Activities Archive

Wilton Bicentennial

 May 2018

Historian: Logan Bruno

When we got to camp, we set up the tents, patrol boxes and got water. On Saturday, nobody showed up. We made a gateway to camp and some people went on a hike and worked on rank advancements. There was a lot of ice cream involved. On Sunday, people showed up for the ribbon cutting ceremony. We worked on more rank advancement and took the gateway apart. We packed up and left.

Canoe Trip Long Lake to Forked Lake

August 2017

Historian: Logan Bruno

When we got to the boat launch we started to put the boats in the water and assign people who came alone to a boat. Some people were slightly upset that we didn’t bring the canoe Ouch with us. As we started to cross long lake the waves and wind were very strong and made some people go 360 degrees in the water. We took a few brakes because some scouts were having trouble keeping up because of the waves. When we got to the end of the lake we were all very hungry. After a short distance down a river we beached ourselves and eat lunch while staring at the stream. We then started to carry our canoes and kayaks up and a stone “stair case”. As soon as we loaded everything into the cars we headed to forked lake and canoed to our camping spot. By the time we finished setting up our tents it was time for dinner. We enjoyed it with soda provided by Mr. Hoffman. After dinner we went to sit on some rocks and Kai’s food packet that slid off the rock and fell in the water. We all tried to get it out of the water but it was Treven that got it out. The next day we headed out of the camp and started for forked lake. The wind made it difficult but at the end of the lake we loaded our boats onto the cars and went to Stewarts. 

Family Trip To Philadelphia

April 19-22

Historian: Trevor Borden

We left Dorthy Nolan school at just about 8:00AM with 26 people.   As an entire campout I believe I speak for everyone in saying that the Philly campout was a blast.  We saw many historical sites including The Liberty Bell, a great but wet, baseball game, a fire house museum (which for, me,  had seemingly lifesaving benches), and the house of the very kind,  Betsy Ross. 

On the first day of site seeing we saw the Betsy Ross house, the Constitution Museum, the grave of Ben Franklin, the tomb of the unknown soldier of the Revolutionary War,  The Liberty Bell, and the fire house museum.  The first stop was the Constitution Museum which was very nice with a circular theater and some nice exhibits.  At the Betsy Ross house we were told that we were permitted to take photos as long as there was no flash. This was true up till we actually came to something picture worthy.  This item was a parchment of paper held in a glass case which happened to be the will of Betsy’s first husband.  The “Betsy” who was in the building talking to us about how she made flags was apparently very protective of this will and did not let you even take a picture with or without flash.  Unknown to Mr. Bruno he attempted to get 3 feet away from the will with phone in hand.  But “Betsy” wasn’t having any of that in an attempt to stay in character she yells harshly at poor unsuspecting Mr. Bruno.  I guess it is safe to say Betsy Ross was quite a scary person.  After the Betsy Ross house we went to the fire house museum.  Luckily, they were much nicer than Betsy.  After a man invited us in I set out to find a place to sit as I was somewhat sick and got tired quickly.  After a few minutes, the upstairs had cleared out of a previous party; we headed up to find the coolest stained glass window of all time.  It depicted a scene where multiple fire men were fighting a massive fire but that wasn’t the cool part.  The part I found cool was they made the firemen look 3D by arranging the glass differently and making the glass panes pop out.  Next up was the grave of Benjamin Franklin.  The only problem was that you couldn’t see it is they were doing construction on the grave.    We ended the day visiting the tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the Revolutionary War, which was not nearly as cool as the one in D.C.  That was pretty much the main highlights of the first day if I missed any I am sorry I was a little busy trying not to die of the heat. 

On the second day we saw the Museum of the American Revolution which was interesting as it reviewed the entire Revolutionary War; why it started, the different battles , how it ended and the turmoil after the war was finished.  We were able to see the tent that George Washington used during the war as well.  We had lunch at the Old City Pizzeria.  At first the waitress wasn’t too happy to see us but when she realized there was 7 pizzas to be sold she changed her tune.  The next  place we saw independence Hall.  A somewhat short stay informing us of the two important rooms where the first Congress met and the Declaration of Independence was signed.  We then trekked through the streets of Philadelphia and ate at Geno’s (famous cheese steak sandwhiches).  To top it all off, we saw a great baseball game between the Phillies and the Braves where Mr. Hoffman found the perfect seats.  My main issue with the second day was that I learned that Geno’s was created by a guy named Joey now what’s up with that?  Otherwise as I said earlier this campout was a great deal of fun and was a blast for all of the people and families who went.

Curtis Reed

March 25-26

Historian: Billy Jobmann

Well, right off the bat, I'm going to say that everyone h,ad a great time. After arriving and getting settled on Friday night, we played a little Magic. We kicked off Saturday with some more magic and we "collected firewood". Then we had a huge 7 way magic game that lasted 2 hours. It was rainy with a chance of freezing rain at night, so everyone enjoyed the fire. After this, we all sat down, got comfy and watched Doctor Strange, an amazing movie. So, everyone enjoyed the games, food and just had a blast!

Lake Desolation Campout

October 28-30 2016

Historian: Trevor Borden

Let me first say that this camp out housed what was probably the most eventful three hours of my life.  It all started with us showing up at the Burkey’s driveway for dinner which may or may not have consisted of cold pizza.  Could it have been an omen saying turn back?  Possibly… After “dinner” our tiny group of three started to unload the truck.  We threw our gear into the Burkey’s row boat and row out. Once at the tiny island we found ourselves struggling to make land.  So we all had to lean back in order to have our bow raise.  Though we had gotten closer we still had to jump out of the boat in order to get on the island luckily none of us ended up in the water. We then started to unload our gear and set up tent then after two of our three tents were up we realized that we were being signaled back to the main land so we hop in the row boat and push off.  After zig-zagging across the lake a bit we finally get to the dock to meet the source of our signals: Cody and his brother Wyatt.  Once upon land we go up to his house to fetch fire wood and some batteries.  Cody had to get new clothes on because he had already fallen in once.  After we had a sufficient amount of wood and a few batteries we wanted to head out.  Except the problem was that one of the kayaks had floated out so Cody hopped in a different one to get the one that drifted out once he had gotten it we loaded up the row boat and a kayak with gear.  But someone decided to go into the kayak but left their paddles on land which caused them to go a little bit away from the dock.  Our trusty adult had to go help Mrs. Burkey with something so they left us for all of two minutes and that is when it all started.  One of our scouts decided to help the person in the kayak to the dock but instead falls in to the water due to the icy dock.  This scout proceeds to land on the kayak he was trying to help thus flipping it and the gear inside.  Now we had two wet scouts and wet gear.  Next our trusty adult shows up and tries to pull up the kayaks thus leading to said adult falling in as well then angrily pulling them out of the water through the weeds and mud.  Our next conflict was whether or not we should stay so due to the fact that the majority of us were soaked we decided to seek refuge in the warmth of Mr. Burkey’s home.  We ended up playing Paw Patrol UNO and drinking hot cider in order to kill the time while our clothes were dried and Treven’s Mom showed up.  The rest of the trip went smoothly we rowed out to the island, pitched Mrs. Foster’s tent and fell asleep to the sound of the party in a house near by…

