Nashville Troop 3 – Page 10

update

Current River High Adventure Part 2

Post author By admin_xnrdk3
Post date June 29, 2013
No Comments on Current River High Adventure Part 2

The next few days we woke up early to go canoeing. There was a chance of storms throughout the week, so we camped at the campground instead of on the river. The first day we canoed 7 miles, the second day 16 miles, and the third day 26 miles. There were a few capsizes, but no one was hurt. We saw cave springs again but this time we paddled our canoes inside of it. We also saw a nice size waterfall, but we didn’t have time to go and check it out. By the end we were all tired and ready to go home. We had completed 50 miles.

Current River High Adventure Part 1

Post author By admin_xnrdk3
Post date June 28, 2013
1 Comment on Current River High Adventure Part 1

We were at the church early on Saturday morning loading our gear into the cars. We took a picture of the group right before we left. The car ride wasn’t very fun, and when we stopped for gas a lot of people had money, but it was in the trailer. We had lunch at historic rest stop, and the let us eat on the front porch. It was raining at the time, and we left as soon as we cleaned up.

We made one stop after lunch at a gas station, but besides that we were driving the whole time. We passed over many rivers including the Ohio, Mississippi, and the Tennessee. When we arrived it was still bright outside. We set up our tents and prepared dinner. Then we went to bed.

We woke up early that morning to find out we weren’t going canoeing that day, because the water was to high. Instead we went to a waterfall full of fish. Most people played with the hacky sack while other people fished. We had lunch their, and stayed for about 4 hours.

Then, we went back and had dinner. That night we played fireball. Everyone stands in a circle and throws the ball to each other. If you don’t catch it you’re out. At 10 o’clock we went to bed.

The next morning we woke up and we didn’t go canoeing again, because the water was too high. That day we decided to go to Devils Well. You walk down a long stairway and you you see a gate. We push a light switch button, but nothing happened. We pressed it again, but this time we looked around and below us was an under ground lake with a little waterfall. We hiked the trail at the entrance and found a lot of mushrooms, and crossed many creeks. We saw cave springs and very interesting wild flowers. When we finished the hike we had lunch and fished at the pond in front of Devils Well. We went back to camp and had dinner. After dinner we had a campfire ceremony and went to bed.

Boxwell

Canoeing at Boxwell

We arrived at the parking lot early Saturday morning hoping to go to Grimes Canoe Base. We were about to leave when Mr. Libor told us we were going to Boxwell to canoe, because of all the rain we were having. So, we set off to the lake on that cold wet morning hoping it would stop raining.

We arrived at Boxwell, but even though it was still raining, we put the canoes into the water. We started our float, but barely made it anywhere because our hands were so cold. I don’t think we went a mile before we stopped and climbed out of the water. We walked back to the cars and had our soggy lunch. We decided not to go back into the canoes partially because most of us couldn’t hold three fingers into the air.

The coldest scouts went to the cars to warm up, while the less cold scouts went to pull the canoes out of the water. Eventually, we were all in the cars and headed to the showers. Apparently, the showers were cold, so we dried off and changed. We then headed home, without even spending the night.

climbing trips update

Climbing, Rappelling, and Hiking at Stone Door

Post author By admin_xnrdk3
Post date April 8, 2013
No Comments on Climbing, Rappelling, and Hiking at Stone Door

We set off Friday, exited to go to stone door. When we got there we walked a 1/4 mile to the 3 campsites.(Otters, Bucks, and new patrol) Then we set up and went to sleep. The next day we were looking forward to climbing and rappelling. We got to the area where we were climbing and David explained how to put the harnesses on correctly. Half the group went rappelling while the other group climbed. We rappelled off of a 175 ft wall. It took a lot of guts to rappel off of it. Once every one was finished we switched. Climbing was very difficult. Only a few made it to the top. I think everyone had a great time climbing and rappelling.

We headed back to camp for dinner. The bucks had no propane in their propane tank, so we had a combined meal. I felt sick before the fire ceremony, so you have to ask someone else how that went. The next day we set out on a 10 mile hike. We saw some really cool waterfalls and rock formations. By the end we were out of water and ready to get back home.

hiking trip report trips update

Bucks Shiloh Military Trails March

Post author By admin_xnrdk3
Post date March 18, 2013
4 Comments on Bucks Shiloh Military Trails March

On the eve of March 8, we prepared to embark on an epic adventure to uncharted territory: the Shiloh Military trails in West Tennessee.

