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In May, Troop 221 went to Camp Constantin for our 2nd annual Canoe Shakedown Campout. We had an outstanding weekend on Possum Kingdom Lake. Click the image to see the whole gallery.
Trip Report:
We rolled in Friday evening around 9:45 and setup camp. After a cracker barrel, the boys hit the rack to prepare for a full day in the water on Saturday.
Saturday began at 6:30 am. In order to replicate our upcoming Buffalo River experience, all meals were to be cooked over an open fire. There's nothing like cooking bacon and eggs over the open fire. The KP water is a bit slow...but we eventually managed.
We hit the lakefront around 9:00 am Saturday morning and the older boys started what would be a pretty full day of Canoe instruction. The boys spent most of the day going thru the Canoe MB skills: demonstrating the strokes, capsizing, re-entry, changing positions, etc. The solo activities are always fun to watch because a couple of them are pretty difficult. One of the best parts of the day was the cheering section that erupted every time one of the boys made their solo re-entry. You could hear it all the way across the cove.
Canoeing is a great way to practice leading and following. Throw some pretty strong winds into the mix and you really need to have a highly functioning team to be successful.
We wrapped up Saturday with some great open fire meals, a dessert contest and a little surprise, ICE CREAM, brought in on the down-low by Mr. Buercklin. Everything seems to taste better while camping and ice cream is no exception.
Sunday morning, the 1st year scouts got up early and went thru a few Orienteering requirements (and a course put together by Mr. Trautman) and then the group finished off with First Aid, Safety Afloat and a Canoe tying instruction.
The boys did an amazing job teaching their fellow scouts all weekend. It's SO awesome to watch that happen the way that Baden-Powell intended it. By the end of the weekend, we had 20 boys that earned the Canoeing Merit Badge.
Hope you'll join us next year.
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