Henry Hill Video and Overview by Tim

Metrowest Adventure

                                                                 (video at end of story)

         The Metrowest Adventure Trip began at four p.m. on Friday November 11. The scouts had driven to Henry Hill in Sudbury. About a hundred yards into the woods on the hill, the scouts made their camp between two areas of forest. On the opposite side of the eastern woods, down the hill, a wide field opened up before the woods. The weather was warm for so late in the year, but the sun was setting fast. The scouts had about an hour to set up their tents before the sun went down.

            The next morning the scouts awoke to a nice hot breakfast. The meal was required to be a hot breakfast, and be a little more in depth than the usual quick meal. This was due to the service project scheduled for that morning.  Kevin’s patrol had scrambled eggs, and Marcus’s patrol ate breakfast sandwiches.

            The service project involved tearing down invasive vines that had smothered several trees in a field down the street from the site. The scouts were given all manner of loppers and saws in order to clear the vines. It didn’t sound too hard, until the scouts had to sort through which branches were part of the tree and which ones were vines. The vines had also grown very thickly together, and were heavily tangled with the tree branches. The vines first had to be cut at ground level, then pulled out of the tree and piled around the tree for collection.

            The project lasted close to three hours, and the scouts were tired, but proud of what they had accomplished. The troop headed back up to the site for lunch at around one. They also had their spam cook off. Kevin’s patrol made spam and noodle soup, while Marcus and his patrol improvised a stir fried meal with various fruits and veggies and, of course, spam. Both meals were delicious and the scouts were ready for their next activity.

            The scouts next had to construct a track as part of the challenge. They had to build a track to run a water balloon down. The scouts were scored based on the length of the track, the number of turns in the track, and how far the water balloon survived without popping. Kevin and his patrol utilized sections of dead tree bark to form a gutter-like track with a slight curve. Marcus’s scouts used a hollowed out log and two lengths of rope to form their track, with three abrupt turns in the design.

            The water balloon survived longest on Kevin’s bark track. Their design worked just as well with both the balloon and the softball. The design of Marcus’s track was finely tuned to the softball, but the water balloon was entirely different. The rope portion of the track was much too wide to hold the water balloon, so the scouts were forced to do away with the first half of their track.

            The scouts then had an advancement session, where the older scouts educated the younger scouts on how to safely handle knives, axes and other tools for their Totenchit’ badges, which are required for scouts to carry any such tools. They also worked on rank advancements, with the older boys helping the younger scouts.

            Next, the scouts went about making dinner for the evening. Marcus and his patrol had meatball subs, crackers with cheese, and pudding pie for dessert. Kevin’s patrol ate cheese and crackers for their appetizer, a main course of rice and beef, and a dessert of peach cobbler. The scouts then played manhunt for a few more hours, and went to bed.

            The next morning, the scouts quickly packed up, for they still had more work ahead of them. The troop next went on a hike and service project; they had to clear a few miles of trail of debris from recent storms. The scouts hiked along the nearby trail for an hour and a half, clearing fallen trees with their saws. They stopped at Ford’s folly for a lunch that they had put together with leftovers from the trip. The scouts then hiked over Nobscot Hill all the way to the Nobscot scout reservation parking lot, where they played a game of football while waiting for their rides.  

            Also, a special thanks to Mr. Shupe for organizing the adventure, to Scoutmaster Clarke for providing his portable latrine, and to the other adult volunteers for their assistance on the trip.  

 

        

                    

Wreath Decorating Competed!

Over 500 decorated wreaths are now being distributed to our fine friends!

Henry Hill Camping & Service Trip

Last weekend we had a great local trip to Sudbury Valley Trust Henry Hill site. We worked Saturday morning clearing invasive Bitter Sweet of well established apple trees. Then pruned one.

www.Troop12Framingham.com/111111_Henry_Hill_web/index.html

 We had a great camp site.

Eat well include a fine Spam Cook Off.

Finishing the trip with a 5 mile hike to Nobscott Scout Reservation...Trimming storm damage along the way.

 Want to see more. Click Here!

Saco River Canoe Trip Report by Tim

Saco River Canoe Trip

            The Saco River Canoe Trip for 2011 started off on a rainy Friday evening in the true spirit of scouting. The troop arrived at the church parking lot at about 5:00. After some hustle and bustle about rides and what gear was going where, Troop 12 left the parking lot a half hour later. We stopped at McDonalds for dinner, and continued on our merry way. Arriving at the campsite at around eleven, the troop was acquainted with what turned out to be the biggest problem of the weekend; the mosquitoes. In a lull in the rainstorm, the scouts hastily set up their tents to escape the rain and vicious bugs.

            The next morning, the scouts had a quick breakfast of bagels and oatmeal and then headed down to the river. Canoe buddies were chosen, and each canoe was supplied with two oars, a throw line and life preservers. The canoes were launched at around 9:30, and the boats grouped together for a photo. The trip was underway.

            The day started off cloudy with some hopeful rays of sunshine peeking through. It was not very hard going, as the current pushed the boats along the river. There was debris such as fallen trees in the river from hurricane Irene that had passed through several weeks previously, and the water was rather cold, so no one was inclined to swim. By noon, however, the sun had come out and the temperature began to rise.

            With the building warmth in the air, an unforeseen annoyance became one of the greatest irritations of the trip. The mosquitoes on the river were vicious. When the troop stopped for lunch around 12:30, they attacked in huge numbers. Lunch was over in twenty minutes, and for the whole rest of the trip, the mosquitoes hung around the troop like a plague. The Scouts could often squash three or four at a time such was their proximity to each other.  

            The canoe trip ended early at around 3:00 in the afternoon, on account of the innumerable bugs. The troop had planned on the trip taking all day, but the mosquitoes had other plans. Upon arrival at the campsite, it was decided that the troop would go to North Conway, a nearby town that was the place to be on a Saturday evening. The Scouts were allowed to go through the various shops and general stores along the main road of the town. There were not nearly as many bugs outside the wooded campground, and the troop enjoyed about an hour of bug free bliss.

            The troop came back to the site at around 5:00, and dinner preparations began. For those that have not been on a scout trip, dinner is often a sizable meal, and takes a long time to prepare. By 7:00, the meal of tinfoil dinners was cooked and ready to be eaten. The Scouts cleaned up, and went to bed by 9:00.

            The next morning, the Scouts arose, packed up the site, policed the area, and started the long drive home. The Scouts were tired but content about the weekend’s trip. They had managed to get out into the woods and forget about the rigors of work and school for a few days, which was reward enough for their hard work.         

Service Project Sunday Afternoon at the Church

We will be doing the traditional fall clean up, so please bring along gloves, rakes, wheelbarrows and other implements that might help with the clean up efforts. Please wear your Class B shirts to show that you are from Troop 12. We are doing this service project to show our gratitude for being able to use the facilities at Plymouth Church at no charge. We also get good support from the church members for our fundraising efforts, so now it is our turn to help them out. Please arrive at about 12:15pm and be prepared to work until about 2:30pm.