The Gimlet’s report from this year’s week at Scout Camp. See the entire photo album in the Gimlet Gallery.

Hello Mudder, Hello Fadder, here I am at Camp Pigott. So it doesn’t rhyme. It didn’t rain and we had fun.

Early Monday morning we met at the church. As Scoutmaster I have to make sure the boys who are going to camp have their physical forms. One boy didn’t and his father had to drive him home to get it. When the Assistant Scoutmaster showed up he had the physical. Ooops! After we got that taken care of we drove to camp. We had to take our gear to our campsite, change into swimsuits, and then wait in line for the physical re-check. After the re-check, we were in line again for the swim test. Then we had lunch. The boys did not know what to think when the staff began singing the “Announcement song.” The “Announcement Song” began the same way each meal, but a new section was added for each subsequent meal.

After lunch was a frenzy of merit badge sign ups and then immediately the boys took off to their first three hours of classes. Then dinner and after dinner the last class. We had the opening campfire after the last class. The boys complained that the day was really long.

On Tuesday the normal class schedule began and the boys seemed to enjoy themselves. | …continue reading Announcements, announcements, ann-OOOUUUNCE-ments …

Sunday night The Gimlet and Thing One were packing for scout camp. Thing Two found his mini sleeping bag and a hat, added them to the pile of gear, and announced, “Thing Two can go to scout camp, too!”

Oh, dear.

So the mini tent and sleeping bag have been assembled in the family room for “Mommy and Thing Two camp” and I’m trying to think of some fun activities for the week.

Later Monday evening we were watching the dinnertime rush around the bird feeders at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The goldfinches and the chickadees constantly compete for the feeder perches, with the occasional hummingbird entering the fray. The birds were swooping and diving in every direction, and finally one little chickadee hit the window. The acrobatics didn’t even slow down so it must not have been hurt (and it didn’t sound like it hit that hard), but Thing Two composed the following story in honor of the occasion:

The Crying Chickadee, by Thing Two

The chickadee flew into the window. He was sad. He was crying. The chickadee’s mommy gave him a hug.

(Repeat several times until bed time.)

It’s not quite Gilbert and Sullivan, but still quite affecting under the circumstances. But more significant is that Thing Two may have found an artistic outlet for his disappointment over scout camp.

Wherein The Gimlet takes his Scout troop river rafting, and all return home safely! See more photos from the trip in the Gimlet Gallery, and look for the report from Scout Camp in mid-July.

Friday, June 20, 2008, we set off for Cashmere outside of Wenatchee to go rafting. We arrived at the home of the grandparents of one of the adult leaders. They had the three professional rafts and we camped on their large, park-like, yard. The first night we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs over an open fire. The Gimlet’s ginormous tent housed all the boys (about 14 of them) with room to spare. The adults slept in two other tents.

After a pancake breakfast Saturday morning we were off to the river. We were guided by able guides who volunteered from the local church unit. (The guides had 15 and 20 years of experience.) The section of the Wenatchee river we rode is a Class III river. The ride was great; Drunkard’s Droop, Snow Blind and Suffocator were particularly exciting for our group. Snow Blind knocked the entire group of paddlers, except for Thing One, into the bottom of the boat. The guide had to do a 180 degree turn after Snow Blind to keep us from going through Suffocator backwards. Excitement! Only one paddle lost, and we recovered it in the calm water after the rapids.

After the river trip, the boys enjoyed the hot tub back at the host’s home, and then we packed up and drove back to the city. The new SUV got nearly 25 mpg! Not bad since the first part of the trip was in Seattle’s Friday evening traffic.

A hike to Ollalie Lake Pratt Lake best described as “character building.” This hike’s photos were taken with a disposable camera and are pretty dark and grainy; see photos of Pratt lake from somebody else’s much nicer hike here.

We planned to leave at 3:00 p.m. Traffic and slow packing boys thwarted that effort, so we left the city at 4:00 and arrived at the trailhead at about 5:00. In the Pacific Northwest that means it is dark, and with cloud cover – really dark. We turned on our headlamps and started hiking. Our group was five boys (the oldest, age 13; the youngest, barely 12), and four adults. (I was still the oldest for this trip; I don’t know how young the youngest was.) We hiked and hiked and hiked. Ollalie Lake is at about 3500 feet, the trail head is at about 2500 feet. We realized we missed the turn to Ollalie Lake when we reached the saddle between two mountains and the trail started to go downhill.

We thought Pratt Lake would be a better choice at that point and continued on. Our four mile hike in the dark turned into a six mile hike. On the way to Pratt Lake the trail began to be wet — really wet — bog wet — running water wet. We reached the lake, it was high — really high. There wasn’t room for our five tents; we could only set up four. The ground was mushy but at least it wasn’t muddy. We cooked hot meals and got ready to sleep. It was now 11:08 p.m. The ground sloped and we tended to roll into each other in the tents. We were soaked from sweat on the inside of our coats.

At least it wasn’t raining!

About 3:00 a.m. it started to rain. We did not care; we slept. (Well, I was able to sleep. Apparently two of the other, younger, adults couldn’t.) We woke up about 9:00 a.m. and then cooked hot breakfast, broke camp and started to hike out. We left camp about 10:45 a.m. It rained, and rained, and rained. We didn’t care; we knew that if we kept going, we would make it to cars, heat, and home. We reached the trailhead at about 2:00 p.m.

The great thing about this trip was that everybody was prepared for rain and cold. Even with the missed trail we were able to successfully complete a longer than expected hike, camp overnight in adverse conditions, and everybody was safe the entire time. We had the equipment and attitudes we needed. Sometimes trips are more character building than fun. This hike and campout will make us all appreciate the trips next summer when we will be able to see the scenery and enjoy the weather.