With high hopes, we arrived late that night at our campsite. Those hopes were brought down when we discovered we had forgotten our water cooler. However, we weren’t going to let that stop us. We mustered on through the night and a good breakfast of Scout McMuffins. Then, there came the rising action of the day. We reached the trail, and prepared to set out.

We later discovered that the maps and instructions we were provided were pretty much garbage. We once again mustered through and made it to lunch. We had us some good sandwiches before setting back to the trail. Then, things started to get hairy. We encountered several obstacles, such as us scouts getting lazy and an impossible to find question. Late in the afternoon, we faced a question. We could either finish the hike, or go ahead and go back to the campsite. Several advocates led the fight to continue the hike, which we did. At the end of the hike, however, due to the horrible directions and map, we counted five extra miles. We made an executive decision to do an extra mile and reward a few scouts with the coveted 20-miler and the others with two tens.

We arrived back at our campsite late, ate a chicken dinner and s’mores, and then hit the hay. The next day was more leisurely. We woke up, and while the cooks made pancakes for a while, the rest of us played soccer or did some advancement. We finally broke camp, packed up our stuff, and headed home, hitting up some geocaches along the way. Those were alright, but it would soon be time for the moment everyone was waiting for, the promised delicious pie.

No one was disappointed. Afterwards, we finished up the trip and made it home. All in all, it was a good trip, and we all learned things(both in knowledge and in lessons.)This is definitely a considerable trip for the future.

Tags hiking, shiloh

update

Otters Henry Horton 3-13

We had a great time learning and playing at Henry Horton. The food wasn’t too bad either. We had a great time climbing through sinkholes, and seeing the first snakes of the year. On Saturday we set up the oreinteering course. The last coordinates were a little off so Lubos and I had to help them out a bit. We got back from the course and my tent had blown over and ripped the rain fly. Luckily there was no rain, but there was wind, and lots of it. I think we all were up a lot that night, but Lubos and I’s tent was a 7 man and over 6 feet tall. Other than that I think we all had a great time.

trip report trips update

Skiing in North Carolina

We started out taking a long 5 hour drive up to the Cataloochee Ski Area. On the way up we stopped at Taco Bell. You can get a lot for $5 dollars, and I think everybody liked it. We stayed at Lake Junaluska. We arrived around midnight, but most stayed up until one. We hit the slopes the next morning, and it took almost 2 hours for everyone to get their gear. We thought that it was very unorganized compared to Paoli. I thought that the slopes were much better here, but harder for beginners. Unlike last time, we left out equipment in the room designated for people who come from Lake Junaluska. Some stuff was stolen, so we didn’t like the idea of not checking your equipment back in. We went to sleep around 9 to 10 the second night.

We were skiing earlier the next day, because we didn’t have to check everything out again. We were off the slopes at 2:30 and ready to leave. On the way back we stopped at Wendy’s and a rest stop. I think most people were tired and ready to get back home.

backpacking trip report trips update

Backpacking at Fall Creek Falls

Post author By admin_xnrdk3
Post date February 3, 2013
No Comments on Backpacking at Fall Creek Falls

Our troop left for Fall Creek Falls on Friday at five o’clock. Our patrols were smaller than usual. The Bucks had seven people including adults, and the otters had five people including adults. We also had two dogs with us. We arrived at our campsite in the dark, set up camp, and went to sleep.

The next morning we woke up to a bitterly cold morning. We could slide our bag of breakfast on the frosty picnic table. It even hurt to get fire wood. We tried to get a fire going, but all we managed to do was melt the frost on the kindling and make it wet. So, we ate our cold breakfast, took down our tents, packed up our stuff, and put it in the cars to go to the trail.

We arrived at a saw mill and got out of the cars. We decided which trail to take and headed off. It was a comfortable fifty-three degrees when we started hiking. We planned to hike nine miles that day and three miles the next. The terrain was pretty much a gradual downhill at first with a few water crossings.

By about the third mile we got to a steep downhill into a valley. We could see what we were about to hike up- the next mountain. When we got to the bottom, we took a rest, filled our water bottles, and started up the mountain.

