Mr. Paton, an avid skier, organized this family outing at the old Playboy Club in Lake Geneva. It’s a family outing and Mr. Paton also works with the boys in completing Snow Sports merit badge.
My son had never been on skis before, so he signed up for the class. They were booked until later in the morning, so Mr. Paton took him and a couple of the other first time skiers out to the bunny hill for a few pre-class lessons. I have torn ligaments in both knees so I just settled into the lodge along with Mr. Flatley, who also wasn’t skiing.
My son really took to the slopes. I saw him briefly before his class when he stopped by to eat lunch. Other than that, he was on the slopes and loving it.
The trip was mostly uneventful except for when Mr. Koleno fell and hurt his shoulder, which turned out to be damage to his rotator cuff.
It started to get late in the afternoon, when it was time to head home. A few of the families had already left, but my son was still out skiing. He REALLY enjoyed it. I had to go out to the porch by the ski lift to shag him back in. Even then he didn’t want to listen and was trying to figure out how we could stay longer. I have a feeling that we’ll be back again next year… and the next year… and …
My youngest son is now a Cub Scout. He and I spent the weekend in a cave for my first ever Cub Scout campout. My Cub Pack as a child never went camping. And my oldest son never went to Eagle Cave because we were afraid of his asthma in the musty cave. Every time my oldest son and I would leave for a Scout campout, my younger boy would ask if he could come along. And he couldn't because he's not a scout. I'd always feel badly about it because he seems to take a natural shine to the outdoors.
I was a little worried about this first time out, but it turned out just fine. Even though we were camping in winter, the cave was rather comfortable. It was in the fifties throughout most of the cave, except for the River Room, which was icy cold at the far end where a second, north facing exit was boarded up. Our Pack had been to the cave for eight straight years and learned through experience to reserve the front of the cave, the Thunderbird room, as it was the largest and warmest part of the cave. The Thunderbird room was near the front exit so all of the warm air rose towards it. It also had a nice, flat and smooth cement floor, which made it easier to set up tents.
Most of the other groups slept out in the open, using taps to cover their gear from the dampness and condensation. Our pack learned long ago that tents were the best way to camp in the cave as it provided better protection from the wet. It also provided privacy for the moms that came with. This trip, however, the owners gave our leaders grief over the tents. The claimed we were taking up too much room because of them. Our Cubmaster, Bob Thomson, pointed out that we were taking up only have the room with forty people, while the other half, with no tents, was taken up by only twenty people. They also said they had never seen tents in the cave before, even though we had done it a number of years. Mr. Thomson managed to appease their concerns by agreeing to move our tents away from the center corridor as much as possible.
I borrowed a tent from Gary Swegel, my fellow leader and friend from scouting. It also gave me an opportunity to teach my son how to set it up. He was anxious to explore the cave, but I told him that we first had to take care of gear. Once that was done, he and his buddie paired off and we all went for our first foray into the cave.
Eagle cave was discovered in the mid-1800's and has been commercialized for many years. It's not even close to being a "Natural" cave. Cement paths and stairs with railing stretch from the front to t the back. Loose debris and obstructive rocks have been cleared out, and gravel has been used to level off the floor on either side of the path. Overhead lights stretch across the roof and spotlights frequently highlight the many named formations along the path. So it's well lit on the inside.
There are many crevasses and side tunnels created by the large sections of ceiling that have fallen over the millennia. The kids enjoyed crawling into these and exploring the "deeper" recesses of the cave. Some were easy enough for me to enter without experiencing much difficulty with my knees. Some I could have followed, but chose not to. Others appeared designed for small, child's bodies. But the cave doesn't have any real tight spots or places where the kids can get lost, so everyone lets them run off on their own, while we sit and chat by the exit. Every so often, a parent or two will rise up and stroll back to check on their kids. My son was using my new LED flashlight. It casts a bright, almost florescent, type of glow. So it was easy to spot him in the cavern, even if he was traversing through some tunnel or over a jumble of rocks.
