Webelos-o-ree 2023

My youngest son went to Webelos-o-ree in his Scouting BSA district. It's a chance for older cub scouts (4th and 5th graders) to visit with some scout troops (the middle school/high school-aged scouts). The younger ones go on a trail from station to station, doing different activities at each. The activities align with the rank advancement goals of Webelos and give the kids a chance to interact with troops that they might join in the future.

Typically, cubs go and camp for the weekend but the weather was bad and the schedule was tight for us, so we drove up early Saturday morning and just did the trail rather than the whole experience (which includes a campfire and camp-wide competitions, in addition to outdoor sleeping). 

After going to morning reveille (where we did our den cheer and found out what was going on that day), we started the trail at a station with gaga ball, box oven cooking, and fire building. I didn't get any pictures there. The adults from the troop did have chili and cornbread for parents. We adults sat with some of the troop's leaders and discussed how they implement the BSA program, where they met, what the fees were, etc. It's a conversation that happened at every station, more or less. 

Our next station was the rifle range, where the boys got to shoot BB guns. Our den enjoyed it very much.

 

Getting instruction from an older scout

Adult leader watches 

At each station, we repeated the den cheer as loud as possible, because it is fun to be loud!

Giving the den cheer

A later station had knot tying which is not my son's favorite scout activity but he did well.

Lashing two sticks together

In a nod to the previous day being Friday the 13th, one station had the boys identifying the bones of animals before they could come back to life and hurt someone. 

Are you for real?

Glad to have some hot chocolate to help identify critters

Further along, one troop was roasting a pig on a spit, which was impressive. The charcoal pit had been going since the early morning and the pig still was not ready.

Pig roast

Later, at a first aid station, the boys learned how to transport someone without moving them too much.

An improved stretcher

Building fire without matches or a lighter is a classic scout skill that they practiced at another station. It was hard to get the wet kindling lit in the rainy, cold weather.

Making sparks

Blowing to encourage the fire

The final station we went to was the axe yard. There, scouts learned to use saws and axes in a safe manner.

Ready to chop some wood

Getting some pointers

A good chop!

In the saw station, he saw his older brother who helped him use a bow saw.

Bow-sawing brothers!

We came home with a lot of happy memories and one target sheet full of BB holes.

A bang up job

Cub Scout Camping Fall 2022

Our Cub Scout pack camped out in October 2022. We went back to a favorite, Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation. My family arrived Saturday morning and set up early.

No posing by the tent

The morning was slow since we were waiting for the rest of the scout families to arrive. My daughter tried whittling with her small Swiss Army knife. 

Cutting wood down to size

Just before lunch we went for a hike through the reservation. We found some interesting tracks along the way. We think some wild turkeys crossed the path.

Tracks not made by me

We also spotted an underground entrance that was not open to visitors. The "chimney" at the top looks like some industrial exhaust. Did they build some kind of bunker for emergencies?

Maybe it will open for Halloween?

Our trail took us to Lake Straus, a small leisure lake created by damming Broad Creek. The creek runs through the reservation, eventually emptying into the Susquehanna River. We saw a blue heron on the water in the distance.

Lake Straus

The river beyond the lake

The spillway of the dam

After lunch, we started lighting fires without matches or lighters! This activity is a favorite of the cub master. His first effort was with a magnifying glass. The glass concentrates the sunshine to a focal point. It was able to burn holes through egg cartons. The only challenge was keeping the scouts from wandering around behind the cub master and eclipsing the sun!

One way to start a fire

The activity switched to using flint and steel lighters. My son had some trouble getting it started but was able to make sparks and did get a fire going.

Creating fire!

The cub master had a cattail that he got about a week ago. The cattail looked like a corndog. It was almost dry enough to light. The best part is inside the cattail, where there's a lot of light-weight fluffy stuff that would have caught fire with a couple more days of drying.

Trying to light some challenging tinder

The scouts also learned to tie a variety of knots and run an obstacle course blindfolded. Since I ran those activities, I took no pictures.

Dinner was the ever-popular walking tacos.

