Yellowstone High Adventure Trip

This year I had the greatest privilege of embarking on the most ambitious scouting trip that our troop has envisioned, going to Yellowstone. It was hatched from a conversation that Mitch and I had with a scoutmaster at Camp John Mensinger in 2011 about a scout camp in Wyoming, and one that Mitch then went on to pursue. Mitch's research revealed that there was not much our scouts could accomplish at this camp so he though maybe we could just do a trip to Wyoming. After several discussions the Wyoming trip turned into a Yellowstone trip and the more we discussed it the more we started believing it could work, and once we pitched it to the High Adventure aged scouts, they were interested too. We started meeting early in the year to discuss the many details that would make this trip a reality, and as the months started getting closer it no longer was a plan or a dream, it was a reality. Over 3000 miles were driven, thousands of pictures taken, precious moments of video captured, and memories created that will span a lifetime.

Thank you for a being such a great group and sharing in these memories with me,
Shaan

Mother Lode Ranch, July 20-22, 2012

Arrived Friday. The Scouts got to it immediately, and started to clean the firepit as soon as we got there. MLR owner Don Rumsey provided a small tractor for the ashes and weeds from the cleanout.
The Troop set up camp in the shade of the trees lining the creek bed, had a Cracker Barrel in the evening, and later, had a great campfire under the bright Milky Way.

On Saturday, the Troop hiked to a (clean) water trough up the road about 1/2 mile and splashed around in it while goldfish nibbled at their feet (they eat the algae.) Back at camp, sharps were practiced and a BBQ chicken dinner was prepared for the families that came over for a overnight campout with the Troop.
Sunday morning, the Scouts made a pancake breakfast for everyone at camp before packing up and heading home.

MLR is a great place in both the frost of November or the 100 degree heat of July. Don is always a wonderful host and loves to see the Scouts use this peaceful site. We had a wonderful time, and hope to come back soon.

2012 CAMP JOHN MENSINGER

Camp John Mensinger was a blast this year. We camped in a different site for the first time in four years, so it was a nice change of scenery, and much closer to flags so we were only late one time. We had the privilege to host an Adventure Troop in our camp, these are scouts who spend additional weeks in camp without their own troop. The added bonus this year was that there were only 54 total campers in camp when we would normally see around 200 campers. So this enabled scouts to get better instruction in their merit badge classes.

We had two scouts complete the cycling merit badge that culminated in a 50 mile trip. We won the "Camp Wide Games" for the first time ever. Shaan took 2nd in the "Scoutmaster" shoot. John took the initiative to have the scouts participate in a nice service project, that included assembling a camp sign for our specific camp, digging holes to set it, and then painting it. We had several scouts do the polar bear swim, and nearly half our troop did the Wilderness Survival merit badge that culminated in an overnight campout in the shelter they built.

The Troop held its elections for the SPL and PL's. So we have a new group of leaders to enjoy over the next year.

So many fun memories from this years camp. A special thanks goes out to John Scott our Scoutmaster for being an exceptional leader and being the "glue" that keeps this troop together.

Check out the photo gallery for the pictures from this camp.

Shaan