Troop 168's November Adventure included lots of exciting mountain biking through the woods around Lake Ray Roberts. The weather was perfect for riding through trees, hills and creek bottoms with a rousing campfire to end it all.

Check out the photos in the 2011 Gallery.

For a record 6^th straight campout, our February Campout at Camp Cherokee included perfect weather for a full agenda of activities. We had a large crowd with lots of Webelo guests ready for their first Boy Scout campout with a beautiful lakeside campsite. Each Webelo was assigned to a Scout Patrol for activities and grub. Saturday started early with a Flag Ceremony after breakfast; followed by a busy morning of shotguns, archery and horseback riding. After lunch, rifles and tomahawks proved filled the air. After retiring the Flag, Caleb determined the unseasonable warm weather did not apply to the lake water temperature. After enjoying a great dinner lakeside, the Campfire included some great skits and presentation of Awards. The winners were:

Top Patrol – Cobras
Top Scout – Nick Kepler
Top Webelo – Roland Limosero
Rifle – 1^st Nick Kepler; 2^nd Caleb Bridges; Top Webelo Roland Limosero
Archery – 1^st Chad Lackey; 2^nd Bryan Wiesgarber; Top Webelo Harrison Peyrovi
Tomahawks – 1^st Chad McCowan; 2^nd Nick Kepler; Top Webelo Rory French
Shotgun – 1^st Jack Vaughn (Webelo); 2^nd Chad Lackey; Top Webelo Rory French

Check the photos out in the photo gallery at www.bsa168.org

After a long drive to Hill Country, Troop 168 Scouts settled in for chilly night on Friday as the temperatures dropped below freezing. Bright sunshine greeted the Troop on Saturday with a beautiful sunrise illuminating the tall rock formations surrounding us. Without a cloud in the sky, the Troop embarked to the summit as part of a 5 mile hike to begin the day. The Rock indeed proved taller than it appeared with beautiful vista on the trek upward. The top proved deceptive as it appeared you could easily walk off the edge instead of a rounded descent to the bottom. After lunch, the Troop scattered to explore the Enchanted Rock Cave and various parts of the rock formations. The cave proved most popular. As dinner was prepared, it became evident the Rock could tire out the most active Scout. After a brief Campfire, the Troop turned in for the night. An early Sunday morning Troop mobilization for departure was delayed by Philip Venesky’s Chapel Service; then, off to the North Texas.

Check out the photos in the 2011 gallery at www.bsa168.org

December brings our annual Wilderness Survival Campout. And, just as predictable, the weather turned cold just in time to challenge our Scouts again. We started the day with Kimball Cleanup at St. Laurence Church. After spending about an hour cleaning up , the Scouts headed to Biebighauser Estates with a belly full of donuts to keep the energy level high. Upon arrival, Scouts enjoyed lunch and proceeded to a “country” shooting contest. A two station skeet shootout ensued with a variety of shotguns. Although the cold. North breeze proved challenging; but, the Scouts proved their shooting prowess as evidenced by the scattered remnants of clay throughout the pasture. Alex Lawson provided everyone with a shooting lesson by hitting a clay pigeon the first time he has ever pulled the trigger of a shotgun. The Scouts were then blindfolded and led to their campsites with their Altoid cans of gear; given an envelope with compass coordinates to locate their food; and, provided a hearty “good luck”. The temperature quickly dropped as the Scouts built their fires and shelters. After dark, the capture the flag contest went late into the night. The Scorpions won the contest by sunrise. Scouts began wandering out of the wilderness shortly after sunrise to gather around the Big Bucks fire; and, enjoy a hearty Mountain Man breakfast before heading back to civilization after surviving the wilderness for another year.

 

Check out the photos in the 2010 Gallery on the Troop 168 Website.

Who would have known that we could go Mountain Biking in North Texas? Troop 168 hit the trails at Lake Ray Roberts for some great off road biking in November. Camping on beautiful lakefront campsites, we awoke to a cool, crystal clear "mountain" morning on Saturday. After a brief safety and trail explanation from Campmaster Mr. Murray, the Scouts took a 5 mile off road biking trek through the woods, creeks and hills around the lake. Undoubtedly, every Scout personally experienced the taste of dirt and trees along the way with multiple stories of falls and tribulations. After a great lunch, the Scouts held time trials on the same trek. Scouts increased the speed of their trail rides substantially with Luke Murray riding the 5 mile trail in under 40 minutes. Rajan Murali, Michael Tsapos and John Biebighauser closely followed the leader. Scouts showed their Dutch Oven cooking skills all weekend by cooking hamburgers on the Dutch Oven lid, soup, chili and Philly Cheesesteaks (by Big Bucks Master Chef Mr. McCowan). At Campfire, awards included the best "faceplant" to Jo Whelan; and, Eric Hart and Chad McCowan earning this month's Extra Effort Award for biking a few extra miles by taking a wrong turn on the trail. Scouts bedded down early after turning in a long day of biking.

Check out the photos in the 2010 Gallery.

Troop 168 honored our Veterans by raising and lowering over 30 flags in Southlake Town Square for the City of Southlake.

Check out the photos in the 2010 Gallery.