So he and his buddies spent the day and most of the night exploring the "deep recesses" of Eagle Cave. Every once in a while, they'd come running back to tell us about some neat new tunnel or room that they discovered. And, of course, we'd have to follow them back into the cave so they could show us. One of the leaders bought the map set that showed all of the rooms and tunnels, as well as the names of all of the formations, such as Paul Bunyon's Toadstool, or the Hornet's Nest. We even discovered an onyx formation that hadn't been named yet. It resembled a foot with five toes. So we named it "Big Foot." It's on top of Paul Bunyon's Toadstool to the left of the stairs.
Eagle Cave also has a small menagerie outside beside the Office/Trading Post. Behind the Trading Post is two fenced in areas. The smaller of the two is home to a Llama., the larger to a pair of White Tail Deer. Then there a few smaller cages that house a raccoon, a red fox, a white fox and some Chinese Pheasants. The Raccoon entertained the kids by grasping onto a 2"x4" beam on the rood of his small cage and doing a back flip! There was also a peacock and a peahen I noticed roosting in a tree above the Trading Post Sunday morning.
Sleeping proved to be easier than I feared. Everyone warned of the echoing cacophony from all of the leaders snoring in the cave. But I think we so tired it didn't matter at all. I zipped the two sleeping bags together so he would feel more secure. He was very excited about this trip, but about a week before we left he cautiously asked me, "You are going to be sleeping by me, aren't you?" But it didn't matter. He slept on his side and I on mine and he didn't wake up at all during the night.
I woke up several times but only because I was uncomfortable on the cement floor, even though I added a third sleeping bag beneath us for padding. I simply roled over and fell back to sleep.
In the morning, I was surprised to find out that the bottom bag was soaked through, even though there was no water or dampness beneath the tent. The moisture from our body and breather condensed on the inside of the tent walls in the highly saturated cave air. The moisture then dripped down to the floor and was soaked up by the padding bag. One spot on my bag was wet on the outside where the padding bag was too thin, but we never got wet nor cold the entire night.
After a hearty breakfast and one last jaunt through the cave, we finally left for home. My son was sad to leave and he was also VERY tired. Fifteen minutes into the drive, he fell asleep and didn't wake until we reached Madison, WI.
I hope the pack continues this outing as I know it will remain one of my son's most memorable scouting experiences.
I didn't go on Friday night for this outing because Pam and I attended our bowling league banquet, so I arrived early Saturday afternoon. Joey went with the rest of the troop Friday night.
This is the second time we've gone to Marengo Ridge. It's nice group campsite that's close to home. It's secluded from the rest of the preserve, there's a five-mile trail for hiking and there's plenty of plant and wildlife diversity.
Shortly after I arrived, Nick Pepe recruited a few of the scouts to help him build a monkey bridge. He chose two stout trees on either side of the gravel access road to anchor the lines. The scouts soon dubbed the road the Rock River."
Once they got the lines up, they started test crossings. Well, they called them test crossings but everyone was just anxious to try it out. Only they didn't add the short vertical lines that tie the main rope to the handrail ropes. That omission made the crossing perilous.
These ropes add stability and keep the handrails at the same distance from the main rope. Without them, the crossing person's weight causes the foot rope to sag, but the handrails stay up high as there's no weight upon them. By the time you reach the middle, it's like a high wire balancing act.
As luck would have it, Joey was the first to fall, and he did it with style. His foot slipped off the rope but he held on with his hands. So he dropped down hard with the main rope riding up his legs, stopping suddenly at his crotch. Ouch! Mr. Smeenge named him the human clothespin.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mathien and Mr. Koleno were working with the new scouts on their Tote 'N Chip cards by showing them proper care for knives and axes. They id an outstanding job. As odd as it may sound, I never participated in these classes before. Troop 131 always did it at their March cabin campout, the first campout for new scouts crossing over from Webelos. The first time I wasn't allowed as the troop policy bans parents of first time campers from attending. The second Time I didn't go because Joey didn't go. We now skip cabin campouts with wood burning stoves because of his asthma. So I actually learned quite a bit from them.