Mount Mckenzie+ Haystack Camping Trip

October 14-15 2016

Historian: Billy Jobmann

Sliver Jubilee

September 29- October 1   2016

Historian: Billy Jobmann

Canoe Trip

August

Historian: Logan Bruno

Day 1: We set off from the beach and started canoeing. We canoed 6 miles that day. It was a lot of fun. Late in the day, we arrived at the campsite and set up tents and collected firewood. After, we ate dinner and played cards. Finally, we hung the bear bag and went to bed

Day 2: We woke up and had breakfast. Packed, and started in our kayaks and canoes. We had to cross a beaver dam on the river, and Ethan fell right in. We got him back in the kayak, and he was fine(excluding the beaver muck all over him). Eventually, we made it to the campsite, and had a little fun swimming. 

Day 3:In the morning, we broke camp and had a portage to a canoe access point north of Buttermilk Falls. We had lunch at Catlin Bay and continued past some islands. We even passed our final destination at the boat launch. Eventually, we made it to the campsite and set up.

Day 4: Everyone woke up today and started to pack up for our last trip. We went back down the way we came the day before, to the boat launch. When we got there, everyone was very happy and we all had a great time. 

Canoe/ Kayaking Trip

Historian: Billy Jobmann

Moffit Beach

Historian: Billy Jobmann

Spring Camporee

 May 20-22 2016

Historian: Billy Jobmann

At the camporee, everyone had fun and everyone liked the theme of the camporee, which was of a course, a zombie apocalypse.One event there was where we separated into two groups, humans and zombies where humans had to build walls out of sticks and rope while the zombies had to put makeup on, duck tape their knees together and try to break down the walls. After, the humans went to an event where you had to work together to put a "toxic brain" into a bucket that could be used as a cure while the zombies played games with a ball. At the end, there was the O.A. initiation ceremony where people got chosen to be candidates to join the O.A. Overall, this was a great camp out!

Klondike Derby

February 5- 7

Historian: Billy Jobmann

The Klondike Derby was the first weekend of February, the 5th, 6th and 7th.  There was a lot of cheering and fun to be had.  Everyone had a good time.  We got together prior to the event and built a new sled as we were having two teams for the derby.  The new sled looks really cool and it was seriously light, making it easy to push or pull.

For the derby, the courses included, ice rescue, orienteering, sled racing, shelter building and knot’s gorge cross, ladder step thing, and first aid to name a few.  Both teams did well.  The first team won the race and overall derby.  Congratulations.  The younger team worked together and worked hard to use their skills towards the challenges.

A funny thing that happened at one part (though he didn’t think so) was that Eric fell into the mud, grabbed the sled, but was still dragged down the mud.  The next day, we saw his tracks frozen in the ground.

For our group, we felt that crossing the gorge was the hardest part.  The first aid portion required us to make a stretcher.  When we first tried to pick it up, we had to improvise because the stick broke in half.  So we rebuilt it and kept going.  The younger group did well with the shelter building.  

The older group got five chips in almost every event leading to their win.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and we used a lot of skills that we have been learning along with having to work as a team to problem solve the challenges.

WAKPOMINNE

January 2016

Historian: Billy Jobmann

                       It was a cold weekend. There was a nice warm cabin but still people slept outside. I would have liked to but I was under fourteen. I'm not sure if everyone else feels the same way though. After dinner we had cleanup but after that we transitioned into games. The next day we went sledding. We had a lot of fun especially after Troop seventy got there. I knew a couple of kids in their troop from school. At one point kids from Troop seventy made a snowman and pushed him down the hill after they 1.)made him 2.)got him on the sled 3.)had the grueling job of pushing him up the hill. The first time he went down he went slow and didn’t go off the jump. The next time he went much faster and went off the jump, broke in half and his top part exploded when it hit the ground. However the bottom part stayed on the sled... but eventually it was dumped off too. Then we went back for lunch and a couple of younger scouts went out and did their lashings to try to earn first class rank. We all worked together to make dinner and slept for the night before having breakfast. The weekend trip went by pretty fast but I still enjoyed it and I think most everyone else had same thoughts.

Y- Lock In

Dec 4-5 2015

Historian: Billy Jobmann

The Y-Lock in was very fun and everyone had a good time. ( Sorry reeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy fun ). There were a couple things bad things ( like the lack of sleep ) about it but overall, it was great. First, we had a chance to swim in the pool from 10:00 P.M to 1:30 P.M. We also had huge nerf wars in the halls. There was also consoles with Super Smash Bros and Minecraft. There was pizza and soda for everyone at 1:00 P.M. The Y -Lock In was great.

Wilton Wildlife

Nov 13-14 2015

Historian: Billy Jobmann

The Wilton Wildlife trip had it's ups sides and it's down sides. One of the down sides was that my feet hurt from walking around but it was a very good orienteering course. The course was very easy except for one of the points, we could not find it because in the area it was swampy, so we thought the flag was buried, but it was actually a orange flag on a twig. We did not know it was the marker so it took us a long time. Nonetheless everyone finished and we played games. I think we all had a great time.

St. Regis backpacking trip

(10/18-10/19) We went on a St. Regis backpacking trip. First we stopped for breakfast at the Black Bear diner, it was delicious. After breakfast we headed out to the mountain. When we got there we got all our stuff out of the cars and unfortunately someone took a wrong turn and they had people’s food in the car. After three hours of hiking up we reached the top. We stopped to take a break and have a snack. Finally the people that took the wrong turn showed up at the top. When we started to go down the mountain it was a whole lot easier. When we got down it started to rain. Then we went to a camp that had an amazing heated bathroom. Again I would like to thank leadership and adults for a wonderful campout.

Evan Davis 10-29-14

Salmon river Fall 2014

Friday

We arrived to the camp late, setting up at about 9:00. After we were done setting up the tents and dining canopy we set up our fishing tackle for the next day. Then we all went to bed.

Saturday

Woke up at 4:30. We had bagels for breakfast. We then split up into our fishing groups and then headed out. We got to the river and started to fish. Many people lost their lines due to rocks, logs, etc., but no fish. We stopped fishing at about 11:30 to eat lunch back at camp. Since the fish weren’t biting we stayed back and went to the camp store.  While at the camp store some of us got snacks. After that we went to the lake shore and hung out there. We went back to camp and the scouts that wanted to continue fishing went back to the river and continued to fish, though still none were caught, so we headed back to camp. We had spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. We sat by the fire and roasted marshmallows and Jiffy pop. And then we all went to bad after a long day.

