Camp Cleland, located on Lena Lake in the Olympic Mountain's, was the original camp of the Tumwater Area Council. It operated from 1927 through the mid 1940's.
In 1925 the Tumwater Area Council was formed in the city of Olympia, Washington. The original Camping Committee consisted of J.W. Davis, I. Ned Wood, Henry Brewer and Hance Cleland. Hance Cleland was selected as the first Council President. He was an Attorney based out of Olympia. One of the first priorities of the new Council was to find a property suitable for a Boy Scout summer camp.
>Original camp signage
In 1926 a young Wayne Sanders, from Tumwater, got his employer the Hamma Hamma Logging Company to donate a site on Lower Lena Lake and it was named Camp Cleland after the first Council President.
>Original camp signage
1927
The Camp opened in 1927 with five 12-day periods per summer at $8.50 per scout. Scout Executive, Max Stroup (M.G. Stroup), was the first Camp Director and Counselor’s included Norman Bright, Earl Hardy, Flash Partlow and Phil Bailey.
In their first summer pamphlet they refer to the "Valley of Silent Men."
The Camp Cook for 1927 and 1928 camps was Mrs. Flora Beckworth.
>courtesy
of TSPA
1928
Once again there were five 1212-day period per summer at $8.50 per scout. Scout Executive, Max Stroup, also served as Camp Director for the 1928 Camp. I had heard that the 1928 Camp Director was Harry “Tom” Martin, but this is not mentioned in the Camp program booklet sent out prior to Summer Camp. Earl Hardy was promoted to Assistant Camp Director.
Al Lewis 1936 Camp Cleland on National Issue NC
Courtesy of Justin Davis
1928 Camp Program
In An Ice Axe, a Camera, and a Jar of Peanut Butter, Ira Spring discussed when he joined Boy Scouts in 1930 and went to Camp Cleland. "In 1930 we joined the Boy Scouts and went for ten days to the Tumwater Area Council's summer camp on Lena Lake. Our Troop 25 rode from Shelton in the back of a truck. Pavement ended at the city limit, so it was a long, dusty ride past Hoodsport and Lilliwaup to Eldon, at the mouth of the Hamma Hamma River. There we transferred to the railroad tracks of the Hamma Hamma Logging Company, riding a workers' speeder eight miles to the Lena Lake trailhead. The first half-mile of trail was being clear-cut, so we had to climb straight up the fireline. The hill was steep, the sun was hot, and the leaders charged ahead at a pace that nearly killed us Tenderfeet, overloaded as we were with all the extra clothing and blankets our mothers were sure we needed, or might possibly need, to survive beyond the reach of their apron strings..." ..."Pooped out and left far in the rear, somehow we staggered the rest of the two miles to Lena Lake, site of Camp Cleland, consisting of a large cookhouse, a canvas-roofed. open-air "mess hall," ten large army tents, each with space to sleep five to six boys, two buildings for staff, an eight-hole outhouse, and eight row boats that had been carried up the trail. There was a dock to swim off of - no swim suits needed. Girls and mothers were nowhere to been seen or be seen. The cook was an old woman (maybe thirty) so she didn't count."
"We did our duty at earning a few (as possible) merit badges, but the camp director had a higher priority: He wanted every boy to appreciate the rare gift of the great out-of-doors. Instead of boasting about merit badges earned he had the boys boasting about the animals and plants they had seen, as we had little rubber stamps to paste on each Scout's camp achievement certificate. Hiking was another priority: We Tenderfeet took a number of day trips and one three-day backpack to Upper Lena Lake, where we climbed "Old Baldy" (now named Mount Lena)."
"Bob and I were thoroughly hooked on Camp Cleland and returned for the next three or four summers. We saved all winter from our allowance and paper route to be able to afford not one but two of the ten-day sessions, and we graduated to progressively more difficult hikes, some as long as five days. Simply being in camp was a reward itself, in addition to the regular periods I signed up for "work periods." One year we carried twenty-foot lengths of pipe and installed a water system. Another year, helped by loggers donated by Simpson Logging Company, we replaced the sleeping tents with six patrol cabins, each with bunks for eight boys."
In 1932 the Hamma Hamma Logging Company ran out of trees on private land where it had cutting rights and pulled up the rails. The railroad grade became a one-lane road just passable for the truck to haul us up to the trailhead. It was a rough ride, bouncing over the ties, and viewed from the back of the truck the high-trestle crossings were harrowing.
The second year the trestles were bypassed, the road began to be improved, and the camp went downhill. Visiting mothers were bad enough, but sisters put the camp in an uproar, and suddenly hated swimming suits were essential.
From 1927-1937 the famous college football player and mountain climber, Chet Ullin, was a counselor. (See below for more information on Chet Ullin). He was Assistant Camp Director, Head Guide, Waterfront Director, and led the Scouts on 3-day hikes from Camp Cleland. (courtesy of KitsapSun, 5/15/2002)
>1937
patch with a mining shovel and pick on it
>courtesy
of TSPA
>1937 patch with an elk with antlers on it and 1938 patch with
Indian on it
Bronze plaque bolted to a rock: Welcome to Camp Cleland, Tumwater Council, 1939
According to Ira Spring in 1998's An Ice Axe, a Camera, and a Jar of Peanut Butter, after road improvements were made, "Then came the vandals who moved in each fall when the camp was closed. The rowboats stored in the cookhouse were borrowed and not returned. The first winter three of the eight rowboats were ruined by being left on the lake. The next year two more were crushed. We hid the remaining boats in caves a long way from camp, but still they were found. The third year, after the road was open, the boats were all gone. The buildings became firewood. By the 1941 the Scouts gave up and moved to a lowland lake where buildings could be looked after. (Camp Olympus). Camp Cleland became a memory. Last time I was there, the only trace I could find was some of the water pipes."