We started out on a bright and sunny day to conquer the mighty Brazos River as a Troop. We were all prepared with canoes, food and water for the 15 mile trip from Possum Kingdom Dam to Worth Ranch. The river was scenic and calm the entire morning. We stopped for lunch on the river before continuing downstream through cliffs and canyons. Everyone arrived at Worth Ranch well before dark. Several awards were given at Campfire; however, the most notable was the Ironman Award for Mr. Weisgarber and Mr. Hart for canoeing an extra 5 miles past Worth Ranch.

Check out the photos in the 2010 Gallery.

Last May, we did not complete our Soaring due to a low cloud ceiling. We did complete our Service Project and great fun. On October 2, we completed our flying. Scouts were towed up to 2,500 feet and flew for up to 30 minutes. They performed up to 4 loops, circles, steered up/down/right/left until landing. While some Scouts were a little wobbly upon their return to Earth, they all agreed it was a once in a lifetime experience.

Check out the photos in the 2010 Gallery.

Troop 168’s Water Sports Campout started with finding our campsite at the water’s edge of at . The Lobster Patrol enjoyed a Mountain Man breakfast with the Big Bucks to start Saturday morning (the winning prize from the Annual Auction). The Cobra and Trojan Patrols were first on the Troop boat for tubing while the Lobsters focused on raft building.

 

The lake resembled a mirror as Scouts zipped from side to side behind the boat. After lunch, the Lobsters took their turn on the tube with the Cobras and Trojans building rafts. With a slight breeze, the lake provided for challenging tubing rides in the afternoon; but, the Lobsters proved they could ride “fast and furious”.

 

We completed the day with a rousing raft race just before dinner. After dinner, our first Campfire of the new year included many tired Scouts from the day on the lake. SPL Michael Tsapos awarded Caleb Bridges the Best Tube Ride of the day. He hung on like a pro while catching air over and over again. Phillip Venesky and Eric Hart were awarded Best Tube Wipeouts for showing their previously unknown water tumbling skills. Mr. Biebighauser was a close second. The Trojan Patrol won the Raft Building Award. The final award for Most Tired Scout went to Chad Lackey for falling asleep in his tent at 7:30pm Saturday night. The Scout tents were unusually silent before 9:00pm . . . the true sign of another successful Troop 168 adventure.

• Luke - Lazy Canoer Award (for sleeping on the canoe during the trip)
• Rajan and Michael S - Number Last Award (although our SPL was behind them)
• Jeremy and Evan - Number 1 Canoer (finishing first)
• Mr. Froehlich - Ranger's Favorite Camper (for having to move his tent twice)

On Sunday, December 20, 2009, Southlake Troop 168 honored eight of its finest scouts with the Eagle Rank at a Court of Honor ceremony before a standing room only crowd at Saint Laurence Church. Stephen M. Davies, Alexander R. Diamond, Elliott B. Grass, Christopher C. Loy, Jr., Lukas T. McKinney, Jonathan B. Mundlin, Evyn H. Perry and Chad E. Smith were presented with their Eagle medal by the Charter Scoutmaster Frank Wagnon and Assistant Scoutmaster Scott Flynn. The ceremony marked the first time in the history of the Longhorn Council that as many as eight scouts were awarded the rank of Eagle Scout at the same time. In order to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, each of these young men completed 21 merit badges and developed and implemented a service project benefiting a non-profit organization. Along their journey to Eagle, these scouts embarked upon many adventures, including fishing the Florida Keys at Sea Base, hiking a strenuous trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, hiking the Georgian Section of the Appalachian Trail, riding in a mule pack trek in eastern Yellowstone, kayaking the Salmon River in Idaho where Lewis and Clark once traveled, and rafting this past summer in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness and Glacier National Park where the Blackfoot Indian once reveled.

Pictures of the event can be seen here: http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=bsatroop168&page=bsatroop168/2009gallery&album=836

Local Boy Awarded the Eagle Medal

by the Boy Scouts of America

Sam Wagnon was awarded his Eagle Rank of Advancement on December 21^st in a special ceremony at St Laurence Church. Sam began his great adventure in the fall of 2002 as a charter member of Troop 168. Sam was elected Patrol Leader, Assistant Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, Scribe and ultimately Senior Patrol Leader. He attended Twin Arrow training and was elected by his peers as a member of the Order of the Arrow.

Sam accomplished his God and Country Award with the guidance of Karie Edson and his father as a mentor.

His adventures were many. He slept outside for the Iron Man Iceman (no sleeping bag or tents) Wilderness Survival Weekend at Trotter Ranch where the temperature dipped to 20 degrees. He competed at annual camporees and his patrol never finished less than first place in any overall ranking. He kayaked the Salmon River and hiked the Continental Divide on the same path as America’s greatest explorers Lewis and Clark 200 years earlier. He mule packed in eastern Yellowstone, hiked a strenuous trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and hiked the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail. Many other rivers were rafted and mountains climbed in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma and South Carolina. This summer Sam is hiking the southern section of Glacier National Park in Montana where the Blackfoot Indians revered as the back bone of the world.

Sam’s Eagle service project consisted of clearing 6 campsites at Camp Crucis Church Camp. This involved 30 plus boys working 6 plus hours. The campsites received picnic tables, fire rings, sumps, and lantern holders. This provided an outdoor venue for summer camp and all season campers. It basically opened an unusable area and opened a new venue for Camp Crucis.