That evening for dinner Mr. Smeenge cooked the leaders a delicious beef stew, although I believe he had a fancier name for it (but it was still beef stew). Regardless of what you call it, it was delicious! Camp meals have always been a favorite part of camping because you tend to try things you don't normally do at home.
Later that evening we held a campfire. I led a couple of songs and everyone participated. What difference between the two troops. The scouts even came up with a few songs and skits themselves. Afterwards we had a cracker barrel, even though we were still full from dinner.
In the morning, Mr. Salkis got up early to cook us baked French toast casserole. Hmm... I'm going to like camping with this troop.
Overall, this was what I'd consider my worst week of summer camp in my life. I guess I'm just spoiled with dining hall camps that anything else is substandard. Napowan has a dining hall, but it's used only for serving lines and everyone eats out side under a big circus tent.
I think an awful lot is missing when you don't have a dinning hall program. After breakfast and dinner, the staff would start the flag ceremony by singing the camp song. But they were the only ones singing it. Plus, announcements on program events were often hard to understand.
The staff was fired up and they did put on a good week of program for advancement for the scouts. So my complaints are just that, my complaints, Most of the boys in our troop thought it was just fine. Joy, on the other hand, did not care for it. He had seen what camp was like a Tesomas, which I would consider a top-notch camp in both program and facilities.
What an incredible intolerable weekend to leave for camp. The temperature on the night before was 80 degrees with the dew point at 78 degrees. You sweat buckets while standing still. I had hopes that it would cool off further north where the camp is located, Wild Rose, WI. But that was not to be the case.
Upon arrival, we lined up for the medical check followed by our swim test. What a relief it was to jump into the lake! A few of us offered to redo our tests, but the aquatics staff refused our offer.
The relief didn't last long. We went to our campsite to set up our tents. I was soaking wet with sweat once again. Then we had to change into our class "A" uniforms and stand in line in the hot sun for dinner. We were relatively lucky as we only had to wait for a half-hour to reach the dinning hall. I recall finishing my meal and looking up to see that there were still some troops that had not even reached the dining hall door yet, even though they had been in line for over an hour. The long lines would last until Thursday when they finally increased the number of serving lines from three to five.
Monday, the first full day at camp, turned out to be rough for me. It was still hot an humid, very oppressive. I ended up taking three trips out to the Flintlock program area, which is about a half a mile away. I made the mistake of wearing my sandals thinking that I'd be more comfortable than with a closed shoe. But I ended pulling muscles in my insteps of both feet because of the lack of arch support. I paid dearly all week for that mistake as it became increasingly painful to walk any distance, a big negative at summer camp. The stress also pulled out one of the straps from the sole making the sandals virtually useless.
Flintlock is the coolest part of Napowan. It's a recreation of a frontier village. The centerpiece is a working blacksmith forge where scouts get to pound red hot iron on an anvil. All of the craft merit badges are earned at Flintlock, Leather Working, Metal Working, Basketry, Wood Carving and Graphic Arts. Graphic Arts is not a normal camp merit badge either. Flintlock has a working, turn of the century printing press where scouts set their own type and print little booklets. The little enclave of six buildings and a teepee is a very popular destination.
My favorite part on this hot steamy day was the lemon shaker drink. For a dollar you get a scoop of sugar and half a lemon in a metal malt shop cup. You mash out the lemon juice with a wooden pestle and fill up the glass with water from the pump. The final, and most important, step is to cover the top with your paper cup and shake with all your might while yelling "Lemmmmooonnnn Shaaakerrrr!!!!" at the top of your lungs.
