Oko Topa

Monday, Mar 21 to Sunday, Mar 27, 2011: high 60, low 17

Four years ago today, Sunday, students from Grinnell College on their spring break spent a night at Wingsprings. That afternoon, they read the instruction booklet for setting up a tipi, and in three teams, they went about setting up the lodges. The first step was to establish the locations for the tripod poles by using a tape measure and wooden stakes.

Then the tripod poles were tied together and stood up, as in the picture above. Next, the remaining nine poles were arranged into the crouches of the tripod poles in a particular order.

The tipi cover was then attached to the lift pole, which was stood up and placed into the crouch, opposite the door. The cover was unwrapped around the poles and fastened with pins below and above the door. The students got all three tipis set up well before dark. That night a spring storm blew in, and they left the next morning in drizzling sleet. Whereas they slept on the ground in 2007, today we provide sleeping cots on wooden platforms inside the tipis and wall tents.