Sam is a junior at and a lifelong member of St Laurence Church.

Camp Constantin - Possum Kingdom Lake

September, 2007

What a great weekend! Beautiful weather, great grub, raft races, cooking contests and our favorites--archery, shotguns and rifles.  I appreciate the efforts of the adults that attended this weekend. We all gained a few pounds thanks to our grubmaster Jamie Jordan.  We witnessed a great job by our SPL Colby and the other older scouts. Thanks to David for setting up the orienteering event. Thanks to Jonathan and Sam for making campfire a fun event.  The White Wolves and the Invading Vikings saw a little of the Troop 168 tradition. I was proud of their participation and I believe they grew a few inches this weekend.  Parents read our troop handbook policy about how we do things at Troop 168. It explains departure and arrival times, gear needed and a general overview of how things get done at our troop. The new scouts need to get a bag to carry their items. No back packs are necessary. Loose pillows and gear are a problem. Also as you watch them buy food we are trying to teach them how to cook food in its basic form. Real potatoes, not instant. No potato chips or soft drinks. We want food that is not pre-packaged or pre-made. Also they need to learn about importance of refrigeration, etc. Oh yeah no paper goods or water bottles. That is why we have nalgene bottles and mess kits. Next time we will have a shake down of menus and gear. We had an embarrassing amount of trash and loose gear. Again, parents involved this weekend, it was a fun and productive time. I appreciate you sharing your time with me and the boys. The boys appreciate your involvement and look up to you as a father and a mentor.  For those of you that skipped, you will never get to see the sunsets and sunrise we saw this weekend. You missed the awesome meals. You probably will not get to see the Big Bucks school all scouts in raft races. You may have missed the last rendition of the Journey song by Sam and Jonathan. Oh yeah, the rainstorm by Colby.  It was fun! ...Frank Wagnon

Summer Camp - Philmont

July 15^th The Adventure Begins

Grapevine, Texas  Elevation 600 feet

I left the house dragging Sam’s rear end out the door. I think we have it all. Either way we probably have more than we need anyway. Later we will find out we need less than a third we actually brought. We picked up Alex down the street and began our journey. It would be 580 miles before we unloaded our gear at the KOA camp in . All arrived at the church to load and say good bye to concerned parents. We knew we were off to do something big. One of those life changing moments.

Blake jumped in with us in the big white truck. Too many stops. We arrived much earlier than expected still. We took a drive by of Philmont and went to our overnight KOA camp called . I assumed it was named after the Ponil Creek nearby. The boys built a fire, set up camp and soon regressed to cards. Uneventful evening outside a light shower. We ate some BBQ left over from Cooper’s Eagle Court of Honor the previous day.

We have a great crew, crew leaders and adults. This is going to be big.

July 16th Arrived at Philmont Scout Ranch Base Camp

 Elevation 7,000 feet

We woke up like a kid on a Christmas morning. We broke camp at 5:45 am and headed to a nice restaurant for our last taste of civilized meals. We all ate like that too. We had a nice chapel service led by Mr. Bennett. He handed out St. Christopher’s to all the scouts and scouters.  It worked too. We all returned!

We arrived at Philmont at about 9:30 am. We checked in and started the meetings from hell. First we met our new ranger-Ranger Ryan from . He briefed us on the process. He seemed to have a good handle on things.

We met with sign in, more sign in, logistics, medical forms, lunch, advisors meeting, shakedown, crew gear, food, and gear and more shakedowns. And finally tent city assignments right before dinner.

It was interesting to watch the crews come in by our shakedown with the dirty gear, chiseled faces and silence. They look like soldiers off the battlefield. They simply sat down in the dirt and poured down the rest of what water they had and gelled oblivious to our presence.

The shakedown was interesting. We shed more items such as soap, toothpaste, mess kits, forks, knifes, clothes etc.

We had an advisors meeting led by a background advisor of Philmont. Warnings of weather, medical emergencies, how to handle etc.

We broke from this meeting to a Chapel service broken down into different denominations. The service overlooked the mountains. It was a beautiful sight. Deer ran through the background.

After Chapel we reconvened and went to campfire as a crew. The campfire told the Philmont story. We sang the Philmont Alma mater and enjoyed the stories.

After the hike back to tent city we brushed our teeth and soon hit the last mattress for 10 days.

July 17th - The Trek Begins

Base Camp-7000 ft- Hiked 5 miles today to Sioux Camp

Slept hard. Yesterday was a long day of meetings. Today we packed up and left tent city. After we choked down some classic Boy Scout cafeteria food we gathered our gear and headed to the check in. We brought our food to check in and began distributing the weight and losing the items of no interest. We filled water bottles and weighed packs. Somewhere between 40 and 50 lbs. mine was 43. Mr. Bennett’s was 53 because he took the dining fly. We prepared a pack line at 8:00 am. Immediately following we took a tour of Waite Phillips home that is now a museum. He gave a lot to scouts. It was an interesting tour. Beautiful place. He loved to hunt and fish.

