any good firewood was. They said, ‘Don't worry about it, we'll take care of it for you.’ 

The next morning, when we woke up, it was beautiful. The sun was rising over the mountain—I think it was Wakely Mountain. All the grass was white and frosty from the dew and the fresh, cold air.

Later we went hiking up this trail. It was about five miles, roundtrip. When we came back, we were coming around the trail, and we noticed all the guys over by our campsite. We were thinking, What are they doing? They were chopping wood for us. We didn’t even know these people! It was really special. One of the hunters and I talked for a while about our sons. It was nice to meet strangers and talk about life in general, and family, and just be friendly to each other. That's the camping experience I've always had, and it was nice to have that again, in the Adirondacks.

What was the hiking like?

Well, the first part was marshy and wet. After about two miles, you have some makeshift bridges you’ve got to cross to get over those streams. That last mile up was something else. For the most part, we had no signal at all for our phones— so we didn’t have internet out there, which was another blessing of the trip. But I was a little concerned, because Archbishop Michael wanted to give a message to everybody on the trip. I was thinking, I don't know how I'm going to get this message from him. 

When we were heading up this mountain, the last mile was like going up a staircase. I think it was 1,500 feet up. There were a couple clearings where we were able to look out and see the view, which is absolutely spectacular. I think the elevation is like 3,700 feet. As you get up to the pinnacle, there’s a 70-foot fire tower, which is one of the highest points in the area. We started getting phone signal. As we were reaching the peak, a voice message came in from Archbishop Michael. 

Wow, perfect timing.

But even more so, because one of the things he talked about was Elijah going to the top of the mountain to speak with God. It was in the small, still voice that he was able to speak to God. It was just a perfect parallel of Vladyka Michael blessing us on our trip. He didn’t know we were on our way to the top of the mountain right then, to see this amazing view.

What a serendipitous moment.

Yeah, it was really special. We spent a little bit time up on the top, going up the tower. Once you get over the tree lines, you get a beautiful breeze coming over the top, and you have a 360-degree, panoramic view, with nothing but trees and lakes and mountains. No sign of civilization at all. It was just breathtaking.

That makes me want to get out into the woods.

Yeah, I just got back from camping with my own family in the Poconos. We love camping. I had always wanted to do a trip in my own parish, with some of the young men, to help them understand the importance of solitude and being in nature. It's like going back to our home, Adam and Eve in paradise. We can go out into the woods and get recharged, and remember how important it is to take care of God's creation—to be stewards. It's something you have to experience to really know.

Tell us more about conducting Divine Liturgy on Sunday.

I hauled out this altar table and oblation table and put together a makeshift altar sanctuary. We had the blessing of Vladyka Michael to do it. I got up at the crack of dawn, as the sun was rising. I dressed up the church with her adornment and put the gold covers. It was a really cold morning—it must have been in the I did the proskomedia as other people were getting up. It was wonderful to all be together and go through this process of preparing to participate in the Divine Liturgy, as the sun was rising over the peak of the mountains. We got a fire going. It was a nice way to finish up the weekend, for sure. After Divine Liturgy, we had our breakfast, and then we packed up and left. 

But one of the first things I think of, when I think about camping trips, is the late-night fire, where there are maybe a few guys left, hanging by the fire and just shooting the breeze. One night, I think the youngest member and one of our older guys stayed up late. Those are the times when you really build your relationships with people. It creates that connection in a way nothing else really can.

Are you planning to do the trip again next year?

Yeah, in fact, that word got out, and I know some people in upstate New York and other parishes, they want to be involved with it. We're hoping to do it in early or mid-September this year, so it won’t be as cold for some of the newcomers.

I think we'll probably have to limit attendance just to keep it controllable. We were hoping for about a dozen people the first time around, and this year we might expand it to 15 or 20.