Scouts BSA Troop 1123

We had a great mini-backpacking trip this weekend along the C&O Canal. The Scouts particularly enjoyed seeing a variety of wildlife, including herons, canada geese, a pileated woodpecker...and some very hungry squirrels! One of the patrols left a closed jar of peanut butter sitting on a picnic table while participating in an activity 15 or 20 yards away, and found that within an hour, an enterprising squirrel had chewed their way through the lid. Fortunately, that peanut butter jar had been used for a meal that had already been served! Other activities included assembling first aid kits and working with a map and compass.

We didn't let the weather keep us from an adventure in the outdoors, despite lows around 22 degrees on Friday night, and snow on Sunday morning.  The campout was fairly relaxed, with lots of time for sitting around the campfire, stargazing, and playing headlamp-illuminated soccer. We did manage to work on preparations for our food drive service project, take a hike down to a stream, and cook tasty food. 

  This weekend, we had a fantastic campout at Serendipity Horse Meadows in Fairplay, MD, and earned the Horsemanship Merit Badge! The Scouts had plenty of opportunity to care for the horses, learn or practice their riding skills, and of course enjoy s'mores around the campfire. 

  The weekend of September 27 took us to Cedarville State Forest, part of our ongoing quest to find camping locations as close as possible to DC. The forest was beautiful, a mixture of mainly holly and oak, and featured an enormous variety of different kinds of mushrooms. We practiced orienteering, and learned to measure heights and widths using our bodies and a compass. There was an unexpectedly large amount of rain, but a few marshmallows were roasted anyway!

After a long spring and summer of mainly virtual Scouting activities, we had our first in-person campout the weekend of August 22! Things were a little different because of the pandemic -- everyone slept in their own tent, we wore masks and stayed at least 6 feet apart whenever possible, and we prepared our food individually. It was great to get together, and we enjoyed working on our saw and axe skills and going for a short hike.

Over the last few months, it hasn't been possible for us to meet in person, but we've still gotten some great Scouting in.  Our meetings have been conducted via Zoom, and have included activities like knot tying, lashing, and practicing first aid techniques -- plus a lot of fun games! We've also had some virtual hikes and virtual campouts, where families have gone hiking at the same time and shared photos, or where Scouts have camped in their backyards, living rooms, or with their families. Our most recent virtual hike included a photo scavenger hunt.  In addition, we've done some weeding at our chartered organization, and written cards for a nearby assisted living facility. 

This past weekend's trip to West Virginia featured hiking, good food, hot tubbing, and an early morning transit of the International Space Station! While we had originally hoped to go cross-country skiing, the weather didn't cooperate, so we went hiking on both days instead. The first day, we hiked the trails we had planned to ski on, and the second day, we took a short hike in the Dolly Sods Wilderness. Although there was no snow, we did see some spectacular views, frozen waterfalls, and chickadees right up close.  The Scouts all decided to get up early on Sunday morning to watch a transit of the International Space Station, which was extremely bright as it moved across the sky almost directly overhead.