We hiked back jumped on our bus and headed to Ponil Creek Turnaround to start our trek ------finally. We stomped our feet on cattle guards to rid the unwanted minibears. We saw buffalo and antelope along the way. We arrived at 10:30 am.We reviewed the map and pretended we knew how to use a compass and then discussed the hike for the day. We hiked to the horse barns and checked in. We ate lunch in the shade. It was pretty warm at this lower elevation. That is when we saw the girls. Oh yeah chicks at the Philmont Scout ranch. The trek soon took on a new meaning. Damien was beside himself since he was in withdrawal. We skipped the roping, branding and the horseshoes because we were anxious to get to camp and go through more instruction. That was a large part of the first few days while the ranger was in camp. Painfully slow but important.

Everything must be eatened or hauled out ( in the yummy bag). Dropped food-eaten or yummy bag. All dish soap down the nice sump hole through a Frisbee with holes punched in it.

Our first camp was at 7600 feet elevation. We put up all smellables in a bear bag-including film, Chap Stick, tooth paste, medicine etc. Interesting to see the boys eat dirt, worry about food smell and pack so little trash. We cooked dinner for the trek in one pot. We went to a cantina show. There was root beer and a fun variety show. Oh yeah the girls were there. We hiked to in the daylight and back in the dark under the stars. The ground is still hard. That’s ok because we were tired. Thorns and roses stated we need to hike in the cool of the day. It was 10 o’clock and we went to bed. We agreed on 6 am start the next day.

July 18 to Flume Camp

7800 feet Elevation -11 miles

We enjoyed the cantina show and the hike back under the stars. The boys are working well as a team under Cooper’s leadership. He sets a fine example and the boys follow. It is so pleasant to see them work together. The boy led trek with a good attitude.

We broke camp to get a jump start on what could be a warm day. We had to get our burro and get on the trail. All was for not. The Wranglers waited for all the treks to arrive so he could go over the detail only once. We laid around in the shade wondering if we were ever going to really hike. The wranglers went over saddling, packing, and handling your ass. It was tiresome but I think the boys enjoyed themselves. We all realized we were burning daylight and things were heating up.

It turned out to be a nice afternoon because a thunderstorm rolled in and just missed us. We received the cool air however. Cool breeze, cloudy skies equals happy hikers.

We named our ass LOLA.

We had a time with the ass jokes.  Alex was our ass man. We liked to grab his ass, kick his ass etc. Overall we did have a decent ass. It was a nice experience however it consumed several hours of each day. Best line, “Hold my ass while I Pee”.

We arrived at Flume Camp about 3 pm. Mr Flynn escorted the boys and our ass to the holding pens while I sat on mine and watched the gear for a small mini-bear invasion. The rest of the boys set up camp. We had rock furniture around the fire pit. The light shower was hidden by the canopy of the trees. It was a rather cool campsite.

That night we hoofed it over to Pobalano Camp for a campfire with a bunch of loggers. Blue grass music, lame jokes and sing along. We heard the piggy joke and the story of fat Sally. We listened to banjos, fiddles, harmonicas; guitars wash boards and wash drums.

July 19 - Head of Dean

6 miles - 8,084 feet Elevation

Woke up at Flume Camp, broke camp, and said goodbye to Ranger Ryan. We picked up our ass and hit the trail on our own back through Poblano.  We had activities at Poblano. We climbed spar poles while practicing pick up lines. And the lines were very manly lines at that. We ate lunch in Poblano. We got our itinerary stamped (boot print) and preceded up the road to Head of Dean. We learned at an advisor meeting why you do not take roads. They tend to be straight up- and it was. It was a tough hike. It was our first miss read. Damien was in charge of the map that day. He was getting bad advice from several. We arrived to a beautiful camp named Head of Dean with an awesome view. We took a picture with our ass. Great photo opp.

There was no program. We built a fire and the lightning began. The thunder rolled through the . We timed the distance of the lightning. The rain slowly crept in and we retired to our tent to stay dry. The rain steadily picked up and we watched a wonderful light show through our tent wall.

July 20 - Miranda 6 miles and Ute meadow

2 miles - 9,200 feet elevation

We awoke after the rained stopped around 5 am. The sun appeared through the clouds around 9 am. We did a performance course with hoola hoops, trusted fall, and the spider wall and yes the great wall of shame. Great team building skills. The boys took turns being leaders. Jillian was the staff leader from the Head of Dean that was in charge.

 We went back to camp dried our tents and gear, packed up and headed to Miranda via the Baldy Skyline Trail. It was cool to see glimpses of Mt Baldy as we hiked through Maxwell on Miranda. The clouds rolled in and the thunder rolled while we shot black powder rifles. We had a French staff from in charge.

After lunch we marched on to Ute Meadows after we dropped off our ass. Damien tried to take a short cut and fell in the water. He wore a blister ion his foot because of the wet socks. We set up in Ute Meadows literally on a stream. We talked about our hike the next day up . Mr. Flynn and I took a side hike to Baldy town to get the scoop on the hike up, provisions, showers etc. We hiked the road up and the trail down. Probably 4+miles. We were whipped. We ate a good dinner and slept by the babbling steam dreaming of the summit climb. The nights were getting cooler as we increased elevation.

July 21 - Baldy Town, Mt Baldy, French Henry, Ute meadows

11 miles - 12,441 feet elevation

We rushed through breakfast to get on the trail and an early start on our trek up Mt Baldy. We were warned to start early before the thunderstorms arrive. They can be deadly on the mountain of rock. Forget the hailstorms etc. We hit the base of Baldy in . We refueled with water then began out hike to the summit. It was a half a mile elevation change.