Other than the dining hall situation and the heat, the camp was well run and all of the scouts did well. My son signed up for Motor Boating, Rifle Shooting and Pioneering. Later in the week, he added Space Exploration, mainly because he'd get to shot off a model rocket. He finished Motor Boating right away. But as the week drew to a close, he was struggling with getting his shooting scores and only completed a few requirements for Pioneering. So he wrapped up Space Exploration on Friday morning and he and I spent the afternoon at scoutcraft. So he came- away with three completed merit badges and one partial. He finished the partial a few weeks later at home with Mr. Clingingsmith, one of the troop's Assistant Scoutmasters and an NRA instructor.
Speaking of Jim Clingingsmith, his arrival at camp Thursday sparked a series of mysterious, unsolved events. It started when we returned to our site from dinner and found that his tent and all of his gear had apparently levitated and came to rest on top of the troop trailer.
Then Bob Paton's walking staff disappeared, only to be discovered high overhead, hanging from a soaring branch of a Red Pine. Jim later told me that he and his son discovered another mystery when they got home. Both of their backpacks, which they insisted on wearing to the parking lot Saturday, ended up gathering a collection of large stones... Hmmm... Must have been poltergeists.
All in all it was a good week. The scouts had fun and they earned a bunch of merit badges. Still, I really missed a dining hall and the camaraderie that comes with it.
Camping on the shores of Lake Michigan is cool. Kohler-Andrea State Park, located just south of Sheboygan, WI, is a 135-acre preserve of dunes habitat. The kids all had a rush swimming in the breakers in Lake Michigan. It was overcast and cool, but that didn't slow them down one bit. The wind also served to create some decent waves for the boys. They were big enough for them to have fun, but not too big to present any danger.
I left the beach early so I could start preparing lunch, muffuletta and chicken and andouille sausage gumbo. Lunch was a hit. All of the meals were a hit. Scout leaders know how to cook on campouts. Brian Smeenge's Salt Beef dinner was outstanding too. He wraps a thick steak with a paste made from course rock salt. It's encased by several inches all around and tied up in an old pillowcase. The salt hardens on the coals and turns into an oven, sealing in the meat's natural juices and flavorings. He then slices he meat and mixes it with melted garlic butter and it's served on deli rolls. Delicious!
This weekend also launched the inaugural Silver Spoon Award with troop 149. Myson's patrol, the Polar Bears, won the contest hands down with Jimmy's marinated flank steak recipe. The served it with baked potatoes and sour cream, deep fried onion rings, and a salad. They also planned a desert of Banana Boats, baked bananas stuffed with mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips and peanut butter. But they forgot to cook it so they served it as a snack Sunday morning instead.
The other patrols made fine meals, but both of them made tacos from packaged seasoning mixes rather than take the jump into a meal from scratch. Hopefully, they'll get more into the spirit for the next competition.
We also took a hike to the nature center Saturday afternoon. Nick Pepe, Brad , my son and I followed the cordwalk, a plank walkway designed to protect the fragile dunes, north to the center. It was a very pleasant walk.
The Nature Center was well done. I wish more of our scouts had made their way to it to learn more about the dunes we were camping on. I was able to identify the name of the scraggly thistle that grew our campsite and along the cordwalk. It's the Dune Thistle (of course!). I remember it from our trip to South Manitou Island in 1999. Only there it was not as plentiful as it is here. I can still remember the park ranger on Manitou standing over a single, scrawny specimen on the beach near the dock. I do remember seeing it near the lighthouse too, but that's it. And here it's all over the place. The information at the nature center did explain that it is endangered in Wisconsin as well and that there are only four locations in the state where it's found. But its situation doesn't seem as dire as it is on Manitou.
We spent several hours in the nature center. We even sat through a movie on insects. On the return trip, I spotted a young male deer browsing near a small copse. We stood and watched him feed for a while. We were only about fifty feet away. He was a young buck. His antlers, just a pair of four-inch posts, were just growing out and still covered with velvet. Then I noticed some movement about twenty feet to the left. It was his doe. We watched them for about fifteen minutes then headed back to camp. The buck bounded a few yards away as we walked past, but neither he nor his mate was overly concerned about our presence.
