Mt. Washington State Forest — Sr. Scouts 2011

Mt. Washington State Forest, Sr. Scouts

April 29,30 and May 1, 2011

This weekend was a little different than others we have been on in that it was only open to boys 14 yrs or older and we ran the weekend as a single patrol that included the adults. All of the adults were working with the boys through the weekend and Mr. Rich was acting as the Patrol leader. The Flaming Lizard Patrol was afoot!

We left the Elks around 5:00 on Friday and made it out to western Mass at around 7:30. We parked the cars, grabbed our packs and walking staves, signed the trail book and headed out. Just as we were leaving the cars there was a light rain so we put on our ponchos and continued on. We headed up the Alendar Mountain trail and found the river with a primitive log bridge about a half a mile in. After about a mile there was a sign that we had another half mile to go to the campsite and it started to get dark. We turned on our head lamps and made it to the campsite just as the last bit of daylight was fading. We dropped our packs at site #2 which didn’t look very accommodating for the size of the group so the boys went out and explored the other sites. We found a total of 8 campsites and site #5 seemed to be exactly what we were looking for. We once again grabbed our packs and headed to site #5 and set up camp. Once all of the tents were up and the fire was roaring we made s’mores and talked around the fire. Since we were in Black Bear country, before heading to bead we put all of our food in a bag and hung it from a tree.

Saturday morning we were up at 6:00, started a fire, and made a warm breakfast and raised the colors. We used up most of our water for breakfast so we headed back down to the river to get some more. We filled all of our water bottles using filtration pumps and were ready to head back up the mountain. The climb to the top of Alendar Mountain was pretty steep in places but well worth the trip. From the top we were able to see into New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. We spent some time at the top eating lunch: Cheese, Crackers and Summer Sausage with some celery and snap peas. After lunch we spent some time relaxing and talking while enjoying the view.

We headed back to the campsite and arrived in time to have a little down time. We started the fire again and began making supper: roasted hot dogs with multiple types of pasta dishes and carrots. Since we only brought mess kits to cook with everyone donated the pots from their kits to cook the pasta in. Meanwhile, Mr. Rich worked on baking some spice cakes over the fire in a couple of mess kits. With some nice coals and a little guesswork the cakes turned out perfectly and everyone was very happy with the dessert.

After dinner we built up the fire. Earlier in the evening Mr. Rich, as acting patrol leader, started putting together the campfire program. He talked to all of the boys about different songs, skits and gags so everyone was prepared. With the fire roaring we started the fun. Mr. Rich was the M.C. and everyone had a part. The boys did a great job leading songs and doing skits with a little extra craziness thrown in. It was a fun time and all of the boys should be ready to run a campfire program with the younger scouts. With all of the hiking on Saturday everyone was ready for a good night’s sleep. We hung the food and went to bed.

We woke up early on Sunday and cooked some couscous with sugar and cinnamon and roasted the rest of the summer sausage and cheese. Everyone loved the couscous and it was gone before we knew it. We then packed up camp, policed the area and headed back down to the cars. Everyone agreed it was a great weekend and we all had a lot of fun.