It was everything we asked for and then some. Toward the top it was 25 steps and stop for the old farts. The boys motored on. No air and fairly straight up. We made it finally. It was windy cool and crisp. The sky was clear. We took pictures ate lunch and rehydrated. We had a nice break and enjoyed the feat of what we had been preparing for all spring.

We started down to avoid the hailstorms of the afternoon. The descent was loose rock and a lot of slipping and sliding. It a lot of ways it was worse than going up. It was easier on the lungs but harder on the knees. Finally we hit the tree line and were on our way to French Henry for some activities.

On the way we side trekked to a mine. It was called the Aztec mine. We took a tour inside pretty far. Cool and dark and cramped. We learned a lot about working in the mines back in the day.

After we got out we moved back toward our afternoon activities in French Henry. Along the way we were caught in a thunderstorm that soon started spitting marble size hailstones. You realize how vulnerable you were as you huddle and wait out the pounding as the hail piled up at your feet.

We arrived to a dry building in French Henry.. Some of the scouts panned for gold and blacksmithed. It was fun and we enjoyed the break. We hit the trail for with an extra lift in our step. We knew we were going to enjoy showers for the first time in 6 days.

At Baldy town we picked up provisions, washed clothes and washed off a layer or two of dirt. We received some fresh fruit. We ate it like it was candy. The provisions included food like before. Breakfast-granola, fruit bars, Gatorade, jerky.  Lunch- canned chicken or ham, tuna, cheese, crackers, cookies. Dinner -chicken and rice with mash potatoes, green beans and pudding. The things the adults did not like the boys did. It all worked out fine. You were never really hungry. We had an extra meal. 

The showers were pretty lame but the water was hot and the dirt did come off. The outside air was cool. Clean bodies, clean clothes, clean socks and underwear ---nice.

We all hiked back downhill to Ute Meadows with our largest feat accomplished. We ate a nice dinner by our fire and went to bed around 9 pm because we were whipped. We all slept well with clean bodies, full bellies and tired everything. The sound of the babbling stream also was nice.

July 22 - Baldy Skyline to Head of Dean

9 miles- Elevation 8,800 feet

It was Sunday so we had a Chapel Service thanks to Ryan. We went back to Head of Dean via the Baldy Skyline. We missed Miranda this time. We were supposed to land at Upper Dean Cow Camp but we had an unexpected stop. Damien twisted a knee. The staff at the Head of Dean radioed in and the medic requested we stay the night at Head of Dean and see how it looked in the morning. That made today’s hike easy and tomorrows a real……. Nothing could be done about it so we decided to start the beginnings of the “Great Pine Cone Wars of the Head of Dean”. It was the beginning of many more to come.

The adult leaders went to the staff camp for coffee and cookies early that evening. On the way back Ryan ratted out the crews proposed ambush. As we slowly walked back to camp I slowly picked up pine cones to properly arm myself. Once they saw me I charged and inflicted heavy damage by splitting the ranks. Several innocent bystanders were taken out accidently. The casualties of war. Those hard cones really sting.

July 23 - Santa Claus to Upper bench

14 miles- Elevation 8160 Feet

The next morning we slept in because we could not check in Damien until 9AM. We left Damien at the staff cabin and waived knowing we would not see him until the end of the week. He was better, but not better enough.

The hike today was going to be longer, dryer and tougher than anyone to date. We hiked through Santa Claus. The water well was broken. Not good. We continued onto the . We went underneath a highway to enter the southern portion of the ranch. It was pretty wild to see cars. It was our first glimpse of civilization for several days. We purified water and took a long break. We had traveled 11 miles and we had several more uphill before we camped.

The current of the river was strong. The water was cool. Several scouts soaked their head in it. We all took off our boots and cooled for awhile. We used the water tablets and had to wait 30 minutes to drink. Pretty soon we were back on the trail. It was an uphill dry side of the mountain climb. This was a day to separate the men from the boys. We finally hit a shady trail after several miles. As we arrived to the Upper Bench camp a gentle shower began to flow. It was difficult to decide to keep dry because the water felt nice on our hot dusty bodies. The rain falling through the sun rays was beautiful sight. The meadows and the trees were an awesome view. We tried to wait out the rain but Mr. Bennett wanted the dining fly up along with the bear bags. It was a comedy of errors in the rain. We got a rope hung up on the bear bag line. We had to pull Blake up to the line on another rope to untie the first. We appeared pretty resourceful. Finally we crawled in out tents to escape the rain. Some of the boys crawled under the dining fly and played cards.

Cards and hackey sack were the major forms of entertainment. Finally the rained stopped and we moved out and built a great fire. We were wet and wanted to dry back out. We laughed and talked of our great hike that day. At one point we could see Baldy behind us and the Tooth of time in front of us calling us home. Deer came through our camp. We saw turkeys too. I stepped on a pretty good sized snake. My feet were especially sore.  I pushed the limits of my body today. Slept good. The camp was peaceful .