Another tale of high adventure wherein The Gimlet proclaims from the mountaintops his proficiency at boiling water at high altitude. See more pictures from this hike in the Gimlet Gallery.

Last weekend our scout troop and church group made an overnight hiking trip to Rachel Lake, which is about a 1-hour drive east from Seattle into the Cascade Mountains, not far past Snoqualmie Summit. Our group consisted of 10 boys and 9 adults, with a wide range of outdoor experience. One boy’s pack was surprisingly light; when asked what he had brought for food, he assured us, “I’m okay; I brought money.”

After a last “civilized” meal of sub sandwiches and Hostess treats at the trailhead parking lot, we set off. The trail begins easily enough with a three mile hike with a 300 ft elevation gain. The last mile has a 1300 foot elevation gain and the trail, while well-used, is not well maintained. Tree roots and rocks along the trail make for a very rugged hiking experience and the last mile especially is like climbing an uneven staircase. Only a couple of the boys needed their packs carried the last half mile of the hike. Due to our late start, the last mile was in the dark and headlamps were the key to safety and success. We set up our tents and quickly settled down to sleep. We put seven of the 10 boys in a six man tent.

ETA: Overheard:

Anonymous Tenderfoot: “I have frostbite! My fingers are turning black!”

Scoutmaster: “That’s dirt.”

The next morning a couple of the boys went fishing while yours truly boiled water on the cook-stove for various packages of oatmeal or noodles. After breakfast the group hiked up an additional 500 vertical feet to Rampart Ridge and the lakes there. With the snow falling on our heads, we began our descent by returning to camp for lunch. Again, yours truly boiled water for many boys. Following lunch and breaking camp, we packed out.

Packing out was uneventful, except that as the old man on the trip, my knees just did not want to take the downhill abuse. After we got back to the cars and made the drive home, my muscles seized up. Once at home, our usual narrator pointed out that I was walking like my grandfather … Well, I felt like my grandfather at this point. I don’t know how I will survive this trip in 10 years when Thing Two is ready to go.

Thing One carried his own pack the entire trip and never complained. I was really proud of him.

This summer Thing One was busy with both Scouts and karate, and his achievements were recognized in the respective awards ceremonies over the past week. First, at a Court of Honor, he conducted the flag ceremony and was awarded his Star rank. He also received several merit badges; click on each badge name to learn more about how these awards are earned.

• Art
• Citizenship in the Community*
• Citizenship in the Nation*
• Environmental Science*
• First Aid*
• Law

(* required merit badges to earn the Eagle Scout rank)

A few days later, Thing One demonstrated what he had learned over the past few weeks and was awarded his yellow belt in karate. Congratulations, Thing One!

ETA: The next Scout overnight hike is later this month at Rachel Lake (see also this Seattle Post-Intelligencer article about trail renovations). Is the troop up to the challenge?

Thing One’s report from Fire Mountain Scout Camp, July 9-14. He earned his Environmental Science merit badge and will complete his Fishing and Art merit badges at home.

On July 9 - 14, I went to Fire Mountain Scout Camp. They have a fishing dock, a rifle range, an archery range and a lot more. My troop was in the Chief Joseph camp site. The lake had rainbow trout in it. One of my friends made a fishing rod with a stick and put fishing line on it and caught some fish with it. I caught one fish. I was going to cook it at camp but there was a burn ban, so I brought it home to cook so I can get my Fishing merit badge. At the trading post I bought a magic Fire Mountain ball which is a ball with the Fire Mountain logo on it which answers yes or no questions.

We did other fun things besides merit badge classes. | …continue reading All you et-a, think of all you et-a

The Gimlet’s report from Fire Mountain Scout Camp, July 9-14. The Gimlet is the scoutmaster for Thing One’s troop. See the Gallery for all the pictures from this year’s summer camp.

I have survived scout camp. 6 days and 5 nights with a group of 11 boys. I may not have been at work for a week, but I am ready for a vacation!

I believe we had a successful activity. The boys seem to have come off of the camp with an understanding of each other and still remain friends. They were successful in earning a variety of merit badges. The camp is a beautiful facility. There were many opportunities to earn merit badges. I am hoping this is the start of an improved scouting program in this troop. I also hope the boys enjoyed the event and had a good experience.

Editor’s note: For those who may not have heard the news, The Gimlet was recently made Scoutmaster for Thing One’s Scout troop. Expect many more camping stories, fueled by plenty of red juice.

My scout troop went on a winter camp in Camp Sheppard. We got to the camp by 6:00, and then another troop was staying and lights out was at 11:00 pm. At 6:00 am, most of the people in our cabin (not me or Daddy) went on a hike called the “polar bear hike”. When everybody going was up, I was ½ awake and also ½ awake when they got back, but right then, Daddy got everybody up. Then, we had biscuits in sausage gravy and red juice, and then we had an introduction to the camp and met all the staff. Then, we went inner tubing, and the run we went on had a bump and Daddy made movies of people on the bump. There was another run, but people got too tired to go back up again. Then, we had roast beef sandwiches for lunch with red juice, packed up, deflated all the inner tubes, played games in the cabin, and had a snowball fight. Then at 3:00, we left. We were expecting to be home by 5:00 pm, but we got back by 3:52 pm.

Thing One did an outstanding job conducting the flag ceremony at his first Boy Scout Court of Honor. He was awarded both the Tenderfoot and Second Class Ranks. He also was awarded the Swimming and Basketry merit badges. Way to go, Thing One!