Sunday

We woke up at 7:00 and had hobo’s stew for breakfast. We packed up and went to the salmon fish hatchery. At the salmon fish hatchery we were able to gaze in awe at the fish we could have caught. Although none of us caught any fish we had lots of fun!

Fall Camporee

            On Friday, October 4, 2013, Troop 24 went to the Council’s Fall Camporee at Fulton County Airport. The theme of the Camporee was Aviation because the Merit badge and Aviation themed activities were the main goal of the Camporee.

            On Friday we left at Dorothy Nolan Elementary, our usual meeting place, to go to the Fulton County Airport for the Camporee. When we arrived at our designated camping area on the airfield we prioritized the tarp pavilion due to the forecast of rain that night. The Troop tents were set up in the cramped area that we were given and we went to bed before it started raining. The next morning it had still not rained so we took advantage and got some of the activities out of the way after the opening ceremony and breakfast. Planes were around for people to earn the merit badge, as well as anything you needed to finish the merit badge. But having that I already had the merit badge, I went around doing other activities such as a rope bridge obstacle, tomahawk throwing, flying RC planes, and etc. It eventually began to rain from noon till we left, but luckily none of our tents or campsites got ‘swamped’ due to the downpour.

            I really liked this Camporee even if I had the merit badge and it rained. Camporees are always great for the troop and I like going to them. Any scout or adult is recommended to go because they’re fun for the scout and parent, even when it rains.

Shelving rock backpacking trip

            On September 21, 2013 Troop 24 had a Backpacking trip on the Shelving rock trail near Lake George. 6 scouts and 2 adults were on the backpacking trip from Saturday to Sunday.

            So the trip started around our usual meeting spot at Dorothy Nolan Elementary school at 7 am. We loaded into the cars and headed towards a small diner called the ‘log house’ diner for breakfast before going on the trail. The troop then went to the trail head and we loaded our backpacks onto our backs. Because it was an overnight campout our packs were fairly light for a backpacking trip. The trail began with a steep uphill path, then went downhill, and finally flat for the rest of the trail. I think we did around 4 to 5 miles but on steep terrain. Once at our destination, we ate lunch but had to move due to a group of people being at the site before us. We did an extra half mile to arrive at another site where we set up tents, collected fire wood, ate dinner, and went to bed as it started to rain. The next morning Josh and I had flooded tents from the rain but we were leaving so it wasn’t so bad. The hike back was harder because of the downhill portion that we did yesterday was very steep.  In the end we managed and went home.

            I really liked this campout despite being flooded at night. Anyone who wants to do a 4 to 5 mile hike I would recommend this trail. Day hikes would be easier than backpacking on this trail especially due to the steep terrain.

Summer camp

                  Summer camp is a great place for scouts due to the multiple interesting merit badges that scouts can earn. This year’s summer camp for Troop 24 was at Camp Massawepie near Tupper Lake, New York. For a week in July, the Troop would be at the summer camp learning new skills along with other Troops from around North East.

            Camp Massawepie is a good camp for new scouts in a Troop. It is fairly small for a Boy Scout summer camp (I’ve seen much larger), offers a wide variety of aquatic activities, and has a very good staff. The food was okay for summer camp food but was very repetitive. The end of the day activities, and Troop challenges were lacking in creativity in my opinion. A big turn off for this camp was that there were no proper latrines and the port-a-potties they had instead were very dirty even for a summer camp. But overall this is a good campout for new scouts to get their first merit badges because the merit badge counselors are very good.

Siamese Pond January Hiking 

          On January 5, 2013, Scouts and Adults met at Dorothy Nolan at 7:30 a.m. to hike Siamese Pond trail. We got into cars and drove to the trail, but before beginning the trail we stopped at a cozy restaurant for breakfast. After finishing breakfast we drove to the trail and strapped on our snow shoes for there was 6 inches to a foot of snow on the trail. The beginning was hard because we had to labor up a slope. The rest of the hike was straight forward but it was still difficult with the snow shoes. The hike was about 3.5 miles. Once at the campsite we ate lunch, took off the snowshoes, and searched for wood. The campsite had one lean-to, a fire pit, a bridge, and pond with running water, despite the cold temperature. DJ and William made a snow shelter to sleep in. For Dinner everyone ate the freeze-dried Mountain House meals. The temperature dropped at night and we woke to a frozen mourning. As soon as everyone ate breakfast and packed their bag, we set off one the trail and back to the cars. The way back was harder than hiking in due to the gradual slope. Once we finished the trial we went to Stewarts and then went home.

Fish Brook Pond

          We met at Dorothy Nolan Elementary at 7:30 on Saturday, December 16, 2012. We hiked three and a half miles into Fish Brook Pond and found the first lean-tos but they were occupied by two people, so we hiked around the pond to get to the other lean-tos. As soon as we dropped our packs we ran to the ice and started to break it to see how thick it was. The ice was about 2 inches thick in some spots; however it was water in other spots. We were able to walk on the ice near the shore. Then we went to go collect fire wood but there wasn’t much near the lean-tos so we had to hike to find some. It then started to get cold, so cold we had to huddle around the fire. Gabe Olsen brought out Christmas lights and we hung them up on the lean-tos. We had dinner around the fire and some of the scouts went to bed early before it got too cold. The next morning, we woke to find that where we had broken the ice, it was thick enough to hold us, so we ventured a little further upon the ice. Then we packed and started down the trail and some of our group climbed sleeping beauty mountain. The trail was extremely icy and dangerous, so as a result almost everyone fell. Then we thawed ourselves out in the cars and went to Stewarts.

Troop 24’s YMCA Lock In

On December 7^th 2012 Troop 24 held a fun event for the scouts and the Webelos. There was a meet at Dorothy Nolan Elementary. Most of Troop 24 was present and we then divided everyone to the cars. We arrived at the YMCA of Glens Falls. The way it works is that the scouts get locked into the YMCA until 5am. They can do whatever activity the YMCA has or anything they brought. All the Webelos and the younger scouts brought Nerf Guns. They played various battles that sent Darts whizzing through the air. The Gymnasium was open for dodge ball, basketball, and even football. The pool was open until 2am. The younger scouts got their BSA Swimming tests done. The racket ball courts let us play racket and volleyball games. Pizza was delivered and each scout and adult got two slices. Soda was also provided but it limited us to only two cans. An X-Box was also provided by DJ a scout. Around 4:30am we started cleaning up before we left. We were all tired but we left the place clean.

          It was really fun and I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did.

November Back Packing for Troop 24 

          On November 16 and 17, 3 scouts and 4 adults met at Tub hill Marsh. The weather on the hike was good but there was a slight chill in the air. The hike was to Tub Hill, a day hike at the lily pads, and a hike in to the Lean-tos. The trip was 1 night and the environment was wet and mucky around the lily pads. The scouts ate Subway, hash brown, eggs, and bagels on the trip. An interesting thing the scouts and the adults saw was grouses. Grouses are birds that live in the north.

