Campout at Greenbelt Park
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...