July 24 - Upper Bench, Ute Junction and to Cimarroncito

Elevation 8,137 feet

We started late again so we could dry our gear and our tents. We had an easy hike today so that was ok. We stopped at the Ute Junction Commisionary and stocked up on some more gorp and grub. We ate lunch had some fresh apples and oranges. We watched our gear while the mini bears stalked our backpacks for a handout. The boys purchased post cards addressed them and mailed at the camp. Some I think addressed their first mail piece.

We were in CimarronCito about noon. We checked out the area and set up camp at the bitter end. What was to be a light day turned into a conservation project day? The crew decided to get that out of the way so we would have plenty of time for rock climbing and other events the next day on our layover day.

Our conservation project was clearing underbrush out of the water shed of the reservoir downhill. That means cutting Christmas tree brush and spreading around like mulch. Hot boring and tiring two hours. We were tired before we started. They got about 2 hours of work out of the 2.5 they had hoped for.

The good news there was showers in camp. Yahoo! We skipped the program since we were there for two days. We would do it the next night instead. We sat around the fire and chilled .Hackey sack and cards were the agenda for the next couple of days. We were still tired from the hike to Upper Bench and because of the conservation project. We hit that point where we all were a little sick of the trail.

July 25 - Layover at Cimarroncito

 We awoke to a beautiful clear day. We had some much needed rest. We met at 7:45 am to rock climb. We climbed to the boulders for rock climbing and repelling. They were exactly as I remembered 35 years ago. I slipped while I ran down the boulders when I was a youth and left a scar on my butt. It was weird because Sam was inadvertently bumped and he almost ate it at the same spot. The boys climbed and repelled and pretty much moved back down to camp. Not much to it once you climbed the cliffs they did the previous year at Camp Buffalo Bill. Ryan and I and Blake and I schooled Jonathan and Sam the reigning champions in Spades. Their winning streak was done.

Boredom set in. We stalked and threw rocks at mini bears. Then the great Pine cone wars of Cimarroncito began.  It was a heated battle for immense pain. The boys needed to hurt and be hurt. They succeeded and we quickly squashed the game. Everyone seemed to feel much better.

The boys opted out of the evening activities. The adults went down for coffee and cookies. Shortly thereafter the evening activities began. There was a frolicking through the meadow, a hoola hoop contest and rock climbing on some manmade walls. The hoola hoop record of 103 minutes was beat tonight by a girl. We did have our only flag ceremony on the trail tonight. The staff celebrated Christmas today with a big party and a bonfire. Counselors from staff camps around hiked in for the activities a private party.

July 26-Clarks Fork

Elevation 8000 feet

We awoke to the dying screams of an elk. According to staff, either a mountain lion or bear had the prey down. We hoofed out around 7:30 am in no particular hurry. We arrived at the hunting lodge about eight and waited for a tour. It was a pretty neat place. It looked like a real lodge. There were heavy doors to avoid bears coming in along with a massive sink for cutting up kills.

From here we hiked over to Fort. It was a beautiful hike near a lake and a nature trail. It must be a place to take folks on a mini tour. They had picnic areas and the like. At Clarks Fort we branded belts and boots and yes Nalgene bottles and caps. We signed up for chuck wagon dinner. The boys played hackey sack and cards. There was horseshoes and roping available. Some boys played chess. It was a short fairly level easy hike today. We still had a few more miles up Schaefer’s Pass to get to our camp at . We lounged a little longer then we packed up the hill to our campsite. We would be coming down the same trail for dinner. The boys knew this was their last night on the trail. You could feel it. That was ok. We were ready to go home. We set up camp for the last time. It was nice to see how automatic and efficient the crew was. We ate lunch and decided to head down early to our chuck wagon dinner. More chess and hacky sack at Clarks Fort. We sent a couple of helpers early to help with dinner. The dinner was served in an open air pavilion. It turned out that we needed it to avoid the rain shower. There was a big fire to heat up the cobblers. Awesome site of the Dutch ovens. They also made biscuits ad stew. Finally a dinner bell. All were worried there would not be enough. Instead we ate until we hurt. After dinner we help clean up .That evening there was a nice bonfire and a good variety of songs by the staff. There were the famous cat jokes. The guitars and the violins were nice.

Finally we hiked our full bellies up the hill to for our final night on the trail. We were not sad. We were glad to get back to civilization. The boys hike away from us in the dark. Scott and I took a wrong trail and proceeded to backtrack with a pen light. Needless to say we were not happy campers. We soon found camp and retired for the last time on the hard ground.

July 27-Shaefer’s Pass, Tooth of Time Ridge and Base Camp

We were awaken by our sister crew leaving in the dark so they could watch the sunrise on the Tooth of Time. The boys were noisy and as usual. We decided to wait for sunrise because of the rocky trail ahead of us. Couldn’t sleep. Ready to go. We broke camp at first light and began to look for water. Found a spring at Shafer’s Pass. Had to go off the trail to find it. We needed the water for a long and hot hike today. There was a spring in everyone’s step. We were like a horse headed toward the barn.

The pass hike was tough but we plowed through as the seasoned hikers that we were now. We were hardened and in shape. The ridge pass was fairly flat but very rocky. The climb to the top of the Tooth was a bear crawl. Thank goodness we could leave our packs down below. It was worth the hike. Great view of Baldy, Base camp and all of Philmont. Great time for pictures reflection and talk of home.