Wilton Wildlife Camping

          On Friday, November 2, 2012 Scouts, Webelos, and Adults from Troop 24 and Pack 24 met at a Wilton Wildlife campground for the November Camping trip. Lean-tos were at the campsite and most of the scouts slept in them. It was a little chilly in the morning but the temperature rose later on Saturday. There were many bike trails for the scouts to ride their bikes on. Two races and obstacles courses were organized by Quinton a Life scout. The Webelos and the younger scouts worked on map and compass skills. An orienteering course was arranged for the younger boys to rank up. Most meals were cooked in Dutch ovens on Saturday. The campout was 2 nights and I had a great time.

Troop 24 Bottle Drive

By Troop historian- William Sorel

          On October 13, 2012 on a Saturday was the Troop 24 Fall bottle drive. The Troop met at Gavin Park which is close by to Dorothy Nolan Elementary where Troop 24 holds its meetings. Scouts were assigned a route to pick up plastic bottles, glass bottles, and aluminum cans. The reason we do this Bottle drive is to fund the troop and the scouts, because the bottles and cans can be sold at 5 cents each but the troop sorts them out by company to sell it for 8 cents the bottle. There were different jobs for each bottle and can. Here are some that I did.

I arrived at Gavin Park at 11:51 A.M. and the bottle sorting had already started. I was impressed at the large pile of assorted garbage bags containing the bottles and cans. I first helped out to get the glass bottles out of the bags so they could be sorted and the plastic bottles and aluminum cans remained in a separate bin to be ‘dumped’ on to the bottle sorter. After some time, I decided to help sort the glass bottles by company and the bottle shape (both must be the same). We sorted the bottles and place the bottles in 6-pack holder for glass bottles. I was then needed to help out at the bottle sorter to sort Coke and Pepsi plastic bottles. We finally finished going through the immense stack of mixed up bottles and cans to bags of organized cans and bottles.

Wilton Wildlife Camping 

          On Friday, November 2, 2012 Scouts, Webelos, and Adults from Troop 24 and Pack 24 met at a Wilton Wildlife campground for the November Camping trip. Lean-tos were at the campsite and most of the scouts slept in them. It was a little chilly in the morning but the temperature rose later on Saturday. There were many bike trails for the scouts to ride their bikes on. Two races and obstacles courses were organized by Quinton a Life scout. The Webelos and the younger scouts worked on map and compass skills. An orienteering course was arranged for the younger boys to rank up. Most meals were cooked in Dutch ovens on Saturday. The campout was 2 nights and I had a great time.

Summer Camp 2012

We met at Dorothy Nolan School early in the morning to drive all the way to Hawk Mountain Scout Camp in Pennsylvania.  The car ride felt like six hours!  We stopped after some time had passed in the middle of the drive at McDonald’s for lunch.  When we got there, pictures were taken of us scouts that were there while our stuff was taken up to our site.  After that, we went up  to the site ourselves and put our stuff that we were carrying in our chosen tent and went off to take the swim test.  That was exhausting!  Most of us were still tired from the night before and the car ride.  We ate dinner about an hour after and at 10pm, it was lights out.

The next day, we woke up to do what they call the Polar Bear!  It is when you get up first thing in the morning and jump into the water.  It is so much fun!  We ate breakfast in the mess hall almost right afterwards.  The meals were prepared for us so that made it nice to not have to worry about meal planning and clean up afterwards!  After breakfast, we were able to work on our merit badges that we had picked at sign up.  The merit badges examples are:  archeology, environmental science, oceanography, fishing, communications, emergency preparedness, camping, first aid, and other fun things that we get to learn about as a scout.  We got about 30 minutes of free time before dinner.  After dinner, we got the rest of the night to ourselves!  I went fishing and saw what catfish looked like a 14-15 inch!

On Wednesday, everything was pretty much the same, normal daily routine, until a little before dinner.  I was a waiter so I had gone to dinner early to set things up to prepare for everyone to arrive to eat.  While I was there setting up the table, people started to come into the mess hall.  I asked what happened and was told that someone accidently stepped on a ground bee hive.  Some were stung!  Ouch!  No one was severely hurt thankfully.  Other than that, the day was normal.

On Friday, we did the scout Olympics!  Some of the events we participated in were the tomahawk throw, and scavenger hunt.  After that, there was a family chicken dinner were families came from all the other troops that were attending the camp at the same time.  The dinner was followed by a small bonfire with a few skits and thank you’s to everyone that helped make the camp to memorable by working so hard.  We packed up and left for the ride home on Saturday.

Respectfully submitted by:

RJ

Salmon River Fishing Trip - October 5-7, 2012

Event Write-Up in Progress

Saratoga District Camporee - Fall 2012

9-29-12 Fall camporee- Spa Park

            I arrived around 10 pm on Friday night and the camp was set up. I placed my gear in the tent and went to the meeting in the mess hall to discuss the next day’s events and expectations.  After the meeting, we went to bed. 

            In the morning, we woke up, made breakfast, cleaned up, and went to the Camporee meeting.  Then, the events began.  Some events were knot tying, spider web, river crossing, and bottle rockets.  Knot tying was tying rope to a grill and then toss it over a wooden pole.  Then we had to tie it to a log and raise the log a foot above the ground and tie a knot to have it stay there!  Spider web was a bunch of strings tied between two trees and we each had to go through a hole that was in the strings and two people could not go through the same hole.  If we touched the strings, we couldn’t use the part that touched the string with our part of the body.  River crossing was an area laid out with orange tape and four stumps was inside the taped area.  He gave us 3 logs and a rope to get us across.  Once we got across, we had to take down the logs we just walked on to get across!  Bottle rockets were where we would get a bottle and fill it with a bit of water, and then pressurize it with air until it launched.  Sometime during the day, we had lunch.  There were many more activities but I can’t list them all.

            After the day’s events, we ate dinner, cleaned up, and went to the award ceremony.  We won 2 ribbons!  We were supposed to have fireworks but it didn’t happen.  We returned to camp to get some sleep and prepare to pack up and leave the Sunday morning. 

Murphy Lake 9-21-2012

We hiked in the dark.  The trail was not long but it had many other trails connecting to it which made it confusing along with the dark.  It was about approximately 9 mile hike and difficult.  We got to the Lake and to the lean-to which was littered with adult beverage containers so there was no spots to set up tents.  We went to the other side of the Lake to go to the other lean-to which was the best I ever had.  It had great view of Murphy Lake!  It did rain lightly later that night and it rained like that all night.  The interesting part of the trip was at the bottom of the hill, there was a stream with no bridge or rocks to cross over it.  We had to take off our boots and socks to walk across and the water was knee high and very cold.  We hiked and hiked and hiked to get to our cars.

