Scouts BSA Troop 1123

This month's campout was at a private farm in Beallsville, MD, where we camped in sub-freezing temperatures and enjoyed campfire cooking. The farm's owners were kind enough to invite us for a honey tasting, where we sampled eight different kinds of honey, both locally produced and from around the world. 

The troop had a great time at the Wizard Safari Camporee , which is meant to provide a Jamboree-style experience on a smaller scale. When we arrived Friday evening, we first unloaded all of our gear and waited for a hayride (courtesy of local farmers) to the campground. There were about 1500 Scouts there, from at least 100 different units. After setting up camp, we enjoyed some time at the campfire of our lovely neighboring troop. On Saturday, the Scouts erected their gateway during breakfast preparations. Once breakfast cleanup was complete, the Scouts disappeared for the day into the many fun activities offered. A major highlight was the wood-turning station, where four of our youth made pens. Our Scouts also enjoyed the climbing tower, cooking dough over a fire, and participating in the world record carabiner chain attempt. In addition to watching the Scouts have fun and chatting with other leaders, the adults particularly appreciated the museum of Scouting memorabilia. In the even...

The troop had a great weekend at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. This was a joint trip with Troop 97B, who were responsible for the majority of the planning.  We met up at the church at 8am on Saturday, September 28, and arrived at Cape Henlopen around 11:30am. After setting up camp and eating lunch, the Scouts took advantage of a bit of free time to briefly visit the beach before walking over to the Fort Miles Orientation Building for the "Towers & Gunners" program, learning about how the site had been used during World War II to defend against the possibility of German battleships sailing into the Delaware Bay and threatening shipyards and other facilities. In the evening, we headed out to the Seaside Nature Center for a night hike, during which we saw numerous ghost crabs and experimented with using our various senses in the dark.  Sunday morning, we headed back to the nature center for an interesting program on coastal animals. The biggest surp...

Summer camp was a great success. The troop traveled to Goose Pond Scout Reservation,  east of Scranton, PA, from August 4-10. Five Scouts from troop 97G participated, joined by 6 Scouts from Troop 19. We also shared our campsite with troop 2619 from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council, which led to some great conversations and friendships.  Our Scouts participated in a wide range of activities at camp, including climbing, sailing, kayaking, archery, and fishing. Each Scout worked on four Merit Badges, and among the five of them, badges were earned in First Aid, Swimming, Small Boat Sailing, Kayaking, Climbing, and Archery. They also developed and performed a skit for the closing campfire titled, "Ask Your SPL."  The Scouts particularly liked that the camp was structured with considerable free time in the afternoons, when they could visit the various program areas and participate in special programming, or just take out a sailboat for fun. All of our Scouts l...

The girls' troop had a great time this weekend at Camp Schmitt near Augusta, West Virginia. Camp cooking was a major focus of the weekend's activities, but the Scouts also found time to enjoy the pond and work on rank advancement.  We departed from the church around 6:30pm on Friday, arriving at Camp Schmitt at about 9:00. After setting up camp, we took advantage of the clear skies to work on Second Class requirement 3d by learning to identify the North Star and understanding how and why that will allow a Scout to identify the cardinal directions. Everyone decided it was time to turn in after they were done looking at the stars.  In the morning, the Scouts, led by Anya, made delicious breakfast burritos, served with ripe strawberries and hot chocolate. It was the first time the patrol had ever done camp cooking with the propane stove, and the first time they had needed to work together to implement the three-bucket dishwashing system, so there was a lot of learning go...

Although we were forced to cut our planned 2-night backpacking trip short by one night because of the prediction for hazardous weather, it was nonetheless a great outing! We departed from the church around 10am on Thursday. Once we arrived at White's Ferry, it took some time to get organized, mainly because the restrooms were locked. Apparently the folks who maintain the restrooms were on spring break! Around noon, we were able to begin our hike.  We had five miles on the schedule for the first day, along a surprisingly well-maintained section of the C&O Canal Towpath. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed lovely expanses of wildflowers. Georgia did an exceptional job of keeping everyone going with her positive encouragement. Scouts also worked on their map and compass skills along the way.  We arrived at the Chisel Branch campsite around 4:00, so there was still plenty of time left in the day to set up camp. The Scouts relaxed on a downed tree by the ri...

Examining Skunk Cabbage Our weekend began at the church, where the boys' and girls' troops worked together to set up all of the tents and inspect them for missing parts. After arriving at Greenbelt Park, the girls set up their campsite, while the boys went backpacking -- I believe they covered 3.5 miles on Friday evening. The girls made cozies to facilitate freezer bag cooking, and made their first camp meal (mashed potatoes loaded with all kinds of delicious ingredients -- I am hoping we can get that into a troop cookbook!). They finished off the evening with a campfire. In the morning, the boys broke camp and departed for 11.5 miles of backpacking (though I hear one Scout went 12 miles), while the girls had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal followed by a 2.5 mile hike. During the hike, they had the opportunity to work on various early rank requirements, and spent a lot of time exploring the environment. Highlights included a stop to look at skunk cabbage flowers, and a...

On Sunday, February 10, we took a hike along the Rachel Carson Greenway trail. Some members of the troop took a 5-mile hike one way, while others went out and back for a total of ten miles. Even though this trail is in a very developed area, there are parts that seem more isolated. We particularly enjoyed the numerous stream crossings over fallen trees and stepping stones.

Patterns in the ice The girls had their second unofficial campout on the weekend of January 11-13, when they had the opportunity to hike through a frozen swamp, play disc golf, and do a lot of cooking -- both over the fire and with camp stoves. Saturday afternoon it started to snow, and by Sunday morning there were quite a few inches of snow on the ground. Fortunately we were all snug in cabins! Taking a break from disc golf Lots of snow Sunday morning

Our girls had a wet weekend on their first (unofficial) campout October 26-28 in the C&O Canal National Park . Not only did it rain for more than 24 consecutive hours, but it was also near freezing on Saturday night.  Despite all that, our youth had a great time camping, building fires, eating s'mores, and getting a chance to connect with Troop and Venture Crew 255 of Chevy Chase, MD. In a fabulous bit of serendipity, they were camping nearby and invited our girls to go learn about setting anchors for climbing.