BSA Troop 820

Off the trail...

2011-11-19T17:04:00.002-05:00

We did a good 4 hour hike along the ridge down to the river. We had to cross the river several times - sometimes more successfully (and drier) than others.

Then it was time to hike back up the bluff, back along the ridge, then back down to the river. It was about then the boys realized they had to hike back up the bluff one. more. time.

Now it's time for dinner!

Lunchtime!

2011-11-19T13:09:00.002-05:00

A short break for lunch along the stream.

Trail start

2011-11-19T12:29:00.001-05:00

We left Oak grove shelter and started our hike!

Arrived safely

2011-11-19T11:47:00.001-05:00

Camp is made, we are the only ones here. Windy but clear. We are readying our lunch for the trail, then we will head out!

2011-“Venimus, Vidimus, Blogimus” + Videos Part III

2011-07-20T18:59:00.000-04:00

"We Came, We Saw, We Blogged"

This seems an appropriate way to end this trip. Our goal was to document, in the boys own words and photos, were we went, what we saw, and what we conquered. They accomplished a lot, learned a lot, and had a lot of fun doing it. Hopefully, these experiences will live with them for a long time to come.

The best proof comes from their smiles, so I want to share just a few of those we managed to see on the trip. Enjoy, and talk to you again next year.

2011-Videos (Part II) Dunes and Shooting

2011-07-19T12:46:00.000-04:00

Here are several clips from our Dunes Hike. The pictures just do not do justice to how difficult walking in the sliding sand really is, nor how much of it there was! The boys had fun regardless, as you will see:

Next, this video is a bit long, but the shooting the boys did to earn their merit badges was really something. Our fantastic instructor, Mr. Jeff Knop, was enthusiastic, safety-conscious, and a really great instructor. Further, he did not know our troop from a spent shell (ha ha), yet he gave us his entire day to teach the boys, get them excited about the sport, and to make sure they had a good, safe grounding in the handling of guns. THANK YOU JEFF! We also owe a thank you to the Island Lakes Rec Area and their Director, Duane Cowger. Thank you both for a great day!

2011-Videos (Part I) at last!

2011-07-18T23:01:00.001-04:00

Here are a couple of videos we shot on the trip for your enjoyment. The first is on the ferry from Leland to S. Manitou Island. The ride over was nice, with everyone trying out "bow riding" and getting splashed, then inside, then on the upper open air deck.

The way back was a little rougher as you can see in the last segment. Watch the horizon dip and rise behind Mr. C's head. Someone on the upper deck left their "lunch" on the boat, but that is a different story for Mr. G to tell, since he was directly below, but inside the window, from the poor fellow.

They had an interesting way of unloading all the packs off the boat. Everyone with packs was asked to form a human chain from the cargo hold to the dock, and we handed every pack out, hand over hand. When you saw yours go by, you were SUPPOSED to put it behind you, but most all of them ended up in a heap on the dock.

It was also funny to see our well-packed backpacks, followed by a loose sleeping bag or big metal camp stove, or big plastic bin! I didn't take a picture of the one couple who had two loose sleeping bags, a medium cooler, a tent bag, a metal stove, two soccer chairs, and a shopping bag of food. Somehow, they made it back the 2 miles to the same campsite area we were in, but I talked to them on the way out and they definitely had a couple less pieces of gear. Wonder where that stuff ended up.....

The next video is rather dark, but crank up the audio and have a listen and a chuckle!

2011-Day8-Answers and Dad's & Lads

2011-07-17T21:22:00.000-04:00

As the first trip followup, here are the answers to a few great mysteries of "spot the Scout" and the "Dad fashion show". Hank also puts to rest a long-explored myth of the Great Lakes...

Also, here is one of my favorite parts, the Dad & Lads pics:

2011-Day8-Stay tuned in this week

2011-07-16T16:08:00.002-04:00

There will be more pics and movies coming this week, so stay tuned in!

2011-Day7-Shooting, Part II

2011-07-16T16:02:00.000-04:00

Today we all had to wake up at 7:30am because the merit badge counselor, Jeff K, would be there at 8:00. We reviewed the requirements for the shotgun merit badge while we looked at his guns (not weapons) and demonstrated safe handling. After a quick quiz we headed to the range to shoot clay pigeons. There were 6 guns in all including a 12 and 20 gauges of the pump action shotgun, the over-and-under hinged shotgun, and the semi-automatic shotgun. After most of the requirements were signed off, the last requirement was to shoot 24/50 clay pigeons. We took turns each shooting five shells at a time. Eventually most scouts passed this test, but the sharpshooter Will, earned Top Gun with his outstanding performance of 24/25 clay pigeons hit using his favorite gun the 20 Gauge Semi-automatic Beretta Shotgun. Once we were done with hitting the clay pigeons coming towards us, we shot a few going away to see what it was like shooting trap. We decided to take a break and ate lunch. Once we were finished with lunch we decided to play a game of trap, Kids vs. Adults. The kids went first earning a total of 44 points 13 coming from Top Gun of Trap Colin, and 12 from Brennan. Once we were finished the adults went totaling 32 points but, the last round was a mix of adults and kids where Jeff the instructor earned 19 points for the adults and beating the kids. We cleaned the guns, and headed to a restaurant that served delicious ice cream. We ate the ice cream and went back to camp. Some started on dinner while others went to the beach to wash up a bit (maybe so their parents would hug them when they came back.) When we got back we ate dinner, The Big Burrito Pig-Out Night. After dinner, because it was Mr. S’s birthday we had bought him a cake, lit it, and we sang him Happy Birthday. After we had settled down, we sat around the campfire to see some skits and hear some songs. Near the end, Hank gave out nicknames:

Parker – Chuck (Woodchuck) reference to the Geico commercial and he liked to chuck wood during our hikes

Senior Graff – Papa Smurf

Mr. Kelly – No name because Hank was to lazy to think of one

Brennan – Quick Draw McGraw because of his excellent shooting skills at the range

Wiley – Bobby Lavanti who drives Nascar because he endorses the same lighter fluid that Wiley accidently drank when he thought it was Mountain Dew

It was a great night to end a great week.

By Brennan Kelly and Luke Rolfsen

Signing out,

Luke

2011-Day7-Awww, Shoot!

2011-07-16T12:43:00.001-04:00

ESTIMATED ARRIVAL: We should be arriving right at 3 PM today. Look for a blog entry later tonight that will cover yesterday's shooting, and throughout next week as I gather the final pictures and maybe even a video or two!

I will leave you with a few pictures of the boys at the range for now.

2011-Day6-Travel to Island Lakes

2011-07-15T22:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a late post from yesterday. Today's events will also be posted late (tomorrow) due to the Big Burrito pig-out and the closing campfire. Now, back to yesterday...
Day 6 –

Hey, hey, your MC, Wiley, is back after a long, long vacation. We started off with a rocky morning. Everybody was grouchy, because we had to wake up early. We had some cereal with milk. (Notice the some). Then we packed our stuff, and put it all in the trailer. After that, we were off to Island Lake Recreational Park. During the three and a half hour drive, Parker saw the Bear Attack video for the first time, after begging and begging to see it. I got a famous quote from him. “It was alright but cheesy.” Mr S gave us some directions to stop for lunch. Unfortunately, we ended up at a private property. It was not wrong way Rolfsens’ fault for once. We ended up giving Mr. S the nickname “Chad Chad” after the Tom Tom. So we turned around and ate lunch at Lake George, public access. We had sandwiches and animal crackers.

Hello this is your first timer, Parker, here to talk to you about the exciting adventures after lunch. After lunch we rode in our specified cars for two hours. When we reached Island Lake Recreational Park and got camp set up, we just relaxed. We had plenty of room to toss frisbee and football due to the four-thousand acres in the park. We could also make as much noise as we wanted to because out of four-thousand acres nobody was staying in the park but us. It was cool when we found out that we were getting locked into the park. Will got really scared when he heard the wolves and coyotes. Of course I asked to sleep in The Bus. Will also tried to volunteer six people to help put up his rain fly. When we were all sitting around the fire, we met some unexpected visitors called raccoons. Since we had to be ready for the shooting instructor in the morning and the shooting the next day, so we went to bed.

2011-Day7-Trap shooting

2011-07-15T15:19:00.002-04:00

After GREAT success earning merit badges, we moved on to true sport trap shooting!

2011-Day7-Bullseye!

2011-07-15T12:14:00.002-04:00

The boys are doing really well, shooting safe and nailing those clay pigeons thanks to Mr. Knop!

2011-Day7-Shooting

2011-07-15T08:55:00.002-04:00

We have started off the morning with Jeff Knop, NRA Certified Instructor and GSM Master Instructor. Not only did Jeff show up with a smile on his face, 6 guns, 12 donuts, and a LOT of ammo, he also brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm for the safe handling and sport of shooting.
Meanwhile, the dads are in the background learning and cooking breakfast so we are ready for the range work!

2011-Day6-Island Lake Rec Area

2011-07-14T19:03:00.000-04:00

We have arrived! Island Lakes is near Brighton MI, and a 4000 acre park with several lakes and ponds, trails, a swimming hole, a shooting range, but, alas, no showers!! What is it with parks these days? They seem to want you to... I don't know, camp!

Our area is really crowded as you can tell by the first pic.. but wait, maybe not... actually we have the whole group area to ourselves!

So today's Quiz #1: Can you identify your son in the pic below?

Quiz #2: Can you identify the dad?

2011-Day5-Return from the Isle and other stories

2011-07-14T14:57:00.000-04:00

After a night without air mattresses, we pulled down the food bag that had kept its contents out of reach from the raving chipmunks. We ate pop tarts, oatmeal, and a few pieces of bacon, and then finished packing up our backpacks for the hike back to the ferry. We were told by Ranger Colin (not to be confused with Colin C.) that the ferry arrived around 11:00 and left close to 4:00 depending on the weather, so we planned on taking a hike to the light house and a tour at 2:00.

When we arrived to the ferry station, we found out the planned 4:00 had now become 11:30 due to bad weather. Even though there were four foot waves tossing the boat back and forth, it wasn’t what I would have considered bad weather. Rocking back and forth for three hours isn’t exactly ideal, and having to stop at North Manitou Island didn’t help. Luckily for Mr. R and a few others, the Dramamine kicked in to help their sea sickness. Unfortunately, Mr. G had to experience someone else’s unfortunate event running down the side of his window. The ferry that ran from Leland to North Manitou wasn’t large enough to handle the waves so our ferry cramped their campers in and we began our long ride home.

Every time you looked up to see where you where, it felt like it never got closer. Finally, we reached Leland, unpacked our bags from the ferry and started on our way back to base camp. We ate lunch which included leftover bread, lunch meat, and some snacks that we brought back from our days at the island. We set camp back up and waited for some of the people who weren’t smart enough to bring two tents.

After we had all rested, we got into the cars and drove through the Peirce Stocking Scenic Drive. We saw some beautiful sights of Lake Michigan as well as the dunes we had previously walked. After that, we drove 17 miles to the closest shower at Platte River Campground. We bought tokens at the ranger station and took nice hot showers even though they were only three minutes long. (This was hard for some of us.) We drove back and began on dinner which was pulled pork sandwiches with beans and macaroni and cheese. We settled down by the campfire provided by Luke, watched some skits, and tricked Parker into thinking his sock was untied. Also Parker confused Jake with a joke about a two two twain (choo-choo train) which made Mr. Z a proud father. I still don’t think Jake understands it. Then we all went to bed.

By: Brennan Kelly and Geoffrey Fischer

Editor: the pics are actually some catch-ups from snorkeling, plus the scenic drive/overlook and the requisite sign pics. Enjoy!

2011-Day4-South Manitou Island

2011-07-13T20:56:00.000-04:00

Here are the pics for the island. We just pulled into the nice, hot shower area, so I am publishing these and running so I don't miss my turn!

There are a few quick responses to questions, however:

Yes, Colin and Mr C slept under a makeshift lean-to on the island rather than pack thier tent. No, I don't think it was just because Colin didn't want to take down the tent. No, they did not get drug away by the mighty island micro-bears (chipmunks). They did nearly fly away due to all the mosquitos that got them!

If it weren't for the hiking, we all would have gained 10 pounds by now. Thanks, Mr G!

I THOUGHT Mrs S had been dating/married to me for 29 years, not Mr C, so I will assume it was just a typo?

and finally, yes, everyone is still speaking to me, even after the dune hike and island adventure. They did all look at me and grin for some reason when we found out we had to leave the island early and that we would not be able to do our planned day 2 hike. wait a minute,,,, maybe they aren't speaking to me.... hmmmm.

2011-Day3-The Pirates of the Manitou's: Elk Rapids Wrecks

2011-07-13T20:05:00.002-04:00

Here is the late picture posting from yesterday, but first, this just in......

Our advertising and our fantastic readers have already earned us $51 with their ad clicks, and we have just broken last years total page hits. Thank you ALL! Now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast....

Let me just clarify right now that we did not see Johnny Depp, nor sadly, Keira Knightley, but we did see a shipwreck or two!

We travelled down to Traverse City, then up to the lovely little town of Elk Rapids, where there are a number of interesting things to snorkel around. There are an incredible number of wrecks and junk off the shores of the Grand Traverse Bay, as shown on this map: http://www.gtbup.org/#/preserve-map/4547872424

2011-Day5-Sure could us a shower...

2011-07-13T13:52:00.002-04:00

The island was a great time! We broke camp and hiked to the ranger station to drop our full packs off before our morning hike, only to be told the winds were high, so we had to take the 11:30 ferry back!
So we are now ridin out the waves while Mr H plays the "Edmund Fitzgerald" on his iPhone. The dads are such comedians!

2011-Day4-On the isle

2011-07-12T22:01:00.002-04:00

Hello random people of the internet. Will S. and Jake Z. here bringing you an update from around the campfire. Today after a long ferry ride to get to the island we hiked in two miles and set up camp. Afterward, we took a six mile hike to see the wrecked ship,the dunes at the island(Yes, more sand) and the cedar forest. We came back and had a scrumptious dinner consisting of sausage and ramen noodles. Now we are back at the campsite where we are watching skits around the campfire and summoning the chipmunks by singing songs from Alvin and the Chipmunks. This campsite is overrun by them. Goodnight campers, goodnight chipmunks, and goodnight sand.