I made a big mistake when I set up my tent Friday night. I had left the little bag of stakes behind at home. Oh, well. I never really needed them in the past. Boy! Was I ever wrong. Saturday night it rained real hard, about two inches of rain between 8;00 and 9:30 p.m. Then it slowed down and rained off and on throughout the rest of the night. But then the wind picked up. I was doing fine until around 5:00 a.m. when it really kicked up. The weather radio reported gusts between 25 and 30 MPH. My tent was rocking back and forth. The only thing that kept it from blowing away was me inside.
At one point, the floor on either side of me was pulled up next to me like it was a wall. That's when I decide it was time to act. So I got up and tossed the heavier objects at the base of each side; the cot in the back, my backpack on one side and my folding chair on the other. I got dressed and packed as quick as I could. Then I took all of my gear to the car and rolled up the tent. So I was all packed up and ready to go before 7:00 a.m.!
I will never make that mistake again.
I remember camping at Illinois Beach State Park a young scout. It was in October and the autumn wind that howled off of Lake Michigan with a raw cold that numbed even your private thoughts. It was for an Indian Boundary District Camporee. After the presentation campfire, our scoutmaster, Mr. Weikart, offered to make us hot chocolate on his stove. Back then a propane stove was a luxury as the scouts cooked on folding charcoal stoves. But it was so cold that none of the scouts accepted his offer. Everyone just wanted to climb into his sleeping bag to warm up.
Fortunately, the weather was much nicer this weekend. But there was a numbing cold for another reason. The events of the week leading up to this campout will forever be frozen in our minds because of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York city and the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. My son was upset by the attack. I don’t think he’s old enough to truly fathom the true scope of horror this event has wrought, or how it will forever change his, everyone’s, way of life.
There was a call for a nationwide candlelight ceremony with a moment of silence in memory of those who had died in the attack. The ceremony was scheduled for 7:00 p.m., Friday, while we were on the road. Mr. Smeenge has a candle box his father made years back for Woodbadge participants, his father was a scout leader and help run Woodbadge sessions. So Mr. Smeenge lit his candle at 7:00 p.m. and sat the holder on the passenger seat next to him while we drove to the Park.
Later, after we had finished setting up camp, Tom, our Troop Chaplains Aid, and Alex held our own candlelight ceremony. They planned it themselves without any prompting from the adult leaders. It was a very nice ceremony and the boys stood silent in a circle for about fifteen minutes. It’s odd to see young scouts stand still for five minutes! So seeing them take the situation so seriously that they would stand silent in contemplation was a moving sight.
In the morning, the scouts gathered to lash together a tall flagpole. It was an opportunity to get a few of the rank requirements out of the way. Nick Pepe took the lead, as he truly loves pioneering projects. Mr Salkis and I took a brief trip down one of the trails that led away from camp. We only went about a half-mile as it runs to where it approaches the Metra train tracks. The group campsite is bound in the back by the tracks, by the access road in front and a swamp to the north. Luckily there are few mosquitoes in November! To the south is a trail that leads to the nature center.
After lunch, the whole troop drove down to visit the nature center. We didn’t hike because we wanted to get there as quickly as possible in case it closed early. Unfortunately, it was closed all day. So we decided to hike a short loop trail instead. It was a very nice hike. Some folks like to get from point A to point B as fast as their legs will take them. I’d rather take my time a enjoy the route as much as possible. Fortunately, point A and point B were one and the same for this trail as I formed a big loop, so no one was in any particular rush to get there.
So instead, we stopped often to examine and try to identify the flora along the path. The leaders started to point plants out to one another and ask if anyone knew what it was. We weren’t quizzing each other, just trying to find out if anyone knew what the interesting plants were. Between us, we were able to identify many of them. I was also able to identify one or two later on when I got home. The Swamp Milkweed was one of them. I always enjoy trying to ID one or two new plants when I go out so this trek was a success.
What was really cool, was that the scouts were genuinely interested as well. Whenever one of the leaders would stop, you would see a small group of scouts huddled around listening attentively trying learn from what was being said. By the end of the hike, they were pointing out unknown plants to leaders hoping to have them identified.