It was very rocky and steep. We were already very tired from the five miles we hiked down the mountain. The two things that motivated us were food and sleep. After we were through the rocks, we took a one minute rest and kept going. We turned the corner and there was a seventy degree uphill. We were so close! We kept trudging on and finally we saw a sign that said the next campsite was in 400 yards.

We walked for what felt like an eternity, and then finally we reached the top of the mountain. It was one of my favorite campsites as soon as I saw it. It was a clearing surrounded by trees and brush. It had a water pump, which was broken, but it was a beautiful campsite with a fire pit and fire wood already there for us.

We rested a bit then set up our tents and started collecting fire wood. The water men were sent back to fill up our water bottles since the pump was broken. We gathered wood for about forty-five minutes then started dinner. We were making backpacking pizza, so we needed to get the fire going early to make a bed of coals to cook it on.

After we ate dinner, we had our campfire ceremony. We pretty much only told stories because we were so tired. We all sat by the campfire for another hour or two and then we went to bed.

The next morning we woke up at six thirty so we could get breakfast going and pack up our tents. The bucks had oatmeal deluxe with beef jerky and the otters had poptarts and oatmeal. We were already running a bit behind schedule, but all we had to do now was a sweep of the campsite.

We made up for being behind on the trail. We were moving very swiftly since it was downhill most of the way. We only stopped a few times for water, but other than that it was pretty much non-stop. We were about five miles from our cars and we stopped some places like overlooks and waterfalls.

When we reached the Fall Creek Falls, we stopped to rest and ate most of the remaining food while we figured out how much further we had to go. It turned out the Otters had to do an extra three miles to get credit for their merit badge. The bucks wanted to go to the cars while the Otters would go on the three-mile loop that started at the beginning of the trail. The adults decided that the Bucks would go too.

As we were on our journey from the falls to the cars we were pointing out various landmarks that we remembered from the second day. Each time we saw one we would think “just one more mile!” Our guesses were usually wrong. Then we came across a road. This was the one we crossed about half a mile in. We were almost there!

We were hiking and looking around remembering the things around us that we had passed earlier. The two things that motivated us were being able to sit down in comfy seats and fast food. We were walking, quite fast, and we looked up to our right. There were our cars! We practically ran up the hill to them. We got there, set our packs down, drank the rest of the water, and headed home.

update

Winter Boxwell 2012

We left from the church on a chilly morning. When we arrived it was, or felt, much colder. We waited to get our campsite number. We are always campsite 13, but something happened, and we ended up with site 5. We had also ended up with A-meal, which meant we had to wake up earlier. Camp was off to a great start! We got to our campsite and some people in our troop knew some of the guys in the troop camping next to us. Stories told that winter boxwell food was sad and just not as good as summer camp food. I, and everyone else thought the food was great. Maybe even a little better.

For the next few days, our schedule was: breakfast, class, lunch, free time, dinner, campfire, then sleep. Most of us got our merit badges completed or close to it. Our classes lasted three hours since we only had one a day. After lunch we either had free time or activities. We would go to the trading post, play soccer, or sit around the fire.

Most of us kept warm and dry… except for one night. The night it rained. Our tents were elevated on platforms, so we weren’t on the ground. That kept us warm, but we had nowhere to put the tent stakes, which led to problems with the rain fly covering the whole tent. Most of us got a little moisture in our tents, but in one of the tents, the boys were bailing water out of it! It also snowed a few times, but none of it stuck.

Our bathrooms were porta-potties that were close to our campsite. Some boys from other troops did not hesitate to abuse them on the last day. You do not want to know what it was like. On the last day, someone had smered their fecal matter on one of our Sierra saws. This was discovered by one of the adults… after he used it. One of the adult leaders, to find out who did it, went to every scout, handing it to them, and telling them to smell it. He said someone had either poured apple juice or orange juice on it, and they wanted to find out which one it was. It was warmer that day so most of us were not wearing gloves when we picked it up to smell it. The theory was that the person who did it would not want to touch it or smell it. We later found out it was nobody from our troop.

Overall we had a great trip, and everybody had fun. Our campsite was alright, even though we had site 5, and the food was great, even though we had A-meal. Nobody got frostbite, and nobody got hurt too badly. This was a very fun Boxewell Winter Camp.

Boxwell trips update