2011-Day3-Narrative

2011-07-11T23:13:00.000-04:00

Ahoy land lubbers this is Hank writing about our adventures on the high seas of Lake Michigan

After a night of sawing logs, we woke up to the sound of rain. After eating a big meal made by Luke, Hunter and Colin, we set out for the day. At the Holiday Inn we set sail on the nauti-cat, but don’t worry it’s clean. As we were on board the ladies man (Will) was hitting on the other sailors. But like all the men in his family he failed miserably. After all that we did on the sea, we decided to stop to eat lunch and when we were eating Mr. C stuck over to the store and got some cherries. Some human targets were selected at random (Me) to be pelted by cherry seeds. When we were at the park next to our lunch site, we were playing around (or inducing vomit) on the merry-go-round. Next, we are going to snorkel at some shipwrecks. Fun, fun!!!

Hey, hey, hey, it’s your Homie MC here, Wiley. After our little adventure at the merry-go- round, we decided to pack up, and set sail to our snorkeling destination. We came to a lake. But first, we had to hike up a hill. Nobody liked that (especially after the dunes). After the little hike, we came to a spot, dropped our stuff, and headed out for the water. Brennan headed out first with his snorkel. Soon after, everyone was in the water. Someone (me) had some trouble trying to figure out how to snorkel properly, so Brennan helped me figure some stuff out. Soon after, we were snorkeling with the rest of the crew. Will, Parker, and I were tagging each other, when the adults and the others started to toss the football, while Mr. S and Brennan went to find the spot where a ship wreaked. It was adults versus scouts. The scouts had no chance what so ever. All of a sudden, Colin (our star football player), left to see something in the water. Some of us went to see what it was. It was a big catfish. Emphasis on big. Colin and I pulled it to shore. It was very slimy and heavy. But eventually, we pulled it to shore. We stayed there a little longer when Mr. S and Brennan came back. They said it was too far so we packed up and went to a different spot a mile away. We snorkeled to a wrecked ship around 300 yards away. It was completely destroyed. There was three parts to the ship. After that Big Blue and Little Blue went to a gas station to get fueled up. When we were ready to go, Will found a leech on his foot. Mr. R identified and confirmed that it was a leech. He asked Will if he wanted to pull it off. Will was hesitating, so Mr. R pulled it off anyway. We put a bandage on and were on our way to the campsite. When we got to the campsite, we had a prayer service, and ate. We had spaghetti with meat sauce and salad. We packed our bags for the next day. Now we are going to meet a different scout troop. IT’S GOING TO BE FUN!!

2011-Day3-Lunchtime

2011-07-11T20:00:00.001-04:00

After we left the high-stress boating trip, what else would Scouts do but EAT!
Mr C ran across the street and got some fresh black and late sweet cherries to have with our lunch (we are in the cherry capital at this point, so we really had no choice).
Well, one thing led to another, and next thing you know a vicious cherry pit spitting contest broke out. What can I say, we try to give our scouts a well rounded education...
Now, off to snorkeling!

2011-Day3-Yep, really roughing it....

2011-07-11T12:33:00.001-04:00

2011-Day3-Roughing it again!

2011-07-11T12:26:00.002-04:00

A brief rain shower greeted us this morning when we awoke, but it passed by quickly.
After a quick breakfast and camp cleanup, we headed into Traverse City to do a few hours on a catamaran!

We have a full day ahead, as we will be snorkeling afterward, then meeting a local troop for campfire tonight.

Keep an eye on yesterdays blog, I am posting so many pics, my computer is plugged into the bus and will continue uploading while we sail - 48 in all, I think!
Moms, everyone is having a great time, healthy, and definitely well fed thanks to Mr G!

2011-Day2-Hikin the Dunes

2011-07-11T11:45:00.000-04:00

Hello all! Colin and Hunter here, delivering to you info on day two of our sleeping bear dunes trip.

In the morning, Mr. Kelly, Dr. C, Brennan, and Mr. Graff Sr. went to a Sunday mass in town, while the rest of us had a five minute prayer service before we chowed down on biscuits and gravy, sausage and watermelon. Then we drove to the dunes and prepared ourselves for the then mile trip that could very well be one of the most tiring things I’ve ever done. We started the hike out with a huge hill, followed be many other smaller hills, leading into a large basin with sand, going up to a very large peak with sand, and leading into a forest down a huge hill of- you guessed it- more sand! Eventually we made it out of the sand and walked down the road to the Maritime Museum. But before we went there, we stopped and had a bite to eat. For lunch today we had hot dogs and leftover chicken with watermelon, carrots, and celery. Then we packed ahead for dinner, which was sandwiches, chips, and granola bars. After that we headed on over to the museum. There we saw how the U.S. life saving services saved ships sinking into the lake. Parker and Wiley helped demonstrate that.

After that we hiked on over to an entrance to the lake about five minutes down the road. There we swam and attempted to get our socks and boots on without getting them wet and sandy. Then the hard part began. Most of us started the next part of the hike with boots on by the lake. Then we got farther and the lake got closer to land and a branch was on the shore that we had to go around, and the sand sloped down to the water at a 100o angle! So we all stopped and either went bare footed or in sandals/water shoes. We walked a lot further great with no worries about water. We saw a small ship wreck and a huge flock of birds which Brennan scared away! We took a small rest on the last part, then that was all will see of Lake Michigan on this trip for that day. We hiked up, down, up, down, farther up, slightly down, far up, flat, up, down, up, and then down. We made it with a 100% no injury or lost person. We had fun.

When we went down the last dune we were listening to the music from the concert and ate dinner which was a lunch meat sandwich, chips, candy bar, cheese stick, and a bit more. Then we went to get a dip in Lake Glen because we were a group of sandmen! But then we felt 10 times better. By: Colin C. and Gingy K.

2011-Day2-Home Stretch

2011-07-10T20:37:00.001-04:00

Well, it has been a really long hike, but we are finally on the home stretch. We thought we would never get to this last ridge where we could see Lake Glen!

2011-Day2-Breakfast

2011-07-10T08:15:00.001-04:00

Another morning of roughing it...

2011-Day1-Driving

2011-07-09T22:23:00.000-04:00

Here is a wrap up of today's pics as we sit around the campfire, swatting mosquitos and preparing for the evening invasion of Raccoons we have been warned about. We are on the edge of the dunes, with a great breeze coming down the hill.

Thanks for tuning in today, and g'night Scouts!

2011-Day1-Campsite Arrival

2011-07-09T22:06:00.003-04:00

We have arrived! The canopy and tents are set up, Mr G is hard at work cooking chicken, home fries, watermelon, and juice. We will fill you in with more pics later tonight.

2011-Day1-Lunchtime

2011-07-09T16:57:00.000-04:00

Suprisingly, we made it all the way to Michigan and Cabelas without a single stop. Way to go Jake, that is the furtherst I have ever seen you riide wihtout a break!

The boys got 45 minutes to romp around and try to buy every package of Jerky they could find, then we had lunch in the parking lot. The last buddy team that got back to the Bus had to clean up, so Brennan and Colin got the honor of serving us. Our first meal of the trip was a wonderful mix of cold cuts, chips, fruit and juice, then it was time to hit the road.

Mr S. jumped cars to continue his fasinatinc snorkeling award lessons, but everyone stayed in their assigned vehicle. Big Blue seemes to be watching the Bear Attack video, while the Bus has a mean game of "Rich man, Poor man" going. In Mr. C's car, you can only hear the runing of pages in the books, and the classic rock playing. Unfortunatley, we are all stuck in traffic just north of the Zilwaukee bridge.

Next stop, the campground!

2011-Day1-Off We Go!

2011-07-09T11:33:00.001-04:00

Once again, the scouts are off to a great start – just not at the planned 7:30 AM SHARP we were shooting for! Mrs. H was the most popular arrival, as she showed up with donuts and coffee. Mr. G gets the late arrival award, but at least he was legitimately pulling the trailer and icing down the coolers. Mr. C showed up with our freshly made and laundered t-shirts. Gingy showed up with a huge box of cookies.

Pastor was on hand for our prayer and blessing, and then we formed a human line of scouts carrying the food boxes and gear into the trailer. If you have ever seen ants carting off an entire picnic to their hive, you would know what that might look like – only ours was admittedly less organized.

Unfortunately, both people who were to bring propane tanks forgot them, so Mr. C split off from the caravan only 1 mile into the journey to rectify that and catch up with us on the highway.

2011-Day0-Preparations & Agenda

2011-07-08T12:33:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to the Troop 820 Summer Trip Blog!

We have a full agenda for this trip - hiking, camping, sailing, snorkeling, ferry ride to/from the island, shooting, and fun! Below is our daily schedule, and we hope that you can follow our progress every day through our words and pictures.

Visit our site, send us your comments (we receive them right away via Mr. S's phone) and check out our advertisers (no purchase necessary) to help us pay for the trip! Of course, feel free to forward the blog link on to any of your friends or family that might be interested in Scouts.

Off we go!

Here is this years Summer Trip tee, thanks once again to the fantasic efforts and donation of time and talent from Mr. Chuck Rekow at http://www.chuckrekow.com/

THANK YOU and another year well done!

Upcoming Events

2011-06-15T13:01:00.000-04:00

Upcoming events: (last updated 07-05-11)

Summer Trip 2012 - Pacific Northwest!!!

Week of July 11th - Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes SummerTrip

Past Events:

June 18-19 - Taylor Farm Camping
May 22 Sunday - Philsmont
May 14th Saturday - Spaghetti Dinner
March 19-20 - Two Lakes Loop

2010:

Week of July 17th - Mammoth Cave/Green River Lake Trip

2009:

Week of July 13th - West Virginia Trip
May 23 & 24 - Philsmont!
May 9 Saturday - 8:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M Devou Park West Hiking and Mountain Biking Trail Project
May 8th, 9th, 10th - Camporee at camp Michael's
May 8 Friday - Webelos cross over from 711
April 25 Saturday - Cumberland Trip
April 18 Saturday - Spaghetti Dinner

April 12th Sunday - Scouts needed at coffee hour to offer dinner tickets 11:45 - 12:30ish
April 11th Saturday - Fire Safety Tour 1:00 ?
April 5th Sunday - Fire Safety Tour 1:00 ?
April 4 Saturday - Church work day - service hours available.
March 28 Saturday – Trip To CVG Fire House
March 14 Saturday – Loveland Bike Trail (20 mile trip)
February 22 Sunday - Ski Trip to Perfect North Slopes

2008:
June - Yellowstone Trip

Trip Destinations

2011-06-15T13:00:00.001-04:00

Places we've been/would like to go to!

Alphabetical listing (click on link to go to entries):

Mammoth Cave
Pacific Northwest
Red River Gorge
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes
Two Lakes Loop, IN (also called Twin Lakes Loop by some)
West Virginia
Yellowstone National Park, WY

Two Lakes Loop, Indiana:
Trail Map , Google Map
Last Visited: Spring/2011, Summer/2007 (?)

Day 7-Final Campfire

2010-07-25T11:12:00.001-04:00

Our final blog comes to you from Louie Hehman.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been an entire year since I served my tenure as blogmaster for Troop 820 on our weeklong expedition to West Virginia. But what a year it has been! During that time, I’ve managed to survive Senior Year – best year of my life – of high school, prepared for college, completed my Eagle Scout Project, and prepared for my upcoming Eagle Board of Review (next Tuesday, July 27). Hopefully all will go well, and in a very short time I will be officially an Eagle Scout. But those events will unfold with time. For now, I focus upon my present situation and our current trip.

I am currently riding back towards home in Mr. Graff’s van (a.k.a. The Bus), and have been specifically asked to handle last night’s events. As is traditional with Boy Scout Troop 820, our final night on the Summer Trip begins with the annual Burrito Pigout. Burritos prepared by Dr. Cummings were seemingly swallowed up by ravenous Scouts and leaders. Josh managed to down five on his own. Now there’s a real man.

After the scrumptious burritos, it was time to begin the famous Naming Ceremony. The nicknames for this year were chosen by yours truly, in conjunction with my fellow Senior Scouts, Matthew Stark and Josh Graff. We first introduced ourselves and our nicknames:

Louie: Trailmix
Matthew: Carebear
Josh: Stick

We then introduced the Scouts to their new nicknames:

Hank: Guppy
Colin: Pretty Boy
Jake: Grace
Hunter: Robin
Luke: Bugbite
Matt: Lumberjack
Will: Mini-Me
Ethan: Rabbit
Travis: Sleeping Beauty
Geoffrey: Gameboy

After a good laugh was had by all, the real fun began as we acquainted the adults with their new nicknames:

Mr. Stark: Gator
Mr. Zimmerman: Mr. Clean
Mr. Hehman: Nurse
Mr. Miles: Robo-Cop
Mr. Rolfson: Chuckles
Mr. Graff and Mr. Seibt: Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum (we let them decide who was who)
Dr. Cummings: Fluffy

And with that, we began the long-standing tradition which has stood as the culmination of every summer trip since before I joined the troop: skit night. Beginning with Will and company in “The Soup Sketch,” everyone had something to contribute to what is possibly the most successful skit night we’ve had since Land Between the Lakes in 2007. Josh brought us through the much-celebrated “Ugliest Man in the World” (joke’s on you, Chuckles!), a skit which we have performed in such exotic locations as Alaska and Canada. Dr. C then performed an extremely memorable rendition of the infamous Wally Starciak Magic Show, featuring his own circus music, disappearing limbs, and a mustache that put Mr. Stark and Mr. Miles to shame.

Following a sketch by Hank and Jake (acting together and President Obama), and another by Matt (searching for his “string,” which turned out to be Silly String), we began our movie quotes section. Every year, the members of Troop 820 have dazzled one another with their memorable recitations of their favorite lines from their favorite films. Even without Steve Mairose’s much-loved Caddyshack impression, this part was arguably the most successful of the night. Among the most memorable were: Mr. Seibt’s Darth Vader (“Luke, I am your father”), Mr. Hehman’s Blazing Saddles (“More beans?”), Geoffrey’s Lord of the Rings, Josh’s Forrest Gump, Luke and Will’s Willy Wonka (“Oompa Loompa…”), my own impression of Alan from The Hangover (“This isn’t the real Caesar’s palace, is it?”), and Travis’s wide array of various impersonations. With that, we closed the night with a recitation of Monty Python’s “Lumberjack Song.” Hilarious? Most definitely. Appropriate? Somewhat. Applicable? My lips are sealed.

We woke up this morning to the sound of coyotes howling (talk about a rude awakening) at around 6:30. Despite the howls, Matthew and I still had to wake up a few of the Scouts, or, rather, the majority of them. We pulled out of camp around 8:30 and have been on the road ever since. We’ll soon be home, but the memories we’ve made will remain. Thanks to all the family and friends back at home who have followed our adventures. Until next year!

Keep it real,
Louie

Day 7-More water, but not from the sky!

