Canoeing and Camping Trip
Jordan Lake
9/9/05 - 9/11/05

“Troop 216 kicked off the new scouting year outings with our September campout to Jordan Lake. We arrived in time to set up camp in daylight, which is often not the case. The scouts who were working on the canoeing merit badge on this trip had some “book work” that was led by canoeing merit badge counselor Mr. Majikes. The other scouts had time to free play until bed time and lights out at 10 PM.

We were up for an early breakfast at 7 AM on Saturday and the scouts working on the canoeing merit badge left for the lake at 8:30 AM. The scouts not working on the merit badge stayed in camp and the older scouts helped the younger scouts with rank advancement work. They worked on physical fitness, knot tying, day and night navigation using the sun and stars, and much more. About 6 scouts made enough progress that they completed all the requirements for the next rank advancement and they are now ready for their Scoutmaster conference and board of review.

After lunch the scouts in camp joined the other scouts already at the lake for some afternoon canoeing and canoeing games. Every scout who wanted to had the opportunity to get on the water for the afternoon.  Even those scouts not working on the merit badge had the opportunity to practice getting in and out of the canoe in the water, capsize a canoe and re-launch it, and learn how to paddle to a place you WANT to go to. After that the scouts played some organized canoeing games: canoe soccer, and a game similar to musical chairs, except instead of removing chairs the rowers tossed wet sponges into opponent’s canoes. At the end of the time limit the canoe with the most sponges in it lost the game. Needless to say there was a lot splashing, ramming and capsizing. Just in case you are a little worried, all the scouts had PFD’s on and we did the games in a shallow cove with two adults in kayaks in the water and three adults on the shore watching for problems.

About 4  PM we loaded all the canoes on the trailer, gathered all the gear and headed back to camp. I’m amazed that most the scouts headed to the showers to get the lake water off and get into some dry clothes. After that no one could wait to get dinner started and eat! They were all very hungry after all  that play (work) on the water. We saw some scouts cooking hot dogs over an open fire they had started in the fire pit, some made Italian sausage hero’s with fried peppers and onions, and the adults had some homemade chili and salad.

After  dinner and cleanup all the scouts (but one) wanted to take a half-mile hike down the road to a location they had scouted out earlier in the day. It was dark and it was time for “manhunt,” a game that is a combination of hide and seek and capture the flag. It’s played in the dark and the only lights are at the two bases were the flags are located. They had about an hour to play before it was time to hike back to camp so we could settle down and meet the 10 PM lights out. During this settle down time there was fresh baked (in a Dutch oven) cherry cobbler for some of the scouts and other low in sugar desserts for the others.

Sunday morning was pretty much the same as Saturday with wake up at 7 AM and breakfast as fast as the scout could get it made. I saw pancakes at one patrol, cold cereal at another, fresh cooked donuts at another, and bagels and hot oatmeal at another. Everyone worked together to break camp. The scouts had some instruction on the proper methods of policing the camp and the scouts got the policing done in one pass (it usually takes two or three times).”  By Mr. DeContreras