I got back today after camping with my Boy Scout Troop up at Camp Trexler in Jonas, PA. It was a lot of fun, but very icy. I kid you not when I say that the entire camp was pretty much a giant sheet of ice. People and cars were sliding all over the place and even I had trouble maintaining my footing when I stepped out. Hurt my hip too trying to balance myself when I slipped once, but I was able to stay up. I'll be fine though, nothing serious.

I left straight from work Friday, picked up my Dad and headed up. Weather Friday was lousy, rain rain rain. Roads weren't too bad until we got to Camp Trexler I start going up the hill and think "hey, they paved this!" That thought was cut short when my Dad said "no they didn't". I quickly realized that the road up was a thick layer of ice. I managed to get up the hill simply by keeping my momentum and just going.

Friday night we just hung around in the cabin, Memorial Lodge, played cards, RISK, and had a dessert competition.

Saturday was the big day of events. In the morning we had a scavenger hunt set up for the scouts where they had to find playing cards scattered around the camp. In the afternoon there was a competition set up with events ranging from log throwing, caber tosses, a compas course, log splitting and others. I helped my Dad run the compass course and pretty much took over once he went off and ran the stations himself. Saturday night, there was a firebuilding contest which was pretty cool, scouts had to build a fire, and then transport the fire to another location (a 3-5 minute walk away) and restart the fire and burn through a dowel. 3 out of the 5 patrols were able to do it successfully so good for them.

Sunday wasn't much of an events day, just had breakfast, packed up, cleaned up, and hit the road.

Saturday also brought the fun of trying to get my parents' van back down the road after Eric (my brother) didn't heed the warnings and tried to drive up the hill, needless to say, he got stuck halfway up and we all had the task of bringing the van back down safely. The ice had re-frozen and it was almost impossible to drive up the hill, it was so bad there was a slight fender bender earlier in the day. Fortunately the van made it down without any damage.

Eric, the senior patrol leader for Troop 72 did a great job at setting up and planning the weekend. He organized all the events and really did a good job mixing in various different activities for the scouts to participate in.

Here are some links to the photos and videos of the weekend:

Winter Camp 2008 Photo Album

Tags: camping, life, bsa, fun

As some know, I was in Boy Scouts growing up, and attained the rank of Eagle Scout, one of my parents' proudest moments. During college, I was unable to stay as involved as I would have liked to be, if involved at all. Now being out of college, I find myself wanting to get back involved in the program, and my Troop. Troop 72, the troop I was involved with, gave me a lot my 7 or so years I was there for. My Scoutmaster in particular was key in me getting Eagle. He, along with my parents, pushed me, and inspired me, and did everything he could to get me into the program as well as get my butt in gear when I was slacking off and really disinterested. I thank him, my parents, and of course all the leaders who were there helping me. I guess part of me wants to pay them, and the new scouts, back for everything they did for me...hell, not part, most if not all of me wants to.

I went up to one of the bigger events, Snowbound this past weekend, which is pretty much a big scouting competition the District runs. My brother, Eric's patrol placed first, as they did last year, and as the troop tends to do to begin with. I helped out, walked around, and I want to get back to being involved. I'm still a registerred leader there so I think I'm going to actually get involved as one.

Eagle Scout is not easy to achieve and the last number I counted was that 1 out of every 100 scouts attain the rank. Several US Presidents are Eagle Scouts, and one of my personal heroes, Jim Lovell also achieved the rank. Eagle Scout can show a lot about one's character and I would suggest the program to almost anyone.

Despite some of BSA's criticisms, the Boy Scouts teach young men many important life skills and is a great program. The most important of which I believe, is leadership. Leadership is actually the primary basis of the Eagle Project that is one of the bigger requirements for Eagle Scout. A good leader is not always the easiest thing to find nowadays and the program is set to help inspire young scouts to grow and gain leadership skills.

Tags: bsa, boyscouts, thoughts