2010-07-23T21:22:00.003-04:00

Today the older scouts went on a 5 mile canoe trip. It was hot and humid but at least we had a river right next to us to cool off in. The people who went on this trip were Josh, Louie, Mr. Stark, Matthew S, Mr. Seibt, Will, and Matthew E. Will, Mr. Seibt, and Matthew E. had a little trouble at first because we hadn’t gotten the hang of all the techniques of canoeing yet, but the others were down the river in no time. We had brought our fishing poles so the person who was doing the least amount of paddling could make an attempt to catch a few fish. The only person who caught a fish was Mr. Stark who landed a 14 inch bass. We had a lot of ups and downs on this ride because unlike the last canoe trip, we didn’t have a current to pull us along, so it required more work. In some places the current was so strong that we would get stuck on a rapid with a tree in front of us with the current pulling us into the tree. After a about an hour on the river Mr. Stark and Matthew S. went on shore with Louie and Josh to fish and swim while everyone else continued on. The only problem was that we paddled about another 45 minutes down river so we stopped and waited for the other two canoes. While we were waiting for them to catch up we went swimming (which felt like jumping into a pool of ice) and we went fishing. When everyone finally met up we continued down river to this waterfall that went into the river. When we continued on we found a few dead fish and a huge dead turtle. When we got to our destination Mr. Heheman was there to pick us up. We took the canoes back to camp to eat lunch and then headed out to the lake.

Luke’s Excellent Adventure
By Luke R.

While the Eagle scouts were on their canoeing trip, My Dad and I went to visit my Grandma at her country house in nearby Adair County. While we were there my Uncle Billy stopped by and gave me a really cool Indian arrow head he found in his farm field. Then we went to visit my uncle Tutty who also lives near by.

After the visit we picked up the Eagles down river in Big Blue (my dad’s van) and headed to the beach for a swim. My Dad and I went tubing together and my Dad bounced and flopped and fell off before I did. Tonight we are receiving our nicknames from the Eagle scouts.

Pics fixed

2010-07-22T22:58:00.003-04:00

The Day 4-Jayson basin pics are now fixed. Please revisit the entry to see them.

Day 6- BOATING!

2010-07-22T22:43:00.001-04:00

Today we went to Green River Lake to enjoy a full day of watersports. After a um, leisurely but expertly prepared breakfast of pancakes, we headed out for the water. Josh, Will and Mr. G and S left first with the task of launching the power boat, then going overwater to retrieve the rented pontoon boat. The skies were clear, the air cool (ish) as they left the dock. Even though we could see the other marina through a gap in the rock, we boated all the way around the scenic Goat Island to get to Emerald isle. We picked up our very well-maintained pontoon boat (Mrs. S would be proud; we had a $50 off internet coupon for it!). The boat had a second deck and slide on it that was sure to please.

While Mr. G gunned it for the original dock to pick up more sweaty and eager boys, Will and Dad made their slow way back to the group to pick up the rest of the crew, coolers, and gear. We had plenty of time to count the preservers and lay them out in the sun to dry, then pumped up all the floats for the day (by hand, btw).

We were nearly to the dock when Mr. G finally came away with a boatload of boys (a delay Mr. G described with a shake of the head and a shrug), and soon the tube was hitting the water along with the first Scout.

Back at the dock, the Chinese fire drill had begun, loading coolers, towels, bodies and gear into the boat. Hmm, what is missing off that list… oh yeah, sunscreen.

Don’t worry moms, we had some, I was just seeing if you were paying attention.

The Pontoon headed for the first cove of the day, and I think we would have to go to the instant replay to determine if it was the anchor or a scout down the slide that hit the water first! As you can see from the pictures, we had a ball on the lake today.

Back in the power boat (P.S. a shout out to Mr.G who let us beat up his boat today!), many Scouts experienced the joy and dousing that can only come from a vigorous tubing ride. Later in the day many also got initiated to skiing and that unique feeling you get in your swim trunks or up your nose when you almost (but not quite) get up on two skies!

After the third or fourth boat swap to give everyone a turn, things were winding down on both boats. There was discussion of heading to one more shaded cove or the swimming beach, when God cleared his throat behind us and we realized our daily storm was fast approaching. So we headed for the docks and gave a couple more boys Captain lessons on the way. We dropped all our gear on the dock, and the slow pontoon boat headed out for the long trek back to its home marina.

Little did Mr. G realize that Mr. S had figured out you could get through the rocks that gave us a glimpse of the marina on the other side of the lake. Good thing too, because even as Mr. G went full speed around the island, they both arrived at the marina at the same time due to the slowness of the pontoon. As soon as the boat was refueled and the bill paid, both dads took off in the power boat and headed again for the keyhole between the rocks to take the shortest path home.

It was like a scene from a movie. No sooner had we broken through the keyhole than a great white curtain of rain descended on us (see pic). We got absolutely drenched the last 10 minutes of the ride to the dock. As we approached the dock, we decided that Mr. S would sprint for the bus and trailer while Mr. G hovered and tried to stay out of the rain. We turned the corner to the dock and the angels in heaven broke into song as we saw Mr. Stark already had the bus backed up to the dock ready to drop the trailer in the water for us!

A quick but soaking load up followed, and we headed back to camp. So brief was the rain that it had cleared up completely by the time we arrived back there.

Back at camp, everyone broke off to swim, fish, rest, or wring out gear. Mr. C began his twice daily ritual of firing up the kitchen, as it was spaghetti night. We had invited a local Scout troop to join us, the same guy who connected us to Jayson. His name was “Frog” and he led a small 6 boy troop. Frog and his son Stephen (who made Eagle in November at the age of 16!!!) were the only ones who could come. Although they had already had dinner, Stephan got in an eating contest with a Scout from our troop, and I saw at least 3 plates of noodles pass by. I’m not sure how many were really consumed!

We ended the dinner with some homemade goodies from Mrs. S. and a rousing card game at the dinner table.

G’night scouts, and friends keep the blog comments coming!

Day 5-Post

2010-07-22T21:20:00.001-04:00

The Dam Visit. The moment we all got up and running we made breakfast for today and then we went off to the dam! When we arrived we all looked at the overview then went hiking on a trail we found. While on the trail we came to a fork in the road. We went left not knowing what was to come. We walked the trail which changed to more and more rocks and clay, and then we saw the lake formed by the dam. We saw almost eight butterflies around some glob of food. It was cool. Then we continued on the trail and went right on the fork in the road. The day is continued below.

The Anderson and Jayson House. As we continued to go right on the trail we found the Anderson and Jayson house. This house once was a hospital during the civil war. Many injured people came to this place during the war. In the house we saw a hospital room with dried blood stains. We also saw some of the prices of the treatments of the injuries. There was a great diorama and display of the uniforms they wore. You could see the types of tools they use and a few other things. Then back to camp. The day is still continued below.

Water yay or water nay. When we were done with the Anderson and Jayson house we were deciding if we should go canoeing. While the year long decision was going on it began to rain. This decision was about will the storm pass or stay. If you ask me you are going canoeing you will get wet you should expect that so you are already wet. So we hitched the canoes and we go on with a happy spirit and go canoeing. So we got there and got one of the world’s best rowing photos (posted). When we arrive, people start picking what boat they need and the buddy they want. Every boat had to have an adult, but some did not get that. We all then got our buds and went off to row the boats. It was a strange first quarter mile. Some ran into rocks, trees and some did three-sixties. We got to land and we all made it back through the deadly river. The day is still continued below.

Who is here? Tonight we all were getting ready for dinner, and who shows up but Mr. Stark, Matthew S., Louie H., Mr. Graff, and Josh all in the Graff bus. We had dinner and all are doing great and are having a supercilufrigilrsticexpialidious time. All the continued blogs by Hunter the overachiever

(Editors Note: the aforementioned author has also been the most helpful scout all week – always asking what can I do to help, do you want me to do now…. Hope some of that rubs off on my kid this week! Well done, Mom K!)

Day 5-GRL Dam and Canoeing

2010-07-21T23:21:00.003-04:00

Yes, once again we are behind in our write-ups. That is what happens when we don't have any car time + camp on a body of water. The water matters matters because these boys are in it whenever humanly possible. Here are some pictures that tell their own story of today until we can get some words to go with it!

Day 4-The Jayson Basin

2010-07-21T22:59:00.005-04:00

When we got here after a hurried and late lunch at Mc Donald’s we really did not know what this place would look like. Some thought it could be a mountain of grass and weeds, or a small little piece of land. As long as it was not hot and wet like the Mammoth cave camp area we were all were fine. We had to pass the place a hundred times. Mr. Rolfson finally found the place. The street was not named only numbered. We finally we found Jayson, the land owner. We went down the wonderful dirt road and steep hill and at the end we could not believe our eyes - a cabin with an attached shelter and the Green River two yards away. Many of us can’t believe Mr. Rolfson meet this guy through the internet (kids, don’t try this at home. Kate – did you know about this?? – Editor). This place is like heaven to us. So things turned out to go the right way it could have become a lot worse. And finally no rain tonight! Many adventures to come. –Hunter A.K. Gingery or the over achiever.

Editors note: Pics from last two days now posted, go back to old posts to see them please.

Day 4-Scouts rev your engines!

2010-07-21T11:35:00.003-04:00

Wally would have been in heaven. We traveled from WKU to the Corvette Plant to see how these fine automobiles are produced. On the way to the plant our fearless leader, AKA wrong way Rolfson, took us on a tour of Bowling Green Ky. As Mr. Rolfson lived here for his College years he knew the roads like the back of his hand (Cough, Cough). At the Corvette Factory, we first started with a safety film of the factory before starting our tour. The 2011 car models were being produced at a rate of 8 cars per hours, making 40-45 cars per day. There are 8 colors available and 4 different corvette models for the coming year. The tour through the plant is approximately 1 mile long and takes 1 ½ hours to complete. Our guide named Brittany was an intern student from WKU in the human resources program. Not too knowledgeable about the cars, but tried to help. Mr. Seipt sensing her insecurity and inadequate knowledge base, led the tour at the microphone stops along the trail through the plant. Quizzing us about piping and structural environment of the plant as well. He should have clocked in for day. We followed the process from “start to finish” for a corvette. The coolest job along the route is the testing of the car at the end. One persons job is to squeal the tires and test drive the cars on the mile track behind the factory. We all appreciate the American dream car, the corvette. Produced ONLY in KENTUCKY!

Onto our New base camp along the Green River.

Day 3-The Big Wave!!!!

2010-07-21T11:32:00.001-04:00

You all probably know we took the canoes, today was the first day they touched the waters. Some went to go canoeing and some went swimming. It was all cool. Will, Hunter, Jake, Luke, and Travis all abandoned Mr. Zimmerman and the canoes. Have no fear Mr. Seibt is here to take all three canoes away all at once. After all the canoes are away we all went to swim. The adults and Matthew went to start on dinner a big storm came in. Wind blowing everywhere rain pouring down needless to say the food was saved. We all were going to see the Mammoth cave movie but we did not go due to the big downpour of rain. Hopefully we will see the sun soon!

-Hunter

Day 3-Cave of Misery!!!!

2010-07-19T22:38:00.004-04:00

Cave of Misery!!!! So says Geoffrey. Truly an experience the scouts will not forget. We arrived at Mammoth Cave Rangers station after a rough night in the torrential rains. Had reservations for 12 scouts and adults for the Introduction to caving. Wanted to have 14 of us go on the tour but because it is such and exclusive tour they are limited and would only take 13 or us along. Mr. Miles and Mr. Seibt were self elected to stay behind. Met with Emily and Sue our Ranger guides (they can be seen in our group photo). Unlike the adult leaders, our guides were fit and able to squeeze through the damp tortuous passages with ease. As this is rugged inner cave terrain we had to dress in appropriate gear. High light for Hank as he was able to wear knee pads, coverall clothes, Bandana “do Rag”, Helmet, head light, and gloves.
We took a bus over to the “new” entrance to the cave. This new entrance was dynamited in the 1920s to open a passage by a private land owner so he could capitalize on the tourism industry of the era. At the new entrance we walked down 15 flights of stairs and cat walks to get into the cave. Our first obstacle was called simply “the test” Only about 15 minutes into the cave. If one could not make this there was no reason to keep going. The test was a knee passage that opened into a manhole size cavern. Scouts had to crawl here, stand at arrival and contort your body up into unseen space. Needing three point touching through the test hole. This was Ethan’s Challenge. After several minutes of coaxing him into the dark unknown abyss, he never looked back and was up for anything to come. As you came into this space, the cavern opened on the other side into a gothic church style chamber. Cold, dark, damp and a relief. Multiple mice like maze passages were traversed. Climbing, crawling, and hitting your helmet on the roof of the passage. Should not feed scouts beef jerky the night prior for now known obvious reasons. We had to butt slide down chute like passages only to have to “boulder” to other side. Saw cave crickets and cave beetles as well as multiple rock formations through out the trip. We could not touch the stalactite and stalagmite formations that have formed over the previous centuries. Several small injuries occurred in the the cave. More to pride, ego, and pushing the limits of the scouts than any physical problems. Sick to the stomach, hit knee, twisted ankle, several tears were seen throughout, leading up to the “key hole” passage. 100 yard belly crawl leading to horse trough size cave puddle. Through the full trough of water and into the key hole. The only exit available. The Key hole sits three feet in the air over top a slick lime stone outcropping of rocks. Having to turn your head sideways through the hole first, followed by your slithering body through the trough of mud, over the out cropping and to the other side. High fives, hugs, and pats on the back to each as they exited the key hole. Emotionally draining high, and bonding experience by the scouts as they realized what they just experienced and accomplished!!

(as told by Mr. H)

Pictures posted

2010-07-19T15:15:00.003-04:00

I finally had time to upload our pictures today from the last couple days, so look back at the posts to see the relevant pics!

The boys will be posting about their caving trip shortly.

Day 2.5 - Don’t rain on my parade!

2010-07-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

…and for forty days it rained day and night…

Well, maybe not, but it sure felt like it. The main troop returned to base camp around 7 PM to find the Hehmans recently arrived. Mr. Hehman reinforced our jury-rigged tarp over the tables as soon as he arrived, and a good thing to! Right at dusk last night, the skies parted and drenched our scouts. After all day at the lake, certainly God thought we were clean enough, but I guess he wanted to make sure!

Geoffrey and Travis claimed to have slept through it. The Miles claimed to have a river flowing through their tent (we believe it; they were directly “downstream” from the picnic tables). This editor’s tent was OK at first, but finally the one low corner filled with water, which then soaked the corner of the sleeping bag, which then wicked halfway up the bag by morning. Right in the middle of the first deluge, the Mr. C arrived with Colin! It was easier for them to sleep in the car than to attempt a setup in the rain. Will and Luke moved to their car, but then Luke went back to his car around midnight – guess Will was snoring???