According to the former Tumwater Area Council on July 20, 1941 Camp Cleland planned to open for its last year.
A September 1941 report to the Council Executive Board noted the general destruction at Camp Cleland. The camp was closed, but still used occasionally for a specialized camp. (senior camping, district camping).
There is proof that Camp was held at Cleland in July 1944.
Due to World War II and the use of the Summit Lake site for military training, the Camp Cleland site continued off and on for years after 1941.
>Program
Book
In March 1945 it was noted in the Council minutes that Cleland is still a specialized camp. In June 1945 there was camp held at both Camp Olympus (Summit Lake) and Camp Cleland.
Reunion Patches
Pearl Harbor was December 1945. I believe that off and on from 1942-August 1945 that Camp Cleland was used as a base to train soldiers. Gas rationing and other shortages during World War II forced the closure of Cleland despite a 99 year lease from the National Forest Service.
According to Ira Spring in 1998's An Ice Axe, a Camera, and a Jar of Peanut Butter, "The lake, the mountains, and the remoteness were the essence of Camp Cleland. The camp director, Tom Martin, was one of the greatest people I've ever known. A schoolteacher, he went into politics, was Washington State Treasurer for eight years, and then became head of Washington State Parks. Tom has a special gift for storytelling that kept the boys at the evening campfire, hanging on every word. One almost believable story was the time on the slopes of Mount Baldy he came up on a Sidehill Gallynipper, an animal who on steep hillsides had a big advantage over the other animals in that its left legs were longer than its right legs, allowing it to walk easily on the steep slopes of the Olympics. Tom said he was watching one grazing on the lupine and blue huckleberries on the side of Old Baldy, when it was distracted by a bear that walked by, and passed up an especially good patch of huckleberries. When the Gallynipper realized its mistake, it could not go back and had to walk all the way around the mountain. A spooky campfire story that may have been true, or nearly so, was of the two prospectors who died mysteriously in the East Fork of Lena Creek. I don't remember the story, but even now it is called "The Valley of the Silent Men."
**
Directions to Lower Lena Lake: Driving Directions: Take US101 along Hood Canal about 14 miles north of the town of Hoodsport, cross the Hamma Hamma River bridge, 1/2 a mile beyond Waketickeh Creek turn left on the Hamma Hamma River road #25 and drive 8 miles to the trailhead.
Trail Notes: This hike starts off easy enough climbing 1,100 feet over the first 2.7 miles to Lower Lena Lake. From there the trail to Upper Lena Lake takes on a different demeanor. The grade gradually steepens then flattens out en route to the footbridge crossing Lena Creek. After this point the trail steepens and the track becomes rougher. One should take their time remaining cautious moving up past the wooden stairs. Above the wooden stairs the trail becomes downright 'fun' if you like scrambling (which I do). The trail moves across exposed rock requiring the use of hands when wet. In particular there is one exposed area where if you look down trail you can see a multi hundred foot abyss right off the trail. Beyond this section the trail mellows out and moves across a flat are up towards a crossing of Lena creek. The stream when flowing (like it was when I hiked it requires the use of dedicated footwear or else a tricky crossing either in terms of soaking your boots or alternately being swept away in the even of a slip where the channel narrows. Bring footwear for crossing streams!
Lena Lake Area Today: This easy trail climbs up to approach Lena Creek which is often flowing underground. The trail crosses a bridge at 2.9km but one often wonders why the bridge has been placed here as the creek bed is often dry at this point. A junction with the Upper Lena Lake trail is reached at 4.5km before the trail descends to the southern shore of Lena Lake. The campsite (Camp Cleland) is reached by a trail of roots and rocks which can cross many streams. This trail traverses the western shore of the lake to reach the camp at the northern end. Some campsites along the western shore are closed for reforestation. The trail forks at Chapel Rock, a mass of pillow lava. The upper route is used when the level of the lake is high with the lower route being only available during the summer and early fall when the lake has receded.
More on the Founder of Tumwater Area Council, Hance H. Cleland
"Mr. Cleland was born in Campbell Hill, Illinois on October 4, 1884. He received a B.S. degree at Central Normal College in Danville, Indiana in 1906 and an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) from the same college in 1906. He was a Representative in the House (Olympia) in 1913. He was an Assistant Attorney General from 1916 to 1919; and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney of Spokane County.
He was appointed to the (Washington State Utilities and Transportation) Commission on August 16, 1919 to February 21, 1924. Lt. Governor Louis Hart became Governor on death of Ernest Lister in 1919 and fired A. A. Lewis and Elbert F. Blaine from the Commission and Hance H. Cleland was one of his appointees.
He then went into private practice in Olympia 1924 to 1938; he was President of California, Oregon Power Co. in Medford 1938 to 1941; President of San Diego Gas & Electric Co. 1941 to 1946; Chairman of Board of same 1946 to 1948; President of San Diego County, City and County War Chest in 1942; President of San Diego Chamber of Commerce 1943 to 1944 and President of Pacific Coast Electric Association 1944 to 1945. Mr. Cleland died October 11, 1959." (Source: Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission : Commissioner Biographies, by Judy Hurt, Spring 2005.)
Mr. Cleland received the Silver Beaver Award from Tumwater Council.