The remainder of the hike which appeared to be short was a track meet. The boys were on a slow jog. The switch backs seem to make it impossible to ever get back. It was hot and out of the tree line.  After  we hit base camp we had been on the trail about 6 hours.

We took a picture at the Welcome Back sign. We discussed again what were the first things we were going to do etc. The first thing was the check in process. It moved pretty quickly. Tent assignments ,equipment check in ,showers and the trading post. The boys piled on the ice cream, cokes, candy and chips. So did I.  We bought more stuff. So nice to have ice, be clean, and wear clean clothes, wear flip flops, sit in a chair, eat junk and drink a coke. It had been awhile. We ate in the cafeteria that night. We attended the closing ceremony. It was all about being homebound. We soon found ourselves in our tent repacked and ready for the road.

The next morning we had a continental breakfast in the cafeteria loaded our gear and headed east back to the . We drove nonstop to wear we ate our fist meal out of Philmont. Pizza and a salad bar. I missed those green veggies. After we refueled we drove straight home and arrived at 4:45 pm.

That evening we all went home and showered and met at El Fenix for a family gathering.

We all passed the ordeal. The boys grew up. The adults hung with them. We all formed a bond that will last. I never will forget this experience.

 Camp Crucis Service Project Weekend

May 11-12, 2007
Granbury Texas

Boy Scouts is about giving back to the community. Troop 168 did just that on Saturday, May 11. I especially appreciated the older scouts that attended and set the example for our new scouts. Sam Wagnon, Elliot Grass, Damien Jacot, Stephen Davies and Casey Flynn led the day.

We arrived at Camp Crucis and found a lush canopy of pecan trees. We camped in the open and enjoyed all the sounds of the night. It was a great night for sleeping. Outside the dogs coming through camp chasing the raccoons it was peaceful and a good sleep. The temperature was nice and the breeze was perfect.

We awoke to a picture perfect day. We soon began to break up in teams to begin our day of arduous toil. Clearing brush, making flowerbeds and hauling trash to the dumpsite. We broke for a nice breakfast prepared by the camp staff. It was all you could ask for. The boys and the adults loaded up. We went back to work and continued until about 1:00 p.m. when we broke for lunch and completed our work routine. Mr. Dirker provided an excellent hamburger and hot dog lunch. The older scouts set up a axe yard and went over items for totin'chip. Several scouts had Scoutmaster conferences and much stride was made for advancement.

Jason Bronte the camp director was pleased with our results and invited us back for campouts. I was very impressed with our results too. We learned this weekend about giving back and how good that makes you feel. We learned who shows up to work and who stays home to avoid just that. This was a time to see our future leadership.

We broke camp around 3:00 p.m. and headed quietly home.

 

Spring Camporee 2007
Worth Ranch, Palo Pinto County
April 13-15, 2007

The Patrol Method

Troop 168 simply won it all.

Click here for pictures ... 

With the callout of the Order of the Arrow Troop 168 left to Worth Ranch heading straight into a severe storm and a near miss with a tornado. Some troops waited until morning. Were they scared of the weather or were they scared of Troop 168?

Troop 168 had two new scout patrols the Invading Vikings and the White Wolves. We had one-second year patrol in the Fighting Irish. We had numerous older scouts participating. New scouters and the old regime all present and accounted for. It was sad to see the Rocky Mountain Gophers split to never compete again. Several of those boys never lost at camporee for 4 years of competitions. Overall I believe we were the largest contingent of scouts for Troop 168 at camporee.

After we drove through the storms we arrived at camp "Old Man Gillespie". It was on top of the hill near the ranges and events. It was a welcome site to see a campsite set up and functioning. Mr. Mundlin had set out earlier and brought along the SPL and ASPL to get camp set up. It was a welcome site to see a large campfire because the weather had started to cool.

There was a scoutmasters and SPL meeting at the dining hall. Nothing new was mentioned. We got an overview of the events of the next day. We headed back to camp and after crackerbarrel we went to bed to rest up for the big weekend. The wind started to blow.

And blow.

It seemed to get cooler and windier. Our new scouts performed opening flag ceremony and despite the gale force winds they held on and did an admiral ceremony. It maybe the largest flag pole and flag we have ever dealt with. It was an awesome site.

The games began on schedule and the boys from 168 could be seen and heard as they marched to events. We had compliments all day long about our scouts and how they display such character. The older scouts were divided into other patrols with other troops to compete as patrols. They participated in team building events.

At lunch we met and discussed the progress of the day. Scouts re-hydrated and we discussed strategy. We knew the games would soon be over. This was time for our fourth quarter push.

The wind blew and finally the games were complete. We trudged back to camp and discussed the greatness of the day. All had fun and many successes. We built a large fire and gathered around and discussed the day. It was a great day. Several scouts hiked above camp to Lookout Point on Kell Mountain. It was a panoramic view of Worth Ranch and the Brazos River. Unbelievable!

The grubmasters made a great meal of spaghetti and salad. We regained our strength and proceeded to closing flag ceremony and call out by the OA. Flag was a little better because the wind died down a little. Campfire immediately followed. Spectacular view with an ordinary program. Tough to have a campfire with no fire. Our Fighting Irish did win over all protecting the tradition of 168. Our troop number is the only one on the plaque. Our new scout patrols won first and second overall. They were awarded first place to a patrol that had 2nd year scouts and scout guides participating in the events. We know that we won. Our older scouts that participated had a great time and I am especially proud of their attitude. I appreciate the older scouts that helped with the new scout patrols during the events.