All is well this morning, and we are off to the caves.

Day 2-Hike-n-Swim

2010-07-18T21:32:00.003-04:00

Ah, another busy day in paradise!

First we will back up to last night and ‘fess up – we didn’t complete the 7 mile hike to the remote campsite. It is not that we did not learn a lot about remote camping (we did), it is not that the boys didn’t really try (they did), it was just simply beyond our capabilities at this time.

At the base camp we went over the basics of what they needed to take. Water, tent, sleeping bag, fresh socks and underclothes. Then we divided up the food as each boy had to carry their part of the meal. Several boys had pre-packed their packs and we had a lot of HEAVY packs that we tried to correct! We headed out on the trail, and it quickly became apparent that we had several mis-sized packs for the scout’s size, several overloaded packs, and all were poorly adjusted. We made a serious attempt to correct any of the errors we could, but it was obvious we need more practice before an overnight of that distance.

So, truth be told, we headed back to base camp and setup there. Then we took a nice hike down the trail without the extra burdens and did much better that way. Like I say, adults and boys together learned a lot from the experience. Later this week we will do a dry run to drive those lessons home!

We did stick to the planned menu and ate last night and this morning as if we were on the trail, which again was a great experience.

Since we didn’t have to hike back in this morning, we had some unscheduled time. We decided to head over to the Nolin Lake Dam to take a look at that and to visit the beautiful beach there. We had a great day at the beach, doing a little fishing and a lot of swimming. The water was warm but not hot, and the sun was bright but a little cloudy. After lunch, we headed back to base camp to do some hiking and as soon as we pulled in we got caught in a 30 minute downpour.

We hiked down around the visitor center and historic entrance to Mammoth cave. It was really cold down there in the cavern entrance! When we came back out, our glasses were fogging over, and the humidity seemed so much worse than before. We also hiked around Dixon Cave and saw these vulture buzzards and the very active hornets nest.

Here a few pictures that we have taken so far so you can see what our campsite looks like and where we have been so far.

Tomorrow is the Cave tour (on our hands and knees and bellies!) and more adventure!

Day 1-to the bat cave!

2010-07-17T16:48:00.002-04:00

By Will and Jake

It’s Finally Here!!!

Good afternoon to all you folks up there in Northern Kentucky. I bet you wish this was Louie so he would use all the smart people words, like he did last year. Alas, it’s just Jake and Will.
The day started out with a little drizzle (thunderstorm) but it didn’t keep Troop 820 from their awesome trip. Attending the trip to Mammoth cave is Big Daddy Sackful/ Will’s dad, me (Will), Jacob, Jacob’s dad, Ethan, Hunter, Matthew, and Ethan’s dad, Luke, Luke’s dad, Geoffrey, and Travis. We started out leaving the scout house really early (8:00).We then ventured down to Louisville where we went to The Louisville Slugger Museum. There we saw a movie about what the heart of the game of baseball is. We also took a tour of the factory where they were making the baseball bats and saw a 90 M.P.H pitching machine. We received a mini Louisville Slugger Authentic Bat. We stopped at Wendy’s for lunch and are now on our way to our camp ground.

It is about 3:30 and I and Jake are here, stuck in the car that is hauling the trailer which, according to the captain of a certain ferry, cannot go on the ferry. We are now starting the 45 minute car ride around the river. Yep, I guess that makes this an official Troop 820 summer trip. When we get to the campsite (if we do…..) we have a 7.2 mile hike waiting for us. When fits 85 degrees and you have 30 pounds on your back, it feels like 100 miles.

This will our last post for about 24 hours as bears do not believe in cell towers…

Mammoth Cave/Green River Lake Trip

2010-07-16T08:12:00.002-04:00

It is almost here! On Saturday we will depart for our 2010 Summer trip. We will be going to the Louisville Slugger museum, Mammoth Cave, the Corvette Plant, a Bowling green Stadium tour, then over to green River Lake for lots of camping and water activities. Follow along as we go on our trip!

This is the End, Beautiful Friend

2009-07-17T21:13:00.001-04:00

Well, here we are, rolling down the Highway. The Alleghenies lie behind us; ahead, miles and miles of seemingly endless road. I now sit shotgun in Dr. C’s car. Behind me is Colin, the “cool kid” who is busily cramming vanilla wafers into his mouth. Next to him sits Hank, who is, of course, dead asleep. We have the trailing attached to the back, meaning that we are the last car in our lovely little caravan. Directly in front of us is Big Blue, with Mr. R at the wheel. Behind him sits Hunter, most likely smiling pleasantly as he thinks of his adventures here in West Virginia. Next to Hunter is Luke, probably relating some scientific facts or expressing his love of the Caverns which we were fortunate enough to see this morning. In front of Big Blue drives Big Daddy Sackful, with Gummy in the shotgun, who are almost certainly both thanking their lucky stars (as am I) that we were able to get our gear down before the weather took the severe turn that it has Behind Mr. S sits Young Will, proudly practicing his knots and wondering what kind of awesome adventures our next trip will bring. Next to Will sits the Jake the great, rubbing his bear wound, rocking out to KISS, and slurping the Mountain Dew that will refill him with boundless energy by the time he gets home (sorry, Mrs. Z). As for my Dad, he’s at Lake Cumberland right now, blaring John Denver over the speaker and laughing at his own wit. What a strange bunch of males we are! Yet together, we form a band of brothers who have laughed together, cried together (from laughing), and have hiked trails, braved the West Virginian Wilderness, and taken time to laugh some more, whether at ourselves or one another. Before this week, I only really knew a few of the guys who were going on this trip really well, now I’ve learned enough about them to give them humorous and sometimes embarrassing nicknames. Let us not forget, however, all the people who were unfortunately unable to come with us on this trip. Most notably, our fellow Scouts: Matthew, Kevin, Omer, Jack, Brennan, Wiley, Geoffrey, Paul, and all the adult leaders. We have missed you and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.
And now, with the last stretch of the road just ahead of us, I would like to present my list of the top biggest hits of the trip – the songs we used as blog names as well as other songs.
1. Sweet Surrender – John Denver
2. Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting – Elton John
3. The Lumberjack Song – Monty Pythong
4. When the Saints Go Marching In – Elvis Presley
5. I Can See for Miles – The Who
6. Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull
7. Wheel in the Sky – Journey
8. The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles
9. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
10. Baba O’Riley – The Who
11. Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver

Well, there you go. Listen to those songs, and you can get a feeling of how we felt at various points during this trip. Hear the songs, feel the feelings, and know what it’s like to be a member of this year’s Troop 820 Summer Trip to West Virginia. That’s all I got. We’ll see you soon, we’re just a few hours away. As always, keep it real.

Louie

The Long and Winding Trail (and the Blog Post to Match)

2009-07-17T15:29:00.002-04:00

This post is coming to you from the one and only Colin C (shown above, prancing about) who will relate to you in his own words the events of yesterday.

“Well, we woke up in the morning and we had a simple breakfast of cereal and poptarts. Then, we got ready to go and went to Seneca Rocks, the Discovery Center. And then we watched this video on the trail, went to the bathroom and went on a hike up the rocks, about a mile and a half. We had many tempting shortcuts that Will was eager to take, and when we got to this overlook spot and we could see for miles and miles and miles and miles. Then we hiked back, it was a little bit shorter than hiking up, obviously. When we were done with that, we went to Spruce Knob, which is the highest point in West Virginia, to have lunch. After that, we went to the overlook spot and then we went on the Whispering Trail and it was about a half mile long. From there, we could see a 360 degree view of West Virginia. After that, we went back to camp, collected some firewood, and some of the Scouts headed down the river on rafts. The rafting trip lasted two hours for many reasons: because the current wasn’t as fast as we thought it would be, and we passed the campsite. Lucky for us, Mr. R, and Jake were fishing up the river and they saw us. So we swam ashore, got in their car, and headed back to camp. When we got back, Louie and Mr. Z were preparing dinner: the big burrito pigout. And when that was done, we feasted on big burritos. After that was done, we started a big fire and about the time when it got dark, we had Skit Night. Hank did some magic tricks, Louie acted kinda gay, and Luke, Hunter, Will, and I did the famous “Viper-Man” skit. And after that, we had some marshmallows, roasted them, and went to bed. Oh, and there was the Nicknaming Ceremony… I almost forgot about that.”

To clarify, my “acting kinda gay” was my performance of the Kenny Lust sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus; it was a routine I have performed at almost every summer trip to an increasingly enthusiastic audience. I would also like to complement Colin’s performance in “Viper-Man,” it was riveting, to say the least. Also, Colin mentioned the “nicknaming ceremony”; I am proud to announce that this has been the first official nicknaming ceremony since the Land Between the Lakes Trip. Although nicknames have been awarded sporadically, this has been the first official ceremony, in which the Senior Scouts on the trip (in this case, basically just me) give nicknames to the other Scouts on the trip. This year, I went a step further and gave the adults nicknames, as well. The nicknames were as follows:

Hank H (Previous Nicknames: Guppy, Pecos Bill) – “The Minstrel Boy”
Hank has a natural love of song and consistently tries to get everyone else to sing along with him, even when his original tunes are being written on the spot. His over-enthusiastic demeanor and somewhat annoying love of strange songs remind one of a medieval Minstrel; the 17-minute epic song “The Minstrel Boy” by Joe Strummer is his namesake.
Colin C (Previous Nicknames: The Tick) – “Sir Prance-a-Lot”
With someone as quirky as Colin, there are quite a few possibilities for nicknames. I could have named him for his love of Beef Jerky, his strange voices, or his absolutely adorable relationship with his father (and Mr. Z). However, his frantic prancing across the lovely meadows and forests of West Virginia win out as the most entertaining feature of someone who kept everyone thoroughly entertained throughout the trip.
Jake Z (Previous Nicknames: ) – “Buddy”
Jake never stops smiling. Even when he gets himself into ridiculous situations that generally end with physical pain, he always has a bright and sunny personality that either rubs off on you or (more frequently) annoys the heck out of you. His poor luck yet sunny disposition remind me perfectly of the character Buddy from the film Elf. It is truly a perfect fit.
Will S (Previous Nicknames: Gopher) – “Daredevil”
No one does ridiculous things quite like Will. Whether its putting three-days-old wild berries which are most likely inedible on his cereal or creating brand-new hiking trails which are almost certainly doomed to end in scraped knees, Young Will is always looking for a thrill, even when it’s not in his, or anyone’s, best interests.
Luke R (no previous nicknames) – “George”
Intelligent yet headstrong, a planner yet someone who always sticks to the facts, Luke reminds me far too much of the character George in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Always entertaining and full of ideas, Luke has been awesome to have on this trip and I look forward to watching him mature as he travels the long road to Eagle.
Hunter K (no previous nicknames) – “Lenny”
As cliché as it may seem to name a pair of best friends after the stereotypical relationship of George and Lenny, Hunter’s sweet-as-honey, yet down-to-earth personality make him the living representation of this much-loved character. Although Hunter is, of course, a great deal more intelligent than Lenny, his gentle nature and unique friendship with Luke make Lenny a very accurate description of him.

And now, for the adults…

Dr. C (Colin’s father) – “The Scratchy Pounder”
Over the course of this week, Dr. C’s facial hair has come in very tough and bristly. His son lovingly refers to it as “scratchy” as he rubs his grubby fingers all over his angry father’s face. The second part of the dentist’s name derives from a statement he made while Colin was performing this action (for the millionth time): “Colin… I am going to pound you!” His frustration and articulation was too perfect to avoid giggling at. The Scratchy Pounder strikes again!
Mr. Z (Jake’s father) – “Gummy”
Read the first post. It’s too perfect to replace.
Mr. S (Will’s father) – “Big Daddy Sackful”
A true stroke of genius from Jack C, who was unfortunately unable to attend this trip, Big Daddy Sackful is one of the greatest nicknames I’ve ever heard of. Like Gummy, it’s too perfect to replace.
Mr. R (Luke’s father) – “Mighty Joe Blue”
The first part of the name, of course, comes from the film Mighty Joe Young. The second part comes from the name of his massive van… Big Blue. Mr. R has been a fantastic asset on this trip and, like Luke and Hunter, I look forward to working with him in the future.
Mr. H (Louie and Hank’s father) – “Calypso”
Even though he wasn’t present for the naming ceremony, my father’s insatiable love of John Denver spurred me to name him after one of his most catchy and well-known songs.

In an unprecedented move, the Scouts decided to give me a name as well…

Louie H (Previous nicknames: Trailmix) – “Wolverine”
I can only speculate as to why my fellow Scouts decided to name me after the Marvel Comics character. I have two theories: One, I am quite an outdoorsman and actions such as walking upstream against sets of respectable rapids probably seem extremely hardcore to them (even though to many Scouts my age it would seem quite normal), hence reminding them of the well-respected X-Man; Two, and far more likely, my facial hair has flourished in these outdoor conditions, and, since I haven’t shaved in over a week, has taken upon itself the distinctive look which Hugh Jackman had while portraying Wolverine in the movie series. Regardless of why, I am humbled and very much honored to have been named after such an impressive character by the other Scouts.

Well, it looks like we’re just about to head home. First though, we’re going to stop by Seneca Caverns. Stay tuned! More to come later!

