Day 69: Snow Camping

Four new scouts survived their first (and probably most miserable for awhile) campout with the troop. Friday evening was cold and windy, but the tents got set up before the rain really started.
The rain started, turned to sleet, then snow as the temperature dropped. In the morning, we had a beautiful white park all to ourselves.
Even though I sent one last reminder about what to pack after the SPL had announced it and the patrol leaders talked about it, it was disappointing how many blue jeans, sweatshirts, and tennis shoes were being worn. Some of the guys were pretty cold. But, a 5-mile hike and aggressive game of kickball kept them warm most of the day.
My new sleeping pad was great - I had my best camping sleep in a long time both nights.

Day 69: Besides camping, there was more Scouting going on this weekend.
I did a "Test Out" of a scoutmaster for Intro to Outdoor Leader Skills while the scouts were on their hike. We didn't have enough interest to hold the IOLS training, but he wanted to get through it and it went well.

Sunday evening, we had an Eagle Court of Honor. This scout has been in a den or troop with me for 11 years - since I was his Tiger den leader. Lots of pictures and memories of a little imp growing into a confident young man. There are two more from that original Tiger den that will hopefully earn Eagle this year.

In other news, a scout troop was rescued from a flood - I wonder what the real story is about how they got in that predicament.

Scout On