Filling and easy to make

As the campfire was being readied, we saw the moon rise over the trees. Just above the moon, Jupiter was visible.

Moonrise

Closeup showing Jupiter higher in the sky

The campfire was mostly casual, with smores as the first part of the fun.

Roasting marshmallows

Things got more serious when we retired two American flags. When the flags are too damaged or ragged to be displayed, they should be burned and/or buried. The older scouts put the flags in the fire.

Taking the flag to the fire

The flag on the fire

Adding the second flag

As the fire died down, we saw the grommets from one of the flags.

Can you find the grommets?

The night was a chilly one and sleep was not easy for me. In the morning there was frost on the ground, the tents, and the buildings.

Frosty field

Looking back to our camp

We left my combo whistle/thermometer/light outside of our tent. The reading just before 7 a.m. was quite chilly.

Read it and weep snowflakes

We had a fun campout but really hope that the Spring campout will involve warmer weather.

Fall 2021 Cub Scout Camping

My youngest's Cub Scout pack went on their Fall campout in mid-November, which was probably later than most cubs go camping in our area. The weather was more Winter than Fall! We had a fun time anyway. 

My Cub Scout (incognito)

The weather on Friday was a bit rainy so we started camping Saturday morning. That avoiding having to set up in the wet and dark. We arrived just before 10 a.m. and it seemed pretty empty at the campground.

Broadcreek Campground field

Our campsite camp had a cabin on it. Due to our numbers (and Covid carefulness) we didn't stay in the cabin. The cabin was amazing to us. The bunks did not look that comfortable but the cabin has a wood stove for heat (something we appreciated when we were there) and tables so we could eat meals inside.

Tables and bunks

The cabin's kitchen was the most amazing part. A big three-sink counter let us do the traditional Scout cleaning after meals.

And a separate hand-washing sink!

The kitchen has a gas stove and a large refrigerator. Meal prep and clean up was very easy.

Cooking is a snap!

The site had some pallets for tents with metal frames over them. Since my son and I were among the first to arrive, we used one of the pallets to keep our tent off the ground and hopefully drier. 

It did rain at lunchtime, so we ate in the cabin and played some card games and chess while waiting for the storm to pass. The sun came back out and we went for a hike.

Our group heads out

The oldest boys needed a three-mile hike for one of their achievements. The route was long and a bit hilly, but also exciting.

Going single-file

We followed Dam Road (which got a lot of jokey comments from the scouts and the parents) down to a lake on Broad Creek made by the dam.

Lakeside break

Bustin' out a snack

View from the dam

The river past the dam

The hike went up the hill on the other side. While it did have trails, it also had a lot of abandoned campsites. At least, that's what they seemed like.

Hiking into a rougher area

A memorial stone

Eventually we made it back to the campground. The younger scouts were a bit tired so we had some break time. After that, the boys worked at knot-tying and tried an obstacle course where the obstacle runner was blindfolded and the other scouts had to guide the runner through by telling him what to do. Often the advice was to jump over an obstacle, which worked surprisingly well in many instances. Of course, sometimes a scout landed with both feet on an obstacle. The obstacles were recyclable materials, so the occasional plastic milk jug got smashed.

After a yummy dinner we had a campfire. Toasting marshmallows was fun and the boys got a little too focused on fart jokes for a while. They managed to move on to other topics. The cubmaster also made peach cobbler in a dutch oven. Also yummy!

The fire!

Going to bed wasn't hard but I had my usual hard time falling asleep. The forecast was for the temperature to dip into the 30s. I couldn't put the thought out of my mind. My son was snoring in almost no time. Morning came and we woke up and went to the bathroom.

The sun coming up

We realized our tent was covered in frost. Also the camp chairs!

An icy start to the day

Dressed for the weather

Breakfast was simple--hot cocoa, fruit, and baked goods. The pack had a short "Scouts Own" service that fulfilled a Duty to God requirement and helped me finish a Woodbadge requirement. We packed up, cleaned up the camp site, and headed back home.

It was a fun campout and we earned some cold-weather-camping patches that we look forward to receiving!