Keep it real

Louie

The Bear Necessities

2009-07-16T15:31:00.000-04:00

It is with a curious combination of pity and admiration that I inform our readers that Troop 820 has experienced its first injury on this year’s summer trip. For all you worrying mothers out there, let it be known that your anxiety is for naught, as it was certainly nothing too serious. In fact, it’s actually a very good story. It all started at the river yesterday afternoon; Luke, Will, Jacob, and Mr. S were going for a bit of easy-going rafting. There are several points of decently choppy waters, even though it is consistently shallow enough for every member of the troop to stand (yes, even Young Will). I had departed from the area earlier, for I had a meeting with destiny as I grappled with those rapids. As epic as that may sound, the injury was not my own. I certainly had an adventure braving the fast-moving waters on my own, but Mr. S told me the story of how our very own Jake Z saved the lives of everyone present. Jake, Mr. S, Luke, and Will were continuing their pleasant journey down the rapids when one of them spotted a very angry-looking grizzly bear standing at the waters’ edge. As a side note, grizzly bears aren’t native to West Virginia, or the entire eastern United States for that matter. Perhaps the reason this particular grizzly was so angry was because it felt horribly out of place in a land so foreign to it. Regardless as to what this mighty creature was doing in the middle of West Virginia on the shores of the Potomac River, it was very peeved and equally ferocious, a combination which generally means bad news to a troop of innocent rafters. Fortunately, Jake had had previous experience with vicious bears which are thousands of miles away from their natural habitat with absolutely no explanation as to how or why they got there. Last year, in Yellowstone, he found himself caught in pitched battle with a giant panda, a relative of the grizzly bear which is native to East Asia. His father told a similar story in which he matched himself against a rather irritable polar bear which had wandered into his family’s garage; he was barely three years old at the time. Despite all of his past experience fighting angry bears which are horribly lost with no logical explanation, this particular grizzly offered him quite a resistance. He tussled with the furry beast for several hours, during which he took a blow to the leg, leaving a decently large gash on his left knee. In the end, Jake stood victorious, but the cut on his knee had to be treated quickly. Mr. R, being an experienced E.R. nurse (how very manly) was able to bandage the knee up properly, but he realized that stitches would be needed. Brave, noble Jake accepted his fate and went with his father and Mr. R to the local hospital. Mind you, in West Virginia, the word “local” usually refers to a radius of roughly 200 miles. Due to some speedy driving and potentially illegal maneuvers on Mr. R’s part, Jake made it safely to the hospital within an hour. With no trouble, he was bandaged up and all was well. They returned later that night. Mr. S says: “If it hadn’t been for Jake, I don’t know if I would have made it out of there alive.” Colin adds: “Aside from my father’s dentistry techniques and Louie’s facial hair, that was the manliest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Mr. Z: “I’ve never been more proud of Jake in my life. I wish that all of you parents out there knew what it’s like to have a child like my boy Jacob.” Jake shrugs these compliments off in an ever-so-masculine manner, saying: “It’s just another day for me.” For Jake, it may be just another day. But for us, it was a truly unique day that we shall certainly never forget.

ALTERNATE VERSION: Jake slipped near the water’s edge and cut his knee on a rock. See how boring the truth can be?

The Wheel in the Sky

2009-07-15T17:24:00.000-04:00

Wheel in the Sky

We are proud to announce that Will’s father, Mr. Chad S, made it down safely at about dusk last night. We are equally happy to announce that today is Mr. S’s birthday. Hopefully the blogs will be more regular from this point onward, as Mr. S is the usual blogmaster for our troop; there should hopefully be more pictures from this point onward, as well. This post comes to you from the mighty Young Will, who will relate to you the events of today thus far.

“In the morning, we had a special treat: eggs. And cupcakes, which were for my dad’s birthday. Then, Louie took his second bath of the trip… and nobody else has taken any. Then we drove out on our way to rafting. But, as we said earlier, nothing goes as planned for us. The water was too shallow, so we could only ride duckies for the next two days. Fortunately, with former experience in a duckie, we didn’t go. Instead, we decided to go the Blackwater Falls, since we had all of our swimming gear with us still. But again, nothing goes as planned, and we weren’t allowed to swim at Blackwater Falls. We did, however, go down to see the falls and while down there, we found we found some graffiti which said: ‘Will was here.’ Of course, it looked like my handwriting. Next, we went up to the Gift Shops and then went to the Blackwater Falls Lodge to go to the bathroom. From there, we headed toward the Wind Farm, stopping at Mt. Storm Lake. We all saw these huge windmills.” Luke added: “they’re like giant wheels in the sky”

An excellent summary from Master William. Well, we are now over the hump with the trip; four days preceded this one, three days will follow. So far, our trip has been a memorable one. Who knows what the next few days have in store? We’re on our way back to the campsite right now. Keep it real.

Oh, by the way, Mr. S was able to add some slideshows of pictures from previous days. Check ‘em out.

- Louie

I Can See for Miles / Locomotive Breath (A Two-fer!)

2009-07-14T20:08:00.000-04:00

I would to apologies on behalf of this post for being so terribly long overdue. Its lack of punctuality certainly will not go unpunished, I can assure you; it will clean up after dinner tonight.

Here’s the First Post:

I Can See for Miles and Miles and Miles and Miles and Miles and Miles and Miles

Today’s blog comes to you from my own brother Hank, who will relate yesterday’s events in his own words.

“We woke up… well, I woke up, I was the first one up today, and I got out breakfast. Then we sat around and talked while Louie took a bath in the river. Then, after everyone was done with their hygiene stuff and packing their day-packs, we set out on our daily adventure. On our way out, my dad got a shortage of air on his tires. We had to stop at Mr. Shreve’s store to fix the tire. After the tire was fixed, we went back out on our adventure. We stopped at the Seneca Rocks Visitors Center, where we learned about the Seneca Rocks and how they used it for combat missions in World War II. We went to the Canaan Ski Resort and we went up the highest ski lift that I had ever been on. When we got to the top we hiked to another mountain called Bald Knob, a.k.a. Mr. Z’s Knob (“or, a.k.a. not Mr. H’s Chest Knob,” says Will). After looking at the gorgeous panoramic view (see pictures) we hiked down the seemingly endless miles of trail to the cars. From the cars we stopped at a picnic area and had a lunch which was similar to yesterday’s, and then we came back to our campsite and helped clean up Mr. H’s car. Mr. H left to go back to work at home. After he left, we got our bathing suits on and went floating down the branch of the Potomac river that we have close to our campsite. We came back and then Mr. R and his son Luke and friend Hunter came.”

I would like to add a quick note to Hank’s summary, and that is that Mr. Shreve’s General Store, located about a mile or so up the road from our campsite, has been owned and operated by the kindly Mr. Shreve and his wife for fifty-three years; surely, this is one of the last old-time general stores in existence, and stepping into the old building is like stepping back five decades. Also, as Hank said, my father had to depart from the trip in order to return home to work. Next, Hunter K and Luke R are going to relate their experience on the drive from home to here.

Luke: “We sat there. We watched Hunter’s favorite movie, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Then we watched my favorite movie, Armageddon.”
Hunter: “We saw a sign that said ‘Hunter Access.’ On the way back, we’re going to take some pictures. Mr. R kept calling the cows ‘West Virginia bears.’”
Luke: “I was scared to death about the cliff that we were right next to.”

In all, Mr. R sums up the ride by saying “It was kind of boring, really. Not too exciting. I was glad we didn’t get lost. I did miss one turn, but we figured it out right away. Only had to make a couple of bathroom stops” (lucky you, I say under my breath). Well, better late than never, I always say. Last night was another good one, a bit colder than the previous few nights. And a good deal dewier. But hey. We had pancakes this morning, so it’s all good.

And now, for the second post (yes, this is a two-for-one deal!):

In the Shuffling Madness of the Locomotive’s Breath

Today we headed over to the Cass Scenic Railroad, a state park of West Virginia. The drive is supposed to take about an hour and a half, but it took us two hours as a result of what Dr. C referred to as a “scenic route.” I find this to be a bit of misnomer; a more accurate name would be the “we are desperately and hopelessly lost route.” Upon arrival, we hopped aboard the Shay 5 steam locomotive, an antique which serves as a relic of the bygone era when the railway dominated the American economy. A two-hour ride, which included a stop at the Whittacre Station, served as a marvelous scenic view of the beautiful state of West Virginia. Upon returning to the Cass Station, we were quite dismayed to discover that our very dear Dr. C had sadly misplaced his car keys in a location which was unknown to us… and him, as well. The unfortunate keys were lost out there in the cold, lonely world, with nobody to look out for them and no pocket to keep them warm. After several hours of frantic searching, Mr. Z and Mr. R decided it best to take the Scouts to a local pizzeria place for lunch, seeing as the sandwich materials we intended for lunch were locked in the back of Mr. C’s car, and it was going on four o’ clock. When the train finally returned at 4:30, Dr. C gave the train cars one last desperate search, and was stupefied to discover his keys sitting sobbing quietly underneath a garbage bag. All were ecstatic to see those happy little keys safely in their owner’s hands again. What an adventure! Right now, we’re on our way back to the campsite, ready for an excellent dinner and good night’s sleep. Until next time. Keep it real.

Louie

When the Scouts Came Marching In

2009-07-13T12:09:00.002-04:00

This post is coming from the mouth of our very own Jake, brought to you by me, in his own words.

“We woke up really really really really really really early. We ate breakfast, which was cereal and oatmeal. We got in the cars and started driving to Harper’s Ferry. We there around 11:00… (Hank says 10:00, but oh well) um… and uh… uh… we went to the Visitor’s Center. We uh… what’d we do?... um…. We rode a bus to downtown Harper’s Ferry. The bus was awesome. It had neon blue seats. When we got to downtown, we walked around and the first place we went to was the armory. Then we went to the coffin maker and he taught us how they would treat for the dead after they died in the war. Then we crossed over a foot bridge, which is also the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail. When we got down from the bridge, we hiked the Appalachian trail, and while hiking we saw the Shenandoah-Potomac canal. We learnt how a lock works and then we hiked the Appalachian Trail. We saw tubers and rafters in the canal. We walked back to :Harper’s Ferry and had ice cream. Then we took the awesome bus back to our cars and ate lunch: turkey sandwiches with chips and Rice Krispie Treats. Then we rode the cars back into town where we watched the cool gun show where the guy shot off guns and told us about how the guns were made at Harper’s Ferry. We went to a bookstore after the gun show. Then we drove to the Appalachian Trail visitor’s center then we drove back to our campsites. When we got back, Hank started grilling goetta dogs and hot dogs and then we had a prayer service where we read different prayers from different religions. We ate an awesome dinner consisting of goetta dogs, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, chips, and mac and cheese. Then we sat around the fire and went to bed.”

Truly captivating words from our very own Jake Z. That was, in essence, a fairly complete summary of our escapades yesterday, although I would like to add that the “different religions” Jake mentioned were in addition to usual Catholic prayers that we were raised on: St. Francis’s Prayer, The Lord’s Prayer (a.k.a. The Our Father), and The Serenity Prayer. The prayers from other faiths were chosen especially by yours truly as a means of comparing the similarities between the Catholic religion with which the Scouts and parents on this trip are familiar, and religions which may seem slightly more foreign; namely, that of Buddhism, Native American religions, and the Disciples of Meher Baba, three religions which, at a first glance, may seem extremely different from Christianity but have more similar teachings that you might realize. The delicious dinner Jake described was cooked by Hank (assisted by Mr. Z, Mr. H, and Dr. C) and was an excellent ending to an eventful day. All slept well, largely due to exhaustion (chopping wood for a fire can be more tiring than you would think). We arose refreshed and ready for a new day, and after I took a quick bath in the river (which felt marvelous, thank you very much) we were on our way to Seneca Rock’s for today’s adventure. What will today bring? Well, who knows? But right now it appears that we might have another flat tire… I better go see what’s the deal. Keep it real.

Huh. That rhymed…

Louie

Saturday Night's Alright (For Sleeping)

2009-07-12T08:05:00.001-04:00

Day 2

As always with Troop 820, things haven’t quite gone in accordance with our original plans. After a quick blessing from Reverend Eli of Lakeside Presbyterian Church, who was kind enough to take time out of his day to offer his prayers to us, we set off on I-75 (although we would switch to an east-bound road later). Although in comparison with previous summer trips things have gone quite well, it goes without saying that we’ve had our share of troubles, most notably a sudden flat tire on Dr. C’s car. With some swift action, Luke and Mike were able to fix the car while Mr. Z took some lovely photos of them hard at work. Oh, don’t worry, he helped change the tire too. In fact, he and the other two adults were quite proud of themselves as we drove away on four sets of good wheels, only to receive a slightly embarrassing blow when they discovered that a convenient tire shop was hardly a quarter of a mile down the road. But despite the half-hour spent on the side of the highway fixing the car, the drive was quite a memorable one and several stops were made for sight-seeing. Several more were made due to the weak bladder of a certain scout who will remain unnamed for the present. Some fantastic photographs were taken at these various stops; these are posted to be shared. We checked in last night at about 8:00 and were greeted quite warmly by the couple who jointly run our camping grounds; they professed a strong liking for the Boy Scouts and were more than happy to have us here. The campsite they are allowing us to use is very nice, albeit a few annoying pests (and by that I mean actual insects; it is not a metaphor for certain overly-hyper Scouts). All slept well on the first night; we had hot dogs cooked by master chef Will at about 10:30 – bit of a late dinner, I know – and we were long asleep by 11:00. All slept well, despite a dull growling coming from the tent adjacent to mine. It was either my dad or a bear, and although it sounded more like the latter, past experience tells me that it was the former. It also rained a little bit at about 4:00, but that’s nothing for veteran scouts as we. We’ve braved worse before, maelstroms of every shape and size including snowstorms, windstorms, and thunderstorms. A little rain never hurt anybody… right??? Well anyway, everyone is up and moving and we’re heading off to Harper’s Ferry within the next five minutes. That’s what Dr. C says, but then again he also said that half an hour ago. Oh well. No rush. Keep it real.

Louie

Lost and Alone on Some Forgotten Highway...

