Troop,
A good time (overall) had by all this weekend on our latest adventure!
Yes, there were some tears, some whining, some thoughts of turning around, but then I remembered there were a lot of Scouts counting on me, so I had to go on the camping trip!
As in our troop’s tradition, we got out and set out on our hike Friday afternoon. Hiked for a bit, then set up camp in the dark (like always on Friday night).
On Saturday morning, we set out after breakfast to the peak of a little known mountain west of Pikes Peak. After deciding that it should only take us a couple of hours to get there, we got to the peak of the trail at 12,523 feet around 5:30pm. (yup, a really long, rough route up some really, really rough and steep terrain). Behind the planned schedule, we had to traverse a wide open range well above 12,000 feet and a scree field with boulders and some real ankle-breaking scrub grass before getting back down below tree-line to find a spot to camp. Well, after a Marine .5 miles (about a mile or so to everyone else), we finally found the perfect spot to refill out water and get some rest, of course, this was done under the cover of darkness (it was really, really dark). Camp was established, and the Scouts made and ate dinner. The rest of the night, the Scouts were quiet because they were miserably tired.
We woke up Sunday morning with a short trail to our exfil point (parking lot) where the Scouts would finally be free of Ray and Dan screaming at them about burning daylight and wasting time, and all that stuff that never happened. We arrived about 9:45am, and we were able to off-load sweaty Scouts to their parents.
All in all, the Scouts reported having a good time, despite the terrain and some rough spots. They grew some, and they learned some.
I only hope they made some good memories they can share with their families.
Next on the agenda: Game night. The Scouts did not make a choice on what they wanted to do, so I will coordinate with the SPL and PLs to see what they want to propose and will put out a sign up genius for it.
Talk to you guys soon!
Dan