Interviewed Ryan L

Respectfully submitted by RJ

Canoe Trip - August 2012

            We met at Raquette Lake after hauling our canoe on our Jeep.  Once everyone was ready, we set off on our expected to be 12 mile canoe trip.  The sky was gray and it rained a lot so it was so windy so that slowed us down a bit.  Paddling was exhausting.  We fought the wind that caused our canoe to do a 360 degree turn!  Along the way, we saw a family that had flipped their canoe.  Troop 24 decided to help them get back on track because that is what us scouts do best- help!  Once we were done paddling the whole way to our tent destination, we treated ourselves to some roasted marshmallows at our camp.  We set up our tents for the night while some went to retrieve the cars.  We ate our dinners and went to bed to start out the next day.  We paddled Raquette Lake to Forked Lake carry.   A short carry and we were on our way again to reserved sites on Forked lake.  The next day we drove around the falls and rapids and carried to the river leading to long lake.  On Long Lake, after we paddled past the bridge and town we saw a structure fire.  Mr. Hoffman got out and helped put out the fire until the fire trucks arrived.  That evening we stayed at Catlain bay lean-tos.  In the morning we paddled to an island for Sunday service and paddled back to the town boat launch to finish our trip. 

Respectfully submitted by:

RJ

Summer Camp 2012

We met at Dorothy Nolan School early in the morning to drive all the way to Hawk Mountain Scout Camp in Pennsylvania.  The car ride felt like six hours!  We stopped after some time had passed in the middle of the drive at McDonald’s for lunch.  When we got there, pictures were taken of us scouts that were there while our stuff was taken up to our site.  After that, we went up  to the site ourselves and put our stuff that we were carrying in our chosen tent and went off to take the swim test.  That was exhausting!  Most of us were still tired from the night before and the car ride.  We ate dinner about an hour after and at 10pm, it was lights out.

The next day, we woke up to do what they call the Polar Bear!  It is when you get up first thing in the morning and jump into the water.  It is so much fun!  We ate breakfast in the mess hall almost right afterwards.  The meals were prepared for us so that made it nice to not have to worry about meal planning and clean up afterwards!  After breakfast, we were able to work on our merit badges that we had picked at sign up.  The merit badges examples are:  archeology, environmental science, oceanography, fishing, communications, emergency preparedness, camping, first aid, and other fun things that we get to learn about as a scout.  We got about 30 minutes of free time before dinner.  After dinner, we got the rest of the night to ourselves!  I went fishing and saw what catfish looked like a 14-15 inch!

On Wednesday, everything was pretty much the same, normal daily routine, until a little before dinner.  I was a waiter so I had gone to dinner early to set things up to prepare for everyone to arrive to eat.  While I was there setting up the table, people started to come into the mess hall.  I asked what happened and was told that someone accidently stepped on a ground bee hive.  Some were stung!  Ouch!  No one was severely hurt thankfully.  Other than that, the day was normal.

On Friday, we did the scout Olympics!  Some of the events we participated in were the tomahawk throw, and scavenger hunt.  After that, there was a family chicken dinner were families came from all the other troops that were attending the camp at the same time.  The dinner was followed by a small bonfire with a few skits and thank you’s to everyone that helped make the camp to memorable by working so hard.  We packed up and left for the ride home on Saturday.

Respectfully submitted by:

RJ

December 17-18 2011

Backpacking trip at Black Mountain.

We met Dorothy Nolan at 7:30 am on Saturday morning.

There were 3 scouts and 3 adults that attended. We went to breakfast in Ft. Ann.Then we went to Black Mountain.

 We hiked in to the first lean-to then decided that we wanted to go to the other lean-to. When we got there we sat down and made a plan for the day. Then we set out to get fire wood for the night. When we finally got all the wood cut, we built a fire and had lunch.

We went to get water and hung around camp for a while. There was a guy walking his dog that slipped on an ice patch and fell. We asked him if he was ok. He said he was ok and then he left. We had dinner a little while after that.  We sat around the fire for a little while then went to bed.

 We got up, toasted bagels, ate breakfast, packed up, made a plan for the day. Then hiked up the mountain. When we got to the top we knew we were there because we saw the tower and the windmill. Then we hiked down a little bit to a flat spot and looked at the beautiful view and took some pictures. After we took the pictures we hiked back down the trail towards the cars.

 We saw some people coming in as we were going out. Soon as we reached the house that's at the end of the road, we got in the cars, stopped at a Stewarts and went home.

Y Lock In- Dec. 2-3 2011

We met at Dorothy Nolan at 9:30 pm. There were 13 scouts and 6 adults that attended. Then we headed to the YMCA in Glens Falls. We went swimming, played video games and racquetball, and had a N.E.R.F. war. The weather was nice but it was freezing! It was warm inside though wjicj was a good thing.

For food We had pizza and chips, with soda or water. Healthy right?!

The event lasted only 1 night, even though I would love to do that every weekend! But the overall night was good.

We all got home between 5:30 and 6am which is really early for us teenagers! but most of us were asleep when we sat down on the seat which was good.

November 12-13, 2011 Back Packing Upper Benson to White House

 Day 1- on Saturday Mr. Canty and I met at Mr. C’s house at 8am. We got into Mr. Canty’s car and drove to Upper Benson parking lot and I signed us in.  Then we started down the trail.  At the first gate there was the hunters base camp.  Past the gate there was a mudding road that we later found was a logging road.  At the beginning of the trail we came across some logging equipment, a crane, saw, and skidder.  After the second gate, the terrain started to get better and less muddy.  Before we got to Rock Lake we found a camouflage back pack that we later found out it was the meeting place for hunters.  Farther up the trail we talked to a hunter that was coming from Rock Pond and said that somebody got a bear!  When we got to camp we passed where we were last time we were here for the 50 but we went to go see if the lean-to was taken or not.  When we got to the lean to it was empty so we claimed it for a nap!  After we woke back up, we went to get firewood and sorted into piles by size. By the time the other group came, we were just finishing our last log then we waited a couple of hours to light the fire. It got warmer after the fire was going. By the time we got to dinner it had already gotten dark! And the time it got to 6 o-clock it felt like it was 9 o-clock. It was a long day.

Day 2- Sunday, the next day we got up, had breakfast, packed up camp and had a small church service. Then headed down the trial, a little while after that there was a lot of mud. When we got to Mud Lake lean to we had a quick lunch. Then we went to finish the trail to get to the car. We drove to a parking lot to meet up with the other group, and decided to go to a small country store and have pizza. We switched cars and headed home. Mr. Canty dropped us off at Mr. C’s house around 3:30.