2009-07-11T17:06:00.002-04:00

Mothers and fathers, friends and family, sisters and brothers, grandparents and relatives of all sorts, I give to you a warm greeting from Boy Scout Troop 820 and Highway I-75. Allow me to introduce myself as Louie Hehman, the senior scout of this trip and your humble scribe, the recorder of events and relater of occurrences as seen through my eyes. This year, the young men (and, in several cases, the not-so-young men) of Troop 820 are setting our sights eastward as we head toward that lovely gem of a state that is West Virginia. So, we’re looking eastward to a state with the word “west” in its name, and yet for some reason we are heading south on I-75… What a fascinating trip this has turned out to be within its first few hours!
As we continue driving southward despite my insistence that West Virginia is most assuredly not found south of Kentucky, I find myself quite amused at the veritable potpourri of weird and wonderful people who I am honored to join on this grand excursion. To my left in the driver’s seat is my own father, the great and wise Luke Hehman. Standing at six foot three and covered in a mane of bushy blonde hair, Luke is a true beast of a man, sporting a striking pair of sideburns and seventeen years old as of yesterday… wait… no, that’s me… In actuality, Luke is quite a bit older than that but still going well for a fellow of his respectable age. In his defense, older men have certainly done less; he’s been around the block more than a few times… and yet he is still driving south when West Virginia is east of us. Behind me sits Jacob Z, a sporting young lad in his low teens. Jake is the biggest KISS fanatic in the state of Kentucky, although he insists to the contrary. Jake has been a member of Troop 820 for two years. He is a veteran of last year’s trip to Wyoming, and now is quite excited to test in West Virginia the skills he mastered out west. Jake is a Second Class Scout (“very, VERY close to first” he says before reciting the Preamble to the Constitution). Next to Jake sits my own brother, First-Class Scout Hank. Hank has been in Troop 820 for four years, and is proud to be going on his fourth trip (the first three being Canada, Land Between the Lakes, and Wyoming). Hank’s favorite word is “cheese” and while in Land Between the Lakes, he was able to earn the nickname “Guppy” from the Eagle Scouts. Behind Hank is young Master William, who joined the troop at about the same time as Jake. Rather than being fairly excitable as Jake is, he prefers the term “straight-up pumped.” Will also attended the Wyoming trip and is ready to make his name as a seasoned Second-Class Scout (“I’m almost first, too” says Will as he pops in his earphones).
These are the current riders in my car, but there is another carful of equally intriguing characters driving in the car riding just behind our own. Or at least they were twenty minutes ago. Anyway, riding in the other car is the world-renowned dentist Dr. Michael C. Dr. C has been involved in the troop probably since before many of you were born. His eldest son earned his Eagle Scout several years ago and Dr. C was involved ever since his firstborn was a lowly Tenderfoot. Dr. C is one of three people going on this trip who were fortunate enough to attend the famous Alaska trip five years ago (the others being myself and my father). Prior to that, he had been to the Black Hills and several other major trips with Troop 820; hence, he is the most experienced member of our merry band. Sitting shotgun in Dr. C’s car is Jake’s father, Mr. Z. Mr. Z is generally happy fellow who has been involved in the troop since his son’s joining. Mr. Z is a true Theodore Roosevelt of a gentleman, a born leader and outdoorsman who “speaks softly, but carries a big stick.” The authorities have been alerted to his presence amongst our company, as evidenced in Wyoming when he was frisked by local police due to his abundance of pockets. In summary, he is a hardened criminal with pocketfuls of used gum-wrappers. He is revered by his cell-mates as “Gummy.” The other rider in Dr. C’s car is the doctor’s own son, Colin. Colin joined the troop at the same time as Will and Jake, and is known as the designated “cool kid” of the trip. Colin will also serve as our Senior Patrol Leader on this trip. Other Scouts will be joining us later in the week, i.e. Will’s father, a.k.a. “Big Daddy Sackful” courtesy of the Scouts who went on last year’s Wyoming trip. Around the same time as Big Daddy (who is the usual webmaster for this blog) arrives, Mr. Richard R and his son Luke will also join us, along with Hunter. Luke and Hunter are both newly-joined Scouts and are certainly excited for their first summer trip. More in-depth coverings of their characters will be given later, but for now I think I’ve rambled on enough. I should be going anyway. I’ve got to convince my dad that West Virginia won’t be found off of I-75. KEEP IT REAL.

West Virginia Trip 2009

2009-07-05T20:18:00.000-04:00

Our West Virginia Trip begin July 11 - July 18th!

Monthly Trip

2009-05-27T18:07:00.002-04:00

Seneca Rocks Info- By Jake Z.
The Legend of Seneca Rocks

Purchased by the federal government in 1969, Seneca Rocks is one of the best-known landmarks in West Virginia. These rocks have long been noted as a scenic attraction and are popular with rock climbers.

The rocks are a magnificent formation rising nearly 900 feet above the North Fork River. Eastern West Virginia contains many such formations of the white/gray Tuscarora quartzite. Seneca Rocks and nearby Champe Rocks are among the most imposing examples. The quartzite is approximately 250 feet thick and is located primarily on exposed ridges as caprock or exposed crags. The rock is composed of fine grains of sand that were laid down approximately 440 million years ago, in an extensive sheet at the edge of ancient ocean. Years of geologic activity followed, as the ocean was slowly destroyed and the underlying rock uplifted and folded. Millions of years of erosion stripped away the overlaying rock and left remnants of the arching folds in formations such as Seneca Rocks.

Man has apparently been a visitor to the area around Seneca Rocks for a long time. Some evidence suggests that the Native Americans of the Archaic Period may have camped at the mouth of nearby Seneca Creek. The famous Seneca Trail followed the Potomac River, allowing the Algonquin, Tuscarora, and Seneca tribes to trade and make war.

The first European settlers in the region appeared about 1746. At that time, West Virginia (or western Virginia as it was then) was the edge of the great wilderness. Slowly the area was settled, disturbed by the events of the American Revolution and the Civil War, which pitted brother against brother in these border counties.

It is unknown who the first person was to climb Seneca Rocks. Undoubtedly Native Americans scaled the rocks prior to European settlers reaching the area, but there is no record of their ascents. The historic ascent of Paul Brandt, Don Hubbard, and Sam Moore in 1939 found an inscription of "D.B. Sept. 16, 1908." This has been attributed to a surveyor named Bittenger who was known to be working in the area. (Seneca, the Climber's Guide by Bill Webster).

The documented climbing history of the rocks began in 1935 with a roped ascent of the North Peak by Paul Brandt and Florence Perry. In the 1930's and 40's only a few climbers, mostly from the D.C. and Pittsburgh areas, attempted to climb Seneca Rocks. In 1943-44 the U.S. Army used the rocks to train mountain troops for action in the Apennines. Evidence of their climbing activities can still be found on the rocks. (Webster).

Due to the hardness of the Tuscarora sandstone formation, and the degree of climbing difficulty, Seneca Rocks offers rock climbers a unique opportunity found nowhere else in the east. There are over 375 major mapped climbing routes, varying in degree from the easiest (5.0) to the most difficult (5.12). Only trained and experienced rock climbers should attempt to scale the rocks. There are two climbing schools located in the communities of Seneca Rocks and nearby Riverton who train prospective climbers in beginning and advanced rock climbing. The school in Riverton also offers a climbers rescue course.

Monthly Trip

2009-04-08T20:29:00.011-04:00

May 24&24
Philsmont - spring visit and work day.

Hunter, Luke, and Paul came to Philsmont for the first time. Will, Wiley, Matt, Hank, and Jake were all retun visitors. While the Eagles and adults worked on the barn roof, the scouts practiced their skills.

April 26, 2009
Lake Cumberland Trip - as told by Jake Z.

Hank, Colin, Wiley, Matthew, Will, Jake, and Geoffrey went to Cumberland on April 24-26. We left at 5:30 at the scout house on Friday. We arrived at the house in Cumberland around 9:00, and got a full tour by Hank. We took a quick ride around the neighborhood in the golf cart. We then went to bed. In the morning of Saturday, Will and Jake cooked breakfast(pancakes, fruit, and goetta). We had a talk about different lures and fishing tactics with Mr. S. After that, we got our fishing gear ready and cleaned up the rooms. We then got into the cars and went to Lake Cumberland by the dam. Where we started fishing was to crowded, so we went to Wolf Creek National Hatchery. There was a creek that was coming from the hatchery that we fished in. Will got our first fish from a nice lady. Mr. S caught our 2Nd fish. We left the creek and toured the hatchery.

We then went to the house and got ready to swim in the lake. Mr. S caught another one, but it was a bluegill and we couldn't keep it. We went back to the house and packed up and pitched our tents. We then went back to the house and Mr. C was cooking dinner. We went back to our campsite and got ready for bed. We lit the fire, had s'mores, and went to bed. We woke up and had breakfast. We went to a cool cave in walking distance from our campsite. We walked back, got in the car, and started driving home.

April 5, 2009
CVG Airport Firehouse
Brennen, Colin, Jake, and Will went to the Airport Fire Department last Sunday. They got a full tour by a firefighter while the others were playing halo 5. We got a tour of their kitchen, "command station," conference room, workout room, movie room, and the bedrooms. We also got a tour of the tower and we could see the whole airport. Then we got a tour of the garage. The garage had a quick-response vehicle, an ambulance, 2 crash trucks, 1 regular firetrucks, 2 4-wheelers, and a semi that holds a disaster trailer. We got to ride in the huge crash trucks and fire the water cannon on the pile of snow from the winter. Overall, it was an awesome trip!

Weekly Troop Meetings

2009-02-19T18:24:00.091-05:00

Trrop Meeting from 05/07/09

Tonight was a combined cub and boy scout night!

Troop meeting minutes 02/17/09

At this weeks meeting we talked about the skiing trip. There was a speaker from the council who talked about how we were an active troop and if there was anything the council could do to help. There was a committee meeting so most of the parents were gone. Hank, Willy, Will, all had their board of review, they all passed. Then we worked on knots.

Monthly Commitee Meeting Minutes

2009-02-19T18:22:00.001-05:00

Here are the monthly commitee meetings

01/24/09 Activites - Leather, Dan Beard home, and more!

2009-01-24T13:47:00.000-05:00

Today, we did a lot!

Day 8-Home Again

2008-06-29T21:38:00.005-04:00

Day 8 – Little Big Horn and the trip home.

When we last left our Scouts they were sleeping peacefully under the stars. Perhaps if you knew our itinerary you were asking yourself “Wait – what happened to Little Big Horn?” Well, despite a very early departure from Madison Arm, we encountered some traffic, a lot of fun, and several seemingly angry snowballs. Therefore, we did not have enough time to visit Little Big Horn and the Custer Battlefield on Day 7 as planned, so it got pushed to the morning of Day 8.

Most of the tours of Little Big Horn are given by Indians and amateur historical buffs. The battle of LBH occurred on June 25-26 1876, only one day and a hundred some years ago, but it came alive for us as we toured the site. We met the grandson of the Indian Chief Gall at the site who told us of his grandfathers’ experiences, and related a bit of his life. He told us that although the US Calvary casualties were always marked with tombstones, the Indian ones were not. In fact, until the late 1950’s historians were not aware that the Indian families knew the location of their casualties, and had marked them with rock cairns. Only recently did 10 of these warriors get granite markers where they fell.

He also told how in the mid-1980’s the US government remunerated the families of the Indian warriors in the only manner they could calculate. Each family such as his received a check for $700 – the value of the warriors’ horse which was killed in the battle.

We also met an amateur historian, Hank Pangione, who shared with us a vivid re-telling of one part of the battle. Hank was careful to cite many references by name and book, and was clear when he was injecting his own personal theories and interpretations of the action as it befell that day. You could tell he was passionate about the site and accurately depicting its history with his colorful storytelling. Each year for many he has travelled from his home in Massachusetts to explore the site, meet with other enthusiasts and historians, and to freely share his time with others.

We only got a whirlwind tour of the site, but I think we all came away with a good understanding of the history of the battle, the conditions the Calvary and Indians encountered, and an appreciation of the amount of research and preservation that has gone on at the site.

We left after a final look at the National Cemetery where many of the soldiers for LBH and other Indian battles of the Northwest were interred. Whether from reflection or exhaustion, the drive to the airport was the quietest we had in several days.

Now, airports can be chaotic places. We didn’t help. Imagine two rental vans screeching to a halt beside the curb, one of which has a big blue tarp and several oversize duffels strapped to the top. A cascade of boys and men pile out of the vehicles with backpacks in hand and start hauling bags, duffels, and even boxes of food to the side of the building. Next everyone starts stripping of their shirts and putting on bright yellow ones that all match each other. Another set of boys starts to nosily crash through the interior of the vans tossing out odds and ends, banging the seats up down and forward to make sure nothing is left behind.

Next all the bags are dragged down to the close end of the building and restacked in the shade, while two adults go into the terminal, only to return shaking their heads and pointing clear down the line of buildings. Two more adults go inside to return the vans to the rental company. While those two are inside, the caravan of bags and boxes gets carried all the way down the terminal to the departure gates.

I don’t think the “white zone” has seen anything like this in a while.

After we were checked in, we returned to the shade in the front of the building now only carrying our backpacks and three boxes of food and drinks. We quickly made an interesting lunch of burrito shells, peanut butter and jelly/cheesy-its/string cheese (yes, I saw all of those combinations), lemonade, a few leftover ham slices, and some apples. For dessert it was again an interesting mix of cold smores or peanut butter and grahams and I don’t want to know what else.

While we were eating a Skycap in a red shirt came out obviously on break, but I thought he looked like he also had other things on his mind. He sat down from us for a bit until Pete (of course) struck up a conversation with him, and he slowly wandered into our circle of activity. We each noticed that he was eying our activities and food with a mix of interest and hunger, until one of us invited him over to formally join in lunch, which he gladly did.

As we packed up to leave we offered him our leftovers of burrito shells, peanut butter, jelly, a few cheesy-its, 3 apples, and some other tidbits (Congrats to Luke and Laura who planned the food that close!). He was very grateful for the items, and I sensed there was much more to his story that we will ever know, for as we departed he said from his heart “God Bless You. This means more to me than you could possibly know.”

We finally went through security, although Mr. Zimmerman got a lot closer scrutiny than anyone. He got scanned, wanded, patted down, then wanded again. Of course, Jake had to patiently stand by and wait. The rest of us showed our support by standing at the top of the stairs above the security area laughing and taking pictures…. Real supportive huh?

And now gentle reader, our tales come to a close. I leave you with an extra slide show of our sleeping angels, some young, and some old. We had a great trip, a great time, and we embraced the scout mottos of being brave, thrifty, kind, cheerful, and friendly. We created friendships and memories that should last a lifetime, and learned lessons and stories that perhaps will be passed down to the Scouts children. For this we should feel proud and grateful.

The parting words of the Skycap ring in my ears, as I belive there is more to this trip than the pictures or words on this blog. We are blessed, and this time with our children does mean more than we can possibly know.

Sleeping Angels

Heading Home

Postscripts

2008-06-29T21:11:00.006-04:00

The total trip involved 8 Scouts, 5 fathers, 1430 miles driven, 5 States (MT, WY, UT, MN, KY)4+ grocery carts of food, many families and Scout supports, and literally thousands of pictures taken.

By the way, the technically correct answer to the poll was "0" miles the scouts DROVE, but 1430 miles they RODE!

Finally, here is a brief video of the area surrounding Old Faithful, and a few seconds of Faithfuls eruption. The main plume was likely 25-30 feet into the air (the rest taller), but the scale is hard to tell from the video. I was most surprised by the surrounding area, and all the other thermal pools and hot springs we saw.

Day 7 recap

2008-06-28T18:34:00.004-04:00

Day 7 Recap

Written by Kevin R. Crush

We woke up to a cold morning. Shivering, we ate our usual breakfast of pop-tarts, oatmeal, and cold cereal, all the while taking in last views of the mountains around us. After a hurried pack-up, we set forth from our campsite to Yellowstone and from there to Billings.

We took the northwest road out of the park, and proved to be a good choice. Fewer cars traveled along this road than on the others, and the scenery, at least in my opinion, was more beautiful than anywhere else we’ve driven through. To start, there were far fewer patches of recent forest fire, so that the expanse of trees was more uniform and whole.

