It's always good when a father and son can share some quality outdoor time together, so we cut a family campout short as Ruhl and I were scheduled to be at Camp Madron (Rota-Kiwan Scout Reservation) for summer camp.

Welcome to Campsite Houghton and Troop 433



After the obligatory swim test and settling in our abode for the week looked like this...



I took my fellow Scoutmaster's advise and purchased mosquito netting for my bunk. I think I made a believer out of Ruhl as well, he requested some for next year.

Our troop common camp area



We had 13 teen-ager type boys who were constantly kept busy (at least we tried) doing various activites which involved the acquisition of merit badges. Ruhl's favorite was his "Wilderness Survival" merit badge class.

Here he's trying to start a fire with a Fresnel lens... "Where'd that durn sun spot go?"



They also engaged in shelter building. The object was to build a shelter from natural materials (no tarps allowed; and no lashings utilized :huh: ) and on the next to last night of camp they were required to spend the night in said shelter. Here is Ruhl getting to work on his shelter...



Here it is nearly finished...



He did a pretty good job. It was well covered, but ventilated from the sides as the temps were still warm during the nights. His bed was made from pine needles. The only tool allowed was a Scout knife (folding variety; Swiss Army Camper in Ruhl's case).

My wife's culinary skills with the cast iron must be rubbing off, here is the peach cobbler that I created from the recipie in the Scout Manual...



Looks good huh? Tasted good too! This was done for a competition called the "Taste of Madron" which was held on Thursday night. We had entertainment as well. One of the camp staff is a 19 year old Eagle Scout known simply as "R"... A real fire-breather...



Overall our experience was quite positive and we are looking forward to going back next year.

I just got back from scout camp too! But I was old enough to do COPE (high adventure) and so only got 2 merit badges But it was really really fun...

Wow... no way! 14 yo life scout... Im in the same exact boat... exept that he actually get to go in a boat... and im just stuck here planning meetings

Cool, thanks for sharing. I really miss my days at scout camp. Not sure if the staff up at Many Point Lake in Minnesota feels the same way...

How many inches of pine needles did Ruhl use in his shelter's bed?

-Blast

Thanks for the memories...

Sung to the tune of...well, you know...

I'm headed out to Suumer Camp with my son's troop on Sunday. My little boy (a 6'4" 13 year old Star Scout) has taken all the Eagle MB's offered at the camp and only needs three more Eagle-required MBs (CitNation, Communication, Physical Fitness) to complete all needed for Eagle, so this summer is all fun for him. He's looking forward to that. He just needs to wait out his position of responsibility time clock for Life.

Among others, he's taking Canoeing and Wilderness Survival. Should be fun.

I've never been one of those crazed advancement focused parents. I went to two weeks of camp each summer (not this summer though), so that helped him earn lots of MBs. The troop has been good about getting Scouts into Eagle MB counselors, which has also helped him. I try my best to stand back and let the Scouts succeed, fail, and grow.

I like the week at summer camp. The mornings can be a little crazed getting boys off to the right places, but after that its pretty relaxing.

Ken K.

I didn't get to measure it, but it looked like he had anywhere from 8-10" in there. The biggest hassle was removing all the sticks, stones and other assorted "discomforting" items before adding the needles. Between the pine needles and his sleeping bag he was quite comfortable. In fact, they missed reveille the next morning! He still made it to breakfast though...

I agree Ken. We have a couple of those CAFP's in our troop as well. In fact there is a mother with three sons in the troop (a 15 yr old and a set of 13 yoa twins) that has declared that they will all make Eagle before they are 16. To that end SHE signed them up for all of their MB's this year (Environmental Science, Communication, Lifesaving, and Camping I think). Thank goodness for free swimming periods and free archery periods or I would have had three very unhappy campers...

I don't push my son, but I do guide him and make sure he understands the options and choices. Watching him make reasoned choices is one of the great things about fatherhood.

Scouting didn't comprise as much of my life as I would have liked. The program basically died out while I was in Cubs. I am now "sort of" reliving some of it and it is a lot of fun.

Oh, the best summer camp mosquitto netting we've found (fits cots) is the Coughlan's Rectangular Netting. The Scouts make frames that fit over the costs out of 1/2" PVC pipe. Picture an upside-down U-shaped frame front & back, 90 degree T-joints heading horizontally toward the center near the top of each 'U', and then anotehr pair of 90 degreee T-joints at the center that create down-facing legs (to hold up the middle). Picture six legs in total.

Most of the Scouts glue-up enough joints to still allow it to break down to the size of a camp chair bag (many use old bags left over from broken chairs). The remaining joints are just left as press-fit.

My son had problems with the press-fit joints coming apart so last year we worked together to add screw-in legs to the mix. The screws were at the top of each set of legs and at each of the four the center-facing 90 degree T-joints. The horizontal pieces still need to be press-fit at the center T-joints. He just duct tapes those.

One other thing ... make sure they put a ground cloth under the cot - so critters can't fly up from under the wooden floor boards (ours have small gaps between them).

Ken K.