Victory Ranch

It's been exactly two years since I volunteered(officially I was an "Intern") at Victory Ranch in South Carolina. Victory Ranch is a part of Cadence Int, a Christian ministry to the Military. This location hosts retreats primarily for enlisted soldiers from Fort Jackson. I enjoyed my time here two years ago and I'm glad to be back, if only for a short while.

The Lake at Victory Ranch in 2013

The big news item at the Ranch is flood damage. The dam/road leading to the retreat center washed away after water from the flooded lake started pouring over the road. A working siphon in the dam couldn't keep up with the amount of rain brought in by two major storm fronts meeting over Columbia.

The Lake at Victory Ranch 2015

So long story short, the dam broke, the lake drained, and the road to the house has a deep, deep gully carved right through it. The edges of the lake are dry enough to walk on now, but the stream running through still needs something over it for walking on. Mr. H nailed boards and pallets together to make a long sort of walk/bridge going from the remaining road to the edge of the yard.

The Pallet Path from the road to the yard

 

And then there's the stairs. It's a form of exercise.

The pallet path is a bit steep in parts where you're walking up or down the sides of the lake, but it serves the purpose well. If you can keep from tripping. Everything coming to the house has to be carried from the end of the lane up to the house. Packages can't be delivered to the house

The breaking of the dam didn't damage any houses lower down the stream; though it did fell a tree close to the road and wash away a truck that was parked on the road.

A crack in the earth

The gravel lane from the paved road down to Victory Ranch has always been rather bumpy, but besides breaking the dam the rain made man-deep gullies and ruts down various sections of the half mile stretch of road. Thankfully, the County maintenance crew came(the very day I arrived) to repair the main section.

Moondust!

It looked like the County maintenance crew spread moon dust and volcanic rock on the lane. In fact, I'm convinced that's exactly what it is! So progress is already being made to repair damage. The H's and Cadence have already raised $28,000 out of the estimated need of $50,000.

Less ground to walk on.

Victory Ranch is part of Cadence Intl. Donations for repair can be given online at Restore Victory Ranch.