After a few miles in some higher mountains, the road dipped into a rather large valley. This area was rather unlike anywhere else in the park. The valley was immensely broad, and a slow and broad river wound its way through it. For the first time, I saw leafy trees, perhaps birch, growing alongside the river’s bank in Yellowstone, and it was a welcome contrast to all the lodge-pole pines growing everywhere else. The most notable feature of the valley, however, was the number of bison. The largest herds we have seen thus far congregated one after another as we drove by them, bringing the spirit of the Old West with them.

We took a turn from the main valley and started to head up a smaller one, with the mountains pressing closer on each side. The road became windier as we reached the northwest entrance of Yellowstone, and still we climbed higher. Then I noticed something curious: it felt as though we were heading backwards in time. In the valley, it was a warm and balmy June. At the base of the mountains, we reached May. As we went higher, April unfolded, followed by March, and here were large quantities of snow, much of it streaked with ski and snowmobile trails. A lake was partially covered in ice. Still we went higher. The temperature dropped dramatically as we kept ascending, until we passed into February.
Lakes were completely frozen over. Canyons of snow, some three or four feet higher than our cars, surrounded the road at some points. A winter wonderland revealed itself to us, all traces of green frosted away. The tree line dipped below us. And still we went.

At 10,947 feet, somewhere in mid-February, the scouts got out of their cars and entered into a foreign world. The hardiest of plants lay brown and dormant where they could be seen, while the rest of the landscape was smothered in several feet of snow at least. After yet another photo-op, the finest and fiercest of all our snowball fights ensued, with an endless amount of ammunition at our disposal.

As might be expected, the fight ended in exhaustion, with all but the hardiest (including yours truly) panting for breath several minutes after we re-entered our vehicles and went down the mountains from the other side. This part was much steeper, and through the winding way we could easily see the bottom of the valley below.

The land leveled as we reached the bottom, and the mountains slowly receded behind us as we headed for Billings. Open prairie began to dominate the landscape, with cows and llamas replacing the bison and elk in the mountains. Not much changed for several hours until we entered our original KOA campground.
At KOA, Jacob passed his board of review for Tenderfoot, several scouts played ultimate Frisbee, we all swam at the pool, and we looked with boredom upon the cliffs that awed us the first time we saw them. For dinner, we ate pizza at Mackenzie River, which left little to be desired. The day ended without incident as the stars slowly spun above us.

Little Big Horn

Day 7- Back to Billings

2008-06-28T00:37:00.005-04:00

Today's blog is by Colin C and Omer D on June 27

Today we started out started out at 5:30-6:00 and had the usual breakfast with cereal and hot cocoa. Then we packed our gear and headed out northwest to Billings. On our way we drove up a mountain, and we saw to our great surprise that there was snow,snow, and more snow! Then when we reached the top we stopped and took a picture at another sign! Then we had a huge snowball fight, the snow was about 4 feet deep! After the long fight we headed to the cars. Omer, Matthew, and Jack started to walk back and we kept falling through the snow and every time jack fell all the other people pelted Jack. Eventually we made it to the cars. after that we were all freezing cold, after about 10 minutes of trying to heat up then we were fine. We finally reached Billings at the KOA station. Then put up our tents and headed to the pool. When we were done swimming we headed out to dinner for pizza. Then we came back and played some Frisbee and football. then we headed off to bed, some of us slept out in the stars.

Day 6PM-Rafting and Forest Service

2008-06-27T19:42:00.012-04:00

Day 6 as told by Hank, Will, and Jake.
EDITORS NOTE: yesterday was a very busy and long day, so this did not get posted, nor are there many pictures because we all took waterproof cameras that have –gasp- film in them!

We woke up and had home fries, eggs, cereal, pop-tarts and oatmeal.

After breakfast, we headed out to Earthquake Lake. This lake was formed when a huge earthquake knocked down a mountain which dammed the Madison River and made it flood. This all happened in 1959 and 29 people were killed by either the earthquake or the flood. There were some 80 Million tons of rubble which came down.

We then headed up to Big Sky area, and Geyer Whitewater Expeditions. After checking in we got to rock climb until it was time for our raft trip. During our climbing safety training we learned that a 20 lb belayer can actually belay a 140 lb person. We also learned some of the spoken commands and acknowledgements like “belay/belay on”, “climb/climb on”, and “belay off/belay off”. Each scout was wearing a harness and an automatic locking cannoner with a 4000 lb rope. All the scouts took turns climbing or belaying.
We had lunch in the parking lot while the final trip preparations were made.

Now it was time to get suited up for the rafting since it was so cold. We had to put on booties, wetsuit, splash jacket, a life jacket, and a helmet. We rode the bus upstream on the Gallatin River, to our put-in spot. We had final safety training, where they emphasized the possible dangers of rating when the water was flowing at 6000 cfs (cubic feet per second). 1 cubic foot is about the size of a basketball, so imagine 6000 basketballs per second flowing by you! At the end of last seasons rafting, the flow was down to only 275 cfs, so we knew we were in for a good trip!
Our group broke into two different boats, with a guide in each boat. One guide was Helen and other was Whitney. Whitney told a joke “Do you know the difference between a rafting guide and a mutual fund? Eventually the mutual fund matures and earns income”
While we were rafting, there were several splashing wars started by the “trouble boat” against the defenseless “kind boat”. We will let the reader’s imagination decide who was in each boat. We learned about different places on the river and animals that can be seen in the park. Whitney quickly figured out who the scout was who most needed to get wet, and after he accidently splashed the guide, the boat mysteriously turned sideways in time to douse Jack in a big wave. We went under several bridges where we had to duck way down to get under them. At another spot, the front of the boat was pitched up in the air, and Jack came down rolling over his tube and into the bottom of the boat. At the end of the trip Will said he did not feel wet enough, so the guide showed him where he could jump in. No one ever actually fell out of the boat, so the guides did not have to practice their rope techniques.

While we were driving we saw one large herd of 111 bison and claves. One park center claimed there were 3000 head of bison in the whole park, but we think we saw at least 2999 of them!

After our whitewater adventure, we met up with Veronica Gooding and Marianne Baumberger to learn about fire prevention and management in the park. Veronica and Marianne are Rangers with the US Dept. Agriculture Forestry Service. Hank got the opportunity to get field dressed with all the gear that a firefighter might wear during a fire. He had on: a helmet, fireproof jacket, gloves, and a very heavy backpack. The backpack contained fuse-ezs (flares), food and water for 24 hours, an emergency fire shelter, and bear spray. The whole pack weighed 35-45 lbs but Hank thought it was a lot more! Hank also held the chainsaw and the “Polaski” fire axe. We also saw their firefighting truck, which had a 300 gallon water tank and pump, with a variety of nozzles, a compartment full of hand tools, and a tank of fuel to start fire lines with. The tank could be used with a drip torch, but most interestingly, the fuel is very attractive to the park bears! The bears are known to try to drink the fuel or chew on the cans and chainsaw!
We also learned the difference between Park Rangers and Forest Rangers – Forest Rangers are all about conservation, and Parks are about preservation. So in a forest, you can take a few rocks, cut personal lumber, allow for selective commercial logging, and actively manage the forest. At least one scout learned that standing on logs while a ranger speaks to us CAN be dangerous (to his pride if not his bottom!). The presentation was GREAT and very informative! Thanks Veronica and Marianne.

Now we headed back to camp for the infamous “Big Burrito Pig Out”. Mr. Cummings had skipped the ranger presentation to have dinner ready for us when we retuned, which was good because shortly after dinner started, our camp was hit with gale force winds. Everyone had to wear coats and hold down their plates. Despite the winds, the burritos were “muy magnifico”. Lastly, since we need to head out early in the morning, we took some time to organize and pack up as much of the camp as we could.

Day 7 will come soon (I hope)!

White Water Rafting

Day 6AM-Ready for Rafting

2008-06-26T09:55:00.007-04:00

Today we will be headed out in small rafts to conquer the rivers of Yellowstone! I'm not sure you will get that many pictures from the actual trip as I rather value my digital camera, but we will see what, ahem, develops.

We had our first rain last night. Fortunately we were souvenir shopping during the torrential part of it, and our tents (even the He-man zipperless model) remained predominately dry. We had a few other brief encounters during the night and early morning, but again, we didn't seem to have any real troubles.

We need to give a couple shout-outs here:

1. Thanks again to all the people who are commenting on the blog. We have a lot of fun reading these out loud - especially anything coming out of the Myth Busters entry.

2. Thanks to Wills mom and sibs for sending the cookie care package. You can tell Will has several siblings, because he immediately shared a dozen of the cookies, then squirreled the rest away for future meals. One year during finals week, this same gal sent me a freshly baked Cherry Pie via fedex. I think even then it cost her $30 to do that, but I'm pretty sure that was the day I decided I would have to eventually marry that wonderful women.

By the way, has any blog yet mentioned that the sun comes up here at like 5:30 AM? It then proceeds to shine directly into my tent (but I think others have the same issue). Somebody should write a letter or something about that.

On to the Wallet poll, the one guy who got no votes is the one who found out if his wallet floats:

Day 5-Teton National Park

2008-06-26T01:06:00.008-04:00

Hello readers! I will be telling you about Wednesday June 25th.
Written by: Hank Hehman
Typed by: Matthew Stark
The exciting events of the Hehman’s
It was a great night last night of being in the wilderness, riding horses, and eating dinner at the K.O.A. campsite. When we got back to the campground, my dad and I were about to get into the tent, and we saw that the tent zipper was busted. There was a terrible thunder-storm coming, so we had to hurry and try fixing the zipper, but all ideas failed. The only solution to our problem, was sleeping in the car, and worrying about fixing it in the morning.
For breakfast, we had cereal, pop-tarts, omelets, and home fries. After breakfast, we performed the flag ceremony with Colin and Jake hanging the flag. Around 11:30 in the morning, we jumped into the car, and drove to the Grand Teton National Park.

When we got there, we went souvenir shopping at Grant Village on Yellowstone Lake, and at Flagg Ranch. After that, we traveled five more miles, and had lunch at a picnic area. That was around 4:00P.M., and I was starving!!! When we were finished with lunch, we went down to Jackson Lake, that was right down the hill from where we were eating, and put our feet into the water.
On our way back to base camp, there were a lot of people on the side of the road looking at something, so we stopped to see what it was. It was a GRIZZLY BEAR and her two cubs eating!!! After taking pictures of the bears, we stopped at the Continental Divide to get our picture taken. We wound up having a SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Jackson Hole

Day 5-The break of dawn...

2008-06-26T00:45:00.008-04:00

Wednesday, June 25th Early Early Morning

The Adventures of Crush and Cobb
It was around five-thirty when Kevin “The Crusher” woke up his adventurous partner, Jack “The Cobb.” The waters were angry this day my friends, very angry indeed. They were off to face the giant mountain that mocked them every day in the face as they woke up.
So we got dressed and took a canoe (of course we asked the lady in the office the day before I mean come on, would we do that).We set sails and paddled for about maybe twenty minutes across the sleeping lake when it was most safe. The sunrise was beautiful, but we had seen nothing yet. Once we got to the shore of the mountain we just then realized how massive this mountain really was, (well actually I realized it about halfway up the hill when I was completely out of breath and my legs felt like rubber and my heart pounding through my chest, but we kept going.) When we had reached the summit, we sucked in the victory. At the top was a sight to hard to describe in just regular words so I’ll try my best. It had endless mountains with the peaks draped with snow and the lake with the sun reflecting onto it and the lake in full view with the fog just gliding on the water. It was a sight I’ll never forget. On our way down we saw two antelopes pouncing happily through a field outside a wood. We rowed back to the campsite boasting heartily about what we have done and seen. If there is anything I have learned today, it’s if I want to do accomplish something, I can with the right tools, friends, and the right set of mind and heart.
The End

Day 4 PM-Horseback and more

2008-06-25T15:49:00.008-04:00

Tuesday, June 24th Evening

Today’s blogging is written by Jack Cobb

It was around four thirty when we arrived at the Diamond P Ranch where all thirteen of us rode on our very own horses. When we arrived they made us sign these papers that pretty much meant if we die or fall off a horse (Hank) we can’t sue them for all the money there worth. If so I would get my very own horsey. But anyway once we signed the papers the instructor showed us how they trained the horses and they showed us how to stop, turn, and make the horse move forwards and backwards, which was quite easy. The next step was sizing us up to a horse that we could fit on. We were finally off. My horse’s name was Ammon, he was beautiful. We then started going on a trail that was already planned out. About halfway through the trail Hank’s Horse bent down for food (my kinda horse) and Hank dropped the reigns and the horse walked off the trail to eat, Hank then yelled and said it was going “crazy”. Our guide then brought the horse and Hank to calm and all was well. When we got out of the woods there was a beautiful view of a seemingly never ending valley and horses along with mountains in the background. Once we arrived back at the ranch we put the horses back in there resting spots for the night and we were off to one of my favorite events of the day……dinner!

Dinner was at the K.O.A. campgrounds and it consists of an absolutely divine steak, a side of baked beans, a roll and potato salad, corn on the Jack (Cobb)and for desert vanilla ice cream. Once we finished eating we set off for some photo ops and that was a great end to our night. Until tomorrow that’s it for now good night and I hope you respond to what a great blog this was goodbye!!!!

New episode of "Myth Busters"

2008-06-25T00:43:00.006-04:00

While we were in Virginia City Monday, we happened onto the film crew for the TV show "Myth Busters". Unknowingly, the Troop stood in as extras while the crew explored the myth of dancing ghosts at the Calliope Museum...

Day 4 AM - Waterfalls

2008-06-25T00:33:00.007-04:00

Kevin R. Crush blogging for June 24, 2008:

There was a beautiful sunrise this morning, though most were not up at 5:30 to see it properly. Instead, they bided their time patiently until the aroma of pancakes wafted in their general direction. As might have been guessed, both the aroma and its source soon vanished, falling prey to Troop 820’s ceaseless appetite.