Submitted by Josh

Camp Curtis Reed, October 2011

 We arrived at Dorothy Nolan around 6pm to put my camping gear in the trailer. The scouts in attendance, parents and Mr. Clark gathered around for announcements and course of action. Then, we all got in our vehicles to go to Camp. We dropped off my mom's car and drove with Mr. St. Dennis and his son. It was a nice ride. When we arrived at the camp after much driving around trying to find the small sign that said Camp, it was 8pm. We unpacked the trailer, set up the Mess area, pitched tents (I got to help pitch my tent and Mr. Hoffman's tent!), and we had a meeting at the Mess area before lights out. We woke up to Mr. Clark tapping tents and asking, "Are you awake?" It was cold that night so in the morning I did not want to get out of my sleeping bag! Well, I did get up and dressed and headed over to the Mess area to help with breakfast. I helped cook French toast, sausage, and eggs. My mom cooked too! It was delicious! Camp food always tastes so good because you are always so hungry! After breakfast, we cleaned up the dishes. Next, an adult, my dad, Mr. Hoffman, some other scouts, and I went on a 5 mile hike. It actually ended up being a bit longer than 5 miles, more like almost 6! We saw deer tracks, birch, pine, maple, crabapple, apple, granny apple trees, a moth, blue raven, a deer, worm holes, worms, a chipmunk, a squirrel, and holes in a tree stump from a woodpecker. We made lunch which was meatball subs and buffalo chicken fajitas. I did not try the fajitas because I do not like spicy foods but my mom and dad liked it. I liked the meatball sub, especially the bun! I assisted by getting the coals fired up for lunch and maintained them until it was time to cook lunch. Dutch oven cooking is challenging but fun. It takes some getting use to. Then, I started working on my Totem chit. Some of my scouting friends who already have it showed me how to sharpen a pocket knife, axe, and saw. I was able to repeat the process to show them that I was capable of doing it on my own. Towards the end, with a friends guidance, I was able to construct my very own fire. So I was able to earn my Fireman's chit too! I left before dinner and got to see Josh and Mr. Clark on the road returning to camp as my mom, dad, and I were leaving.

Respectfully submitted by,

RJ

Bottle Drive, October 2011

On Saturday we got to Gavin park and dropped off our bottles and cans. When we got done unloading the cars, we started to sort. There were no boxes for the glass bottles so some adults went to go look for some boxes. Towards the middle of the day it started to get windy, rainy, and cold. It seemed like the pile of bottles would never go down! There was already a pile so whenever we got it down a little somebody brought more to add to the pile! Towards lunch we started slowing down. When the pizza got here it came from a new pizza place. The new pizza was very good. after lunch things picked up and the production line kept moving until people started to leave. Between 2-3 Mr Hoffman went to go get bags to put the glass bottles in. it went for a little while after it would normally end. But when we finally got finished it was about 7 PM and it was dark when we left.

 ~Josh 

Fall 2011 Camporee at Ft. Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga was one of those camp outs that all of us that went to it, would never forget.We arrived at Dorothy Nolan at 6 30. Then we had a little meeting in the parking lot. After the meeting, we left and headed to Ticonderoga. When we got there we had to get the stuff out of the trailer and set the tents up. During the middle of the night the big gray tarp that the tables were under went flying over 3 other tents! Then in the morning we had to tie down the canopy to the ground so that it wouldn’t blow away again. After breakfast it started pouring and was very windy. We went to the fort and everybody got soaking wet.

Salmon River 2011                     

On Friday we met at Dorothy Nolan and got maps to Selkirk shores where we were camping. then we headed to Pulaski. On the way to Selkirk shores, we stopped at a truck stop to meet up with everyone. Then proceeded to go back to the highway.

When we got there nobody was at the registration area but we still found our way to the campsite. Then we set up camp and made sure the fishing poles were ready for a the next day of fishing. The next day we got up, had bagels with cream cheese for breakfast, got sandwiches for lunch, packed a bag and then loaded in to the cars. Everyone followed Mr. St. Dennis to Trout Brook. Altogether the group caught 2 salmon, then we left and the people who caught the fish went and got it filleted and the rest of us went back to camp and got fire wood and chilled. Then went back fishing later that day. We then came back to camp and started to make dinner. Dinner was good but it more time consuming than we thought. Some people fell asleep before dinner was ready! So we had a lot of food left in the Dutch ovens. When we got up the next day, and we did the same thing for breakfast that we did the day before. We went back to Trout Brook and caught 3 fish altogether and we went and got them also filleted, came back to camp, packed up and left.

Troop Paddling Trip - August 2011

The canoe trip was fun but very exhausting. The first day we started at the beginning of Long Lake and went into Raquette River where we found a place to camp for the night. The next morning we got everything packed up and we started down the river. After about an hour we made it to the waterfall where we had to get off the river and portage for a mile and a half. After we got all the gear to the other side we ate lunch and continued on. We paddled for about 12 more miles and then we made it to our next campsite. Because of a law we had to split into three groups and three different campsites. The next morning we paddled about 11 more miles on Raquette River, went through Simon Pond and finished in Tupper Lake. Overall the whole trip was 34 miles.

Summer Camp July 3 – July 9, 2011

                 Summer camp was a blast! This year we went to Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. The trip to get there was about 5 hours long. When we got there the first thing they did was they took pictures of all the troops. After that we went to orientation. Then we went to set up camp. Later we went to dinner. The food there was really good. The next morning we all went to polar bear swim which is when you wake up REALLY early and jump in the pool. Later we got our schedules and maps and we went to our merit badge classes. Some of the things we could do during our free time were sailing, rifle shooting, shotgun shooting, fishing, and so much more!. The ribbon our troop won was Honor Troop . Summer camp was really fun and I can't wait to go again next year!

Fire Tower Dedication 2011

On Saturday 14 May four scouts and the SM attended the dedication of the Cornell Hill Fire Tower which was moved from Luther Forest to camp Saratoga (Wilton Wild Life Preserve).Led by Senior Patrol Leader Nick Hoffman, scouts Max Montagnino, Jonah Biss and Ryan Lowe first set up a typical camp site consisting of a tent, tarp, table and patrol box, duty roster, duty roster responsibilities and wash station set up and instruction. . Included in the set up was a flip chart which displayed Troop 24 Wilton activities and roster. In addition, a typical backpacking set up was set up. This included a tent, and tarp. Under the tarp were equipment needed to do a backpacking trip including stoves, filters, typical meals etc. Once the set up was completed the scouts proceeded to the fire tower dedication area where about 100 people assembled for the dedication. Troop 24 Wilton led the assembled group in a flag ceremony (see below) and then the pledge to our Nations Flag. Following this Mr. Gordon recognized those who had contributed to the movement of the fire tower to Wilton and honored guests including Alec Mackay who represented the Luther and Mackay families. Mr. Mackay discussed the 60 ft tower which honors Thomas F Luther a stout supporter of the Boy Scouts of American and Charter member and first Commissioner of the Saratoga County Council. Mr. Luther was instrumental I the creation of Camp Saratoga in 1930.