This was my first time to camp overnight at Lakota. I had been there many times with both of my sons for Cub Scout Day Camp. We camped at a nice big site at the back of the camp so we had plenty of room to spread out. We were pumped up because the Leonids meteor shower on Saturday night was supposed to be the most spectacular in 125 years. Dan Koleno brought his telescope, keeping with the astronomy theme. He set it out Friday night and we were able to spot Saturn and it’s moons!
Webelos from pack 214 joined us for the day and they joined us for a short hike around camp. We had to stay well within the camp boundaries as deer rifle hunting season opened this weekend. Hunting is not allowed on camp properties but hunters will sometimes wander in accidentally from neighboring farmland. We made two stops on the hike. The first was at the camp OA fire bowl, where we discussed the Order of the Arrow briefly. The second stop was at the wood shed by the front parking lot where everyone grabbed a log or two for our evening campfire.
The main theme for this campout was fire starting so after the hike a few of the leaders demonstrated their favorite "alternate" techniques to show how to start a fire without matches or lighters. I brought my magnesium fire starter (MFS) block and several types of tinder. Dryer lint is the main tinder I always carry, but this time I added cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly. The cotton balls worked pretty well, but were not spectacular. I latter realized that I had used "synthetic puffs" not "cotton balls." That would explain the melting blob of goop they left behind! Next time I will use real cotton. I also brought waterproof matches to show them what they looked like.
Matt brought a real flint and steel kit with some char cloth that he bought at the Conservation District's Trail of History weekend. It proved to be tough to light than he thought. I think he finally got one real successful spark that lit his tinder, but he failed to keep it going. A couple of folks tried their hand at Dan Koleno’s stick and bow fire lighting kit. But none of them succeeded in starting a fire. Dan said it takes a lot of practice and lot of time to get the notch hot enough to spark tinder. The demonstration was wildly successful. We had scouts in both fire bowls starting their own little piles of tinder and kindling.
After the demonstration, we ate lunch, the infamous "Scoutmaster Stew." It’s always a fun meal, especially when Webelos are around. We invited them to stay after lunch and join in the orienteering contest that afternoon, but they all went home. Too bad because Mr. Smeenge and Mr. Salkas laid out a fun, but not too difficult course. We had teams tramping up and down hills and through bramble bushes. Each point had a flag with a word. Found in order, the words formed a meaningful sentence, which I won't disclose here since it's likely to be reused. What's really fun is that half the teams follow the course in one direction, and the other half in the opposite order. Both ways produce different sentences form the same words!
After diner we had a nice warm campfire. It was nice to sit around the warm fire on chilly evening. As we were wrapping up and sending the scouts off to their tents, I asked the Senior Patrol Leader to have a flagged stake outside of any tent with scouts that wanted to get up for the meteor shower. After the fire died down, I walked around to find out which tents were flagged, and they all were! That’s pretty cool that they all wanted to see the event. So I set my alarm for 3:00 a.m., the estimated peak viewing time.
The alarm went off after what seemed to be only a few minutes. I dragged my carcass out of the warm and fuzzy sleeping bag to look out the tent flap. Dang! The tree was in the way and I couldn’t tell if it was cloudy or not. So I slid on my boots and stepped out into the clearing. There might have been clouds, but I couldn’t tell because the fog was too thick! Darn it. I scurried back into my tent and now cold sleeping bag. I didn’t wake up any of the scouts figuring they had seen fog before. A few scouts arose early, just before dawn when the fog had cleared. But the display was nearly over and they only saw a few flashes. But at least they saw some. It was reported that in areas with clear visibility, the display was truly inspiring. Hmmpph! The Leonids return every year, but they estimate that the next large display won’t happen for over 100 years from now. Maybe they’ll be wrong and next years will be better than this year’s display.
Except for the meteor display fizzling out, this turned out to be a great campout with hiking, fire starting, orienteering, good food and good company. What more could anyone ask for?