While driving to Painter's Point in Yellowstone, scouts in the silver (read: cool) car were studying for the Nature Merit Badge, greedily gobbling any snippets of facts I and Mr. Seibt were able to distribute, ranging from Moon cycles to the food chain. While on the way, we spotted a crowd of tourists who had spotted at least one bear, and possibly three. Below is a picture of the blond bear, which came closest to the road.
Upon arriving to Painter’s Peak, I had complete ignorance of what I was to see. We went first to the Lower Falls, and my pulse literally quickened with what I saw. The canyon, plunging more than a thousand feet below the edge at some points, was draped in hues ranging from rusty red to chalky white and yellow, the colors were caused by dust washed by rain down the slope. Granite cliffs burst from the general slope, shaped bizarrely by the wind over many eons. Among all this, pine trees that knew no better were growing straight from the stone. A blue and swollen river at the bottom offset the fiery colors, completing a vista that does not abuse the word “awesome,” as tired a word as that is. I cannot say the same for several tourists. A road paved wide enough for a Hummer allowed any number of people to witness this handiwork of God. While it did allow physically disabled persons to access the place, it also permitted a number of those who were probably not as appreciative. “They ought to knock down these trees right here,” declared one, gesturing to a cluster of gnarly pines that had lived through dozens of Yellowstone winters and had rightfully earned their place in existence. He, however, ignored the fact that he could have taken three or four steps on a path someone else paved for him in order to get a sufficient view of the canyon.

After a steep hike down to the Lower Falls’ base, we went to the Upper Falls. We arrived at this one from above, and could clearly see the water rushing into the river below. Madly it went; the mindless fury with which the foam and water tumbled down below was frightening. A slip from the rails would certainly not to be to one’s benefit.

A Limerick of Old Faithful and Its Gift Shop

There once was a faithful old geyser
When compared to her spectators, was the wise
For when she did stop,
They went off to gift-shop
At a store that could make poor a miser.

Editors note - you will have to hold your breath for the rest of today's entry and the pictures - the Internet was especially poor all day long, so I am now posting this from my tent it is so late!

Roosevelt Tower

Survey says.....

2008-06-24T10:14:00.003-04:00

Wow! You guys know these scouts! Yes indeed, Hank is the least showered scout. Will was pulling a close second, due to a little white lie to his dad that he had taken a shower the first night, when in fact he had not.

This morning we are off to Roosevelt tower, Painter Point, and the lower falls. Talk to you soon!

Adding Comments

2008-06-23T22:21:00.003-04:00

Editors Note: We love the comments we are getting! Please however, identify yourself in the comment. We are getting a chuckle from "Grandma and Grandpa" who have commented a few times. However, we are not really sure which Grands you are - please add a last name! ;)

We will try to post twice a day if wifi and cell signals allow. You wouldn't believe the time we spend saying "who has a picture of _____, I don't have one" then trying to connect any one of 6 digital cameras. Ah, technology!

Day 3-old faithful/hiking

2008-06-23T21:05:00.010-04:00

Editors Note: since we were in Yellowstone all day we had neither wifi nor cell signal to post with. Due to popular demand, we will try to post twice a day from here out!

Omer Donmez and Colin Cummings Monday, June 23, 2008

This morning after we woke up we had an egg breakfast. Then we had the flag ceremony and discussed what we were doing today. Then, when we were getting ready we saw a pair of otters chasing ducks in the lake by our campsite. We got a few pictures and they will be posted.

Now we are on our way to Old Faithfull. Every day before we go into the cars two people pick who goes in there car. Today in our car it is Will, Colin, Hank, Omer, Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Seibt. In the other car it is Jack, Jake, Kevin, Mathew, Mr. Stark, Mr. Cummings, and Mr. Hehman. On the way to old faithful we saw lots of bison, and we saw a bird that looked like a Crain. Hank fell asleep once again on the ride to old faithful. Colin took a very good picture of him.

When we got there Old Faithful had already erupted so Jack, Kevin, and Jake went to get some information. The next eruption was in about an hour and a half, so we took a walk around the place. There was a boardwalk path winding around all sorts of other geysers, some small, some big. A couple of them were just as clear as a swimming pool. When we were about finished with the walk we saw a musk rat swimming in a little stream. Then we got back and Old Faithful erupted at last. The eruption was huge and seemed to last for about two minutes.

After Old Faithful performed, we went to the old Faithful gift shop. Everyone bought at least something. After we went back to the cars we left to go to solider bridge and ate lunch. We stopped by a river and pulled the coolers out of the van and feasted on ham, salami, turkey and bologna. Jack chose to ease some of the local organic cuisine. There were several hot springs next to the river where we enjoyed lunch.
Afterwards we went on a 3.9 mile hike to freight road trail head. Hank threw up about half way through. While we were walking we saw an elk, bison and even a detached bison leg.
We also found a hot springs called “oje Caliente” which is “hot eye” in Spanish. We stopped at a waterfall and got a few pictures. We went to fire-hole road and relaxed in the river. We headed back to camp and on the way back we saw a couple of elk on the side of the road and one had a radio collar on. We stopped at a market to get our dinner and it took forever!

P.S. King Louie my glasses are transitions.

Old Faithful

Recap of Day 2

2008-06-23T10:42:00.007-04:00

Good afternoon everyone! This blog covers Sunday 22, 2008
Today the blog is written to you from Matthew Stark

We woke up this morning around 6:30 - 7:30. We had a wide variety for breakfast such as cereal, pop-tarts, oatmeal, and hard-boiled eggs. After breakfast, we had a pleasant and enriching prayer service lead by Mr. Stark with a reading from Mt 19:13-15. At 9:00, we headed over to the rangers’ station to receive directions on what to do for our service project.
When we got there, the park ranger, Veronica, told us that they would like us to collect all the garbage in an area of woods. The area that we covered was about 100yds X 880yds, and we averaged at least two and half bags per person. The amount came out to be around 33 bags of garbage, which was about 115lbs. When we were finished, we then collected some fire wood so that we could have a campfire during and after dinner. After that, we headed back towards our campsite, but stopped back at the rangers’ station first for a quick photo opp.

Arriving back at the campsite, we prepared our lunch, which consisted of lunchmeat and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The accompaniments to this meal were chips, cheese sticks, carrots, pickles, and Kool-aid. After we finished lunch, we had little time for recreation, so we spent time on the beach trying to skip rocks across the water. Around 1:30 in the afternoon, we headed out for a historical trip, and look around at the local ghost town.
Once we got there, we visited many stores that were very unique to this town. The stores and buildings were very old and rustic looking, and it appeared that we were walking through an old wild-west movie, or walking through a time warp.

Some of the stores there were an old ice-cream shop, a candy store that makes their own products by using the old-fashioned methods. There were many souvenir stores, and many museums that showed the local history of the town, which was very interesting

The ride home was very long, especially in the car that I was in. Everyone had gone to the bathroom before we left, but twenty minutes into the drive home Jake said he had to pee like a race horse, and kept reminding us every ten seconds. So, we told him not to think about the lake, babbling brooks, the ocean, water in a water bottle swishing back and forth, so that he would. When we finally got to the entrance road of the camp ground, we stopped to let him go to the bathroom. While he was still going we all decided to drive the car forward a little so that when he turned around he would freak out because the car was going away. He started running to the gravel road where that car was, but when he got close to the car, about 10ft away, we started going forward another 10ft so that he would have to go further to the car. Jake finally got close to the back of the car, and hopped onto the back bumper so we had to stop to let him back into the car. The best part about it was that his father was driving! From then on, Jake will now be drinking a lot less water when we go on an on car ride.
Before we fully started dinner, Kevin, Jake and I went for a walk around the shoreline. We walked about a mile from when we started to when we got back. On the way back, we saw an otter swimming a few feet away from the shore. A few minutes after that, we saw 11 swans flying across the lake. When we got back we had dinner, in which we prepared chicken, home fries, and baked beans, which was very delicious.
After said dinner, a crowd of clouds emerged behind some mountains from the north. It was a thunderstorm; the lightning inside it highlighted the shape and length of the clouds, but they did not come towards us. When people started to go to bed we star gazed, looking at the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Cassiopiea, and the Milky-Way. Good night and we will talk to you tomorrow. Hello Mom, and Family!

Service Project-Ghost Town

2008-06-22T22:46:00.002-04:00

Today's post is coming hot on the heels of this one, so let me take a minute to first acknowledge all of the comments that have been posted so far! It is great to know people are following our progress and fun, and King Louie has given us some great nicknames to use.

Second, keep looking at the slideshows on the left, because I may add pics throughout the day to the current days section. By now you have probably noticed that you can click on the slide show to see the bigger images.

OK, I'm feeling a little guilty sitting here on the blog instead of helping to cook, so I'm going to turn this over to the boys

2008-06-22T09:46:00.006-04:00

Sorry, this didn’t get posted yesterday…

Heading out from Wal-Mart (with THREE full shopping carts!), we stopped at a roadside rest for a late lunch at 3:00. We pulled out the lunch cooler, a keg of lemonade, and a football for a brief but welcome break from driving.

We stopped at Roosevelt arch for pictures and some fun at the entry to Yellowstone – at last!

A bit further down the road we came to Mammoth Hot Springs, our intro to the thermal springs that pepper Yellowstone. Mammoth does not have any geysers, but it is still a great sight and uh, rather odiferous place to visit.

As we drove on thorough the park, we saw many large mule deer, and frequently there were bison right by the road munching on grass.

As we came around one bend in Beryl Spring, I thought Mr. Stark was going to slam on the brakes and get out his fly fishing gear, just to join his comrades in the creek.

We often came around corners to find steam issuing from the earth at random spots. Each area had splashes of color due to the thermophiles which stain the minerals and allowed unique fauna to prosper in that area.

The lead car saw the rabbit run across the road, closely followed by two coyotes. The last car saw one more coyote in the rearview mirror.

I’m in the car with Mr. Z, and while he is an excellent driver, he does enjoy sticking his arm or head out of the window to take a picture of that spectacular vista that just came into view!

Tonight we will reach the Madison Arm Resort, which will be our base camp for the next several days. We will try to post the days pictures later tonight so that you can enjoy them in the morning.

…and we ain’t trying to "buffalo" you!

Billings

2008-06-21T18:08:00.002-04:00

Today’s blog entry comes from Jack Cobb ----

After we packed up in the morning Mr. Stark picked up the truck for all of our gear. After Jack took a shower he suddenly realized he had forgot something….. a towel. Once we were all packed up we set off for a kid’s favorite place WALMART. As we were sitting in the cars waiting for Mr. Zimmerman, Mr. Seibt, And Dr. Cummings we decided to come up with nicknames to say over the walkie talkies and here they are.

Mr. Seibt: Big Daddy Sackful- reasoning is well have you seen his size and he shirt said thanks a sackful as a thank you from white castle he did advertising for.

Mr. Zimmerman: The Zohan- reasoning is The Zohan is a hair stylist with practically an afro and Mr. Zimmerman has no hair left whatsoever.

Dr. Cummings: Dr. Plaque- reasoning is he is a professional in dentistry and has no plaque. He is so concerned about the scouts’ teeth that he brought an entire bucket of toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste……. What a guy!!!!

Jack Cobb- Einstein- reasoning is Mr. Seibt apparently thinks that Jack doesn’t have any smarts well I proved him wrong

Well Einstein is in the other car now, so I will take back over and relay the events of last evening. We arrived at the airport in good order, but several boys were hungry, since the Northwest flight severed only drinks for free. By the time we landed, everybody was pretty tired and pretty hungry. Unfortunately, the Billing airport was shutdown for the night.

Mr. Stark (Evil Kinevil to keep with the ironic names, being that he is very safety conscious) had to get into protracted negotiations with the Enterprise desk clerk over the number of drivers and insurance costs, but in the end he won out and got us a good deal.

We packed one van full of gear and a few people and threw everyone else in the other van and were off to the Hilltop Hotel. Several wrong turns later, and a short trip down a one way street and we found the hotel. Dr Plaque (Cummings) had handled the reservations, so he went in while we all waited outside. And waited. And waited.

Turn out it was "something pride" weekend and all the rooms were full – in every hotel in town. Mysteriously, they lost our reservation on this most crucial of nights.

So a tired, somewhat cranky conversation ensued where we decided to head to the KOA Park that we would be staying at on the way out. We pile back into the cars, head down the road a few miles and can clearly see campsites available.

Once again Evil (Stark) had to put his negotiating hat on, as the fellow wanted to charge us $225 for the night, instead of the $75 we were reserved for on the way out of town. He stuck with it and saved the scouts some cash in exchange for just a little time.

Finally, we drug all the gear out to setup for the night. This was about the time that the Starks and Kevin realized they had shipped their tents out with the coolers and camp cook gear. All of which we were to pick up the next morning! Needless to say, a couple Dodge Grand Caravans are almost as comfortable to sleep in as a tent….

Back to the ironic nicknames:
Colin: tick
Will: calm (or bear bait)
Hank: Guppy
Mr. Hehman: Dr. Pain
Kevin: baggage

These still needing names – please chime in!
Omer:
Jake:
Matt:

Billings WY

Travelling

2008-06-20T20:32:00.004-04:00

So far, we are off to a great start!

This is the whole trip troop getting ready to leave the scout house – they look ready, don’t they?

We all jumped in a few cars to go to the airport and get checked in. Thanks to Mary Ellen all of our tickets were in order, and all the bags were under the 50 lb limit.

We walked through the underground rather than taking the tram as it seemed at least a few boys had some extra energy to burn. A short bus ride later, we were cooling our heels for a little more than an hour until our flight left. Jack had to buy something to eat while we waited.

As soon as we landed, we hit the airport tourist traps…while jack ate a pizza

A scout to be left nameless wandered down to pick our baggage – without us – and oh, by the way it is the wrong airport to pick up our bags!

We just got a confirming phone call from our friendly Yellowstone Fire Prevention Ranger. Veronica has arranged a service project for us on Sunday morning picking up a roadside and trailhead area that is very popular with tourists. On Thursday she will be meeting with us for a campfire discussion of fire prevention and fire fighting.

The boys are playing cards (while Jack eats a sandwich) and killing time until our next flight to Billings for our first night out at the glamorous Hilltop Hotel. It seemed to be one of the least expensive hotels in the area near the airport, with a complementary, continental breakfast. My guess is they don’t know what is going to hit them there…

See you tomorrow!

Travelling

It is finally here!

2008-06-20T10:29:00.001-04:00

Yellowstone 2008 Trip Blog

Blogs are displayed in reverse chronological order (newest entries first), and consist of frequent short postings and pictures. After you read each entry, click on the "Comments" link under each entry to remark on our postings and trip - we would love to hear from you!

We will also be posting a few photos of our trip for you to enjoy. Click any Photo Album to see larger images of each days activites.

It is finally here!

After months of planning, spaghetti dinners, budgeting, packing, and anticipating, the Yellowstone '08 trip is finally off the ground. Stay tuned to our blog to see what we are up to and to see what we are seeing on the trails and around the campfire. We will do our best to post every day to keep you informed in words and pictures!