Following the ceremony the scouts proceeded to the campsite area to discuss with any visitors the activities involved in a scouting campout.Each of the scouts received a Fire Tower Dedication patch and a US Post Office commemorative stamped envelope.

Rock Climbing Spring 2011

We went to the A.I.R. rock climbing gym on Wednesday, March 30 and it was really fun! Before we went we had to sign a waiver because rock climbing can be really dangerous. When we got there we had to put on special shoes and learn how to put on the harnesses. Then we learned the rules and we started climbing. Most of us went right into the dark tunnels. Some of the bigger kids got stuck in the smaller parts of the tunnels. Going rock climbing there was really awesome and I can’t wait to go back again!

By: Ryan D

Klondike 2011

We went to the Klondike on Friday February 13, 2011  We met at the cabin at about 7pm, unloaded the trailer and set up our supplies. Some of us left and helped set up some of the klondike stations for the next day.

Most of us slept in the cabin and stayed warm with the wood stove. The next day the Indian/Eagles patrol make eggs, sausage,bacon, hashbrowns and warmed up the bagles. Everyone decided to eat that breakfast so we could get cleaned up fast and get to the Klondike.

About 9am we left with our sleds and started our events. There were 15 events that tested our Scouting skills. There was a lot of snow and the sleds got really heavy especially on the big hill.

Two patrols entered the cooking contest where you had to cook your lunch over a fire and then enter it in a competition. The Pirates made Pinenni bread sandwichs and cooked them  in the pie irons. They won first place and got the Golden Skillet! The Indian/Eagles made Venison Stew and had " Frozen Yogurt Bread for dessert, they finished in second place!

The weather for the day was crazy! It snowed on top of the tons of snow we already had,then it turned to sleet, freezing rain and finally rain.The day was over about 4:30 It was a long day but we had a good time.

SCUBA diving at Glens Falls High School

On Sunday we met at Dorothy Nolan, organized into cars and headed to the glens falls highschool. We went to the pool and watched the instructors who were prepping the gear and swimming around. The owner of the SCUBA company, Rich Morin, then came up and talked to us about basic scuba terms and signals. We went to change into our swim suits and got sized up for gear. After that, we went through a crash course of how to use the gear, which included breathing through the regulator, getting water out of our masks, and removing the reg from our mouths when underwater. When we were all comfortable, we got to swim around the shallow end of the pool and played with some toys that the instructors brought, like an underwater torpedo. 5 scouts and 4 adults attended. 

Woodworth - January 2011

When we got to the camp we got the gear out of the trailer and took it to the cabin.   There were about 15 scouts and approx.. 5 adults.  We had left in a snow storm and the trip was normally about 45 minutes,  It took a lot longer.  When we got to the huge cabin (it holds about 30 people) we had to choose our sleeping quarters.  Some of us chose the loft, where it was nice and warm.  It was the 7th thru the 9th of January and was cold and snowy.  This cabin at Camp Woodworth has been used by our troop quite a few times.  It’s perfect for outdoor sports like snowshoeing, sledding, ice fishing and more. 

Saturday, 2 snow shelters were built and Quinn, Dalton, Ben and myself slept in them.

During the day we had fun doing the sports and getting food ready for dinner.  Mrs. Ciccolella helped me shop for 6 people according to the menu that I thought would be nice.  I made chicken and dumplings with vegetables right in the pot.  It was perfect for the snowy and cold weather.  Saturday night we tried to sleep in the shelters I held out until about 4:30 a.m. BRRRRR.

Sunday morning we made breakfast of pancakes and juice, broke camp had the service and left.

All weekend we all had a good time.  Some earned credit toward merit badges and some just went to have fun.

Raking for Seniors Fall 2010

Seniors were in need of having their yards raked. Several Boys Scouts showed up with rakes or leaf blowers. There were two afternoons dedicated to raking for the elderly. I was inside the Methodist Church helping to cook dinner while they were outside raking for the Church. The following weekend I was able to help rake. When we arrived at the house in Pyramid Pines we split up and some of us went in the back yard and some stayed in the front yard. We all ended up in the front as we pushed the leaves into piles next to the road. You never know what you may find while raking. A part was found in the driveway and we learned it was called a C clamp foot. The day ended with the owner of the home coming outside to thank us.

-Mitchell C

Raquette Lake Canoe Trip

8/20-8/22

Before we went on the canoe trip, we all met at Dorothy Nolan Elementary school to assemble ourselves and decide who would drive us and who would take the canoes and kayaks. In the end we had five cars all together taking 19 people, 15 kayaks, and 2 canoes. It was an 1 and a half hour drive to blue Mountain lake, and when we got there we unpacked the canoes and kayaks and the drivers put their cars at the drop off point and came back in one of them and we then set of across the lake.

As we neared the end of Blue Mountain Lake, the kayakers up front were having a water fight with some squirt guns they brought. We passed in to eagle lake, where at the end was a campsite we could use, but it was only 3 o clock so we moved on to the portage that lead to the Marion river which was a long twisting one that took about 2 hours to get through and we found a campsite on the other side where we pitched tents and made a fire and I caught thirteen 1 to 6 inch fish, cooked dinner, and went to sleep for the night. Friday was a LONG Day!

In the morning, we had breakfast and cleaned up the site re packed and left the site at 9AM, paddled up Raquette Lake, past a few islands and up to a site that had 3 lean-tos and one occupied by foreign people and we got the other 2 but only us and the Pelchars slept in them and Mitchell caught a 14 to 16 inch large mouth bass and we all had a good, including glow stick wars a night and then we went to sleep.

In the morning we didn’t really hurry, because it was raining and we took our time packing up, we did our church service after that, and left. The water was very wavy and with the rain and wind it made it a very gloomy trip. Though near the end we had another small water fight before we came to shore – Why not we were already wet! After we got the other vehicle and left to go home and dry off.

Siamese Ponds  Ocotober 2010

The Siamese ponds trip didn't have many people attend, but it was still a fun trip that everyone that went on enjoyed it.

There were only six people that went including Mr. Olsen, Gabe , Mr. Reepmeyer, and Mr. Pelchar, Drew and Me (Ben) went on the trip.

This was a fall trip, which meant the foliage was very beautiful. The hike was a two day trip but it was about eight miles round trip.

Our hike in we discovered a very finely built wooden bridge that had two logs for the base. The sides were also made of branches which made it Eco friendly. The river that it crossed flowed smoothly down to a small waterfall.

The trail we were on followed the Sacandaga river.We finished our hike in to a log cabin that we almost missed because it had already gotten dark outside. The lean-to was right next to a suspension and it was fun to run around on it. The next day after we had a good night of resting we bush whacked up Big Shanty mountain using our compasses and GPS`s. Although the summit of the mountain was very thorny, it till was fun using the compasses. After we arrived back at camp we met two very kind old ladies with a pet dog that were taking a rest at our camp.  They were very experienced hikers.

After the old ladies left we packed up and headed out also and it was a little harder because the rest was uphill. We got back, packed up, and headed home.

Camporee - Fall 2010

When we left Dorothy Nolan, we were all thinking about what the Camporee would be like and if it would be wet (it had rained hard today, but cleared up before we left). When we got to Saratoga preforming arts center and found our campsite, we found out it had a TON of mud in it and did not like having mud in our shoes while setting up the camp, so we got some straw in the morning and put that down to make it less muddy. When we were done we went to a space that was close by and we started to play football with troop 46 but didn’t get anywhere. Instead we played with Pat’s boomerang Frisbee and eventually got it stuck in a tree and Ben climbed up and got it out. We started to play football and did that for the remaining time until bedtime.

In the morning we made pancakes and sausage and took to long cleaning up so we didn’t clean it all up in time before opening. When all the people were done talking and assigned to quadrant three, we went there. Quadrant three was about OA things. We did a race where four guys had their legs tied together with planks and had to race around a cone and back. Then we did tug of war with two ropes tied together. We lost once and we won once by ganging up on the other rope halves. Then we tried to make a fire in three matches but utterly failed. Then we went to quadrant four and did archery and bb gun shooting before I noticed most of our troop had left for lunch. We had grilled ham and cheese and just had fun at camp until a little while later when we went to quadrant one and listened to how to leave no trace when camping before making a hammock out of seven sticks. We made two tall tripods and put the last stick between them and attached the hammock. Then we went to quadrant two which was merit badges and I got a requirement for the carpentry merit badge and then went back to camp after the bugle sounded. We made meatballs for dinner and then went to a music thing where we sang and dance and fireworks followed. We went back to camp and finished up clean up and went to sleep.

When we woke up to a very cold morning & up nobody wanted to do their jobs and it took a long time to clean up the French toast and bacon. After that we did the church service, thorns and roses, swept the area, and left.

Summer camp  Sequassen  7/4 – 7/10

Since the summer camp was a week long it isn’t easy to remember everything I only have some highlights about the trip. Several things happened. We had an opening campfire in the afternoon, which all the staff did funny skits and songs until it got dark. We did a fire hose competition which you used a fire hose to get a bucket on a line to your opponent’s side before they get it to yours. We also did land and sea games, which all which were really fun. Part of the sea games were filling up a bucket by using any spare clothes you had (we put on extra coats and pants because you have to wear them not just bring them), seeing which scoutmaster could last through the most belly flops, and trying to canoe without paddles around a buoy and flipping over your boat and righting it Whenever the life guard blows his whistle. Part of the land games were tug-of-war, Frisbee, and a relay race.

Everyone had merit badges, because they were the main part of camp. Some of them were:

• Archery
• Fishing
• Metalworking
• Swimming
• Environmental science
• Reptile and amphibian study
• Rifle shooting

We also earned awards at the end of camp:

• SUPER TROOP =]
• Honor patrol (2)
• Honor troop
• Royal archer
• A rubber duck
• A troop 7 t-shirt for Bennett

 Salmon River 2010

When we got to Dorothy Nolan, we were all packing and were nearly done. We assembled by our drivers, got the maps and directions, and left. The trip took three and a half hours, and to kill the time we did v-dart wars, hitting each other with bottles, and just messing around. When we got to camp we quickly started setting up the tarps and tables.  It took longer than we expected, but it got done. We all set up all our tents after that, and got the rest of the equipment ready, then went to bed after being warned that we were waking up at 6am.

santanoni backpacking 2010

On June 11 we all started on a very long 4 mile hike! The group in front waited at the half way mark for the rest of us to catch up. We walked to far and had to go back because we passed the trail going to the camp. The trail was hardly noticiable and very muddy. Once we got through the deep mud and walked into camp their was another person in the lean-to. We turned her quiet day around. We collected firewood and set tents up. In the morning we got packed and went to the Great Camp. We stayed for a while and looked around. Then we went back to camp and Josh found fishing line and a rusty hook. We tried several baits like beef jerky and rice crispies. Everyone was suprised when Josh caught a small fish! Around 8 we did a activity where we split into two groups and each group had to make a skit and 2 songs. In the morning we packed up quick and did a little more fishing and caught 6 more. Then we got ready for a two hour hike to the car.

We left friday afternoon and arrived at camp at around 7:00. We had to set up the tarps and patrol box and the tents. In the morning we had to get breakfast ready fast so we could go on the historic trail that was about 8 miles. We had to answer several questions about monuments and other buildings. Once we got back to camp we had dinner and played tag all night long. Thier was a old guy from the bar next door that decided to scare us by putting a bear costume on and hiding under the bed of a truck. When anyone walked near he would growl and everyone would run back to the fire so then me and pat went and we growled and we ran and pat peed himself. Then we went back with a shovel and he took of the mask and we went to bed.

On Friday September 17 we left school and drove to Plattsburgh We set up our tents in the field at St. Dennis's camp in Peru,NY.We set up the canopys and troop gear and then set our own tents.

On Saturday morning we got up and made breakfast we had sausage, with pancakes made from scrach. They tasted really good! After breakfast we drove to plattsburgh historical trail. We were a hour late so we had to walk the trail fast. We learned about the war of 1812 because we had to answer questions about the places and people, we had to finish the booklet to earn a  historical patch for our uniform. The trail was sidewalks and roads, the trail was about 8 miles long and hard on the feet. We went to camp and made dinner which was chicken parm in the dutch oven.After dinner we all played man hunt and went to bed.

In the morning we packed up and left late because we had a hard time with clean up.

Camporee - Spring 2010

We arrived at the campsite and got everything organized then made sure everything was good for morning.  In the morning everyone was scrambling to get to the camporee opening on time but we had to make breakfast, clean up and be prepared for lunch.  We also had to have our activity set up by 9:00. Everyone worked together and we were able to get to opening on time. Then the activites started and our activity was to see how many people you could fit in a cardboard structure made by your patrol. Everyone had fun with ours trying to beat our number of people and a few were able to beat ours. Once the activities were over, everyone had to go to Order of the Arrow elections. To be in the OA you have to be at a certin amount of camping trips and be first class also other people that arent in it have to vote you in. After one person was elected in we went back to camp and went to bed. In the morning everyone was in a rush to get some free time in, after the busy weekend.  Luckily breakfast and clean up went quick.  And we packed the troop gear which goes last.

march2010 backpacking at clear pond

The hike was about 2.5 miles in to clear pond their was still even some snow and ice which made it very slippery. We almost went to grizzly ocean but took a vote to go to clear pond. We set up camp and got dry firewood even though there was very little. Then we decided to climb treadway mountain and we were told it wasn't very long. It was about 3 miles round trip but the ice and steep slope made it very challenging. Once we got back to camp we ate and feel asleep. In the morning we packed up and left for the sore hike back.  It was very cold!!

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