The Call out Ceremony by the Order of the Arrow.

Or to us old scouts the tapout ceremony. Rick Mauk and the OA did a grand job especially without fire. It was a big night for Troop 168. We had 12 candidates and one no show. We were led by our Trooop Committee Chairman Bob Mundlin, Jonathan and Patrick Mundlin, Sam Wagnon, Alex Diamond, Jeremy Jordan, Nick Mrasek, Mark and Luke McKinney, Chad Smith and Evyn Perry. Colby Edson had a star role in the ceremony as Wise Mateau. If you had a chance to listen to the litany that rolled off Colby's tongue you would have been impressed. He did that in front of 400 scouts and his on troop. And without a hitch I might add. We are all our proud of Colby. The OA event was nearly over and we still had 5 scouts to tap out. It was almost concluded then Jordan Mauk yelled "Wait!" The runners were called back and Sam, Alex and the rest were tapped out. I have to admit I liked the drama but I am sure Sam and the rest did not did not.

Overall it was another great year and a success story for Troop 168. Thanks to the leadership of our SPL Jonathan Mundlin and our campmaster Eric Grass. Thanks to our grubmaster Paul Perry and his many assistants. Thanks for Mr. Mundlin for hauling our trailer and Mr. White for doing what he always does. Thanks To Mr. Edson for coordinating our event. I appreciate the help of the new scout parents. We have an excellent group of new parent leaders arising.

What will I remember about this weekend?

Colby Edson as Wise Mateau.
The "Wait " yell by Jordan Mauk calling back the runners.
The Invading Vikings and White Wolves victory at camporee.
The Fighting Irish victory as the best in the Lakeview District.
The storm on the way out before camporee
The new scout patrols and their excellence in skills, attitude and performance.
Watching our new scouts and old scouts around the campfire melding into a new troop.
The awesome view from Kell mountain.

Losing scouts to grow up and move on was never in my thoughts when I took on scoutmaster.
The scouts we lose this year to graduation never to compete with us again are:
Kenneth Stone, Connor Perry, Charlie Hope and Mark McKinney.

I salute you.

Mr Wagnon

Click here for pictures ...  http://bsatroop168.shutterfly.com/2007gallery/193

The Flaming Games Weekend
Trotter Ranch, Decatur Texas
March 9-11,2007

The Games weekend is a new scout weekend, a new parent weekend, and a prep weekend for camporee. We had several new scouts and their parents attend. The new scouts divided up into two patrols the "White Wolves" and the "Invading Vikings". Cameron was elected patrol leader of the White Wolves and Connor for the Invading Vikings. Both were excellent choices as evidenced by their leadership that weekend.

What a great weekend. The weather, the food, the games, the guns, the leadership of the older scouts, the campsite-you name it. Thanks to our campmaster Scott Flynn, Grubmaster Jamie Jordan, Gun Instructors Rich Jacot and Bob Mundlin and head archer Steve White. There were several new scout parents helping at all the stations. We are blessed by new parent leadership (and we are going to need it with 15 new scouts).

We set up camp at Trotter Ranch Friday night with the new scout camping with the older scouts. After a delicious crackerbarrel the boys settled in for a good sleeping night of crisp camping air. The next morning the scouts awoke early and proceeded to work with their assigned older scout patrols on breakfast. The new scouts participated in the morning's flag ceremony. Our SPL explained the events for the day and we were dismissed. Mr. White gave a cleaning station demo. After breakfast clean up we moved to the events.

The first event was the log hoist followed by the flagpole raising. The older scouts were assisting the new scouts. Some of older scouts went on to shoot 22s and shotguns. After flag pole raising the new scouts moved onto archery and 22s. We handed out belly ropes and practiced knots during lunch. Fairly quiet orderly morning. The consistent sound of lead flying through the air coupled with the silent arrows reminded me of what Troop 168 is all about.

The quiet afternoon was startled by Patrick's changing voice "Oh my gosh there is a fire!" Some of us fortunately were in camp and we dropped everything and ran to assess the situation. It was a big out of control burn near the scout's camping area. No fires were in camp so that made you wonder how such a thing got started. It reminded me of how much we have to teach scouts about fire safety. We immediately started a firebreak and thankfully the wind was not blowing hard. The flames were probably less than a couple of minutes to being out of control. Some of the scouts alerted the other parents and scouts. Ryan found some of our fire extinguishers and we were able to contain the madness- not stop it. After more help arrived we poured all available water on the situation and started dumping sand on the hot spots. In a few minutes all was under control. Whew that was a close one! In all the adversity, we took control of the situation, worked like a team and avoided a near bad situation. I hope the boys playing with matches learned from this.

After the fire we hauled more water in and continued to watch the hot spots. Several new scouts had scoutmaster conferences for Basic Scout. The older boys had a shoot off for shotguns. It was a great day to be outdoors. Chad Smith won the shotgun shoot off going 20 for 20. Alex Diamond won the rifle competition.

The boys retired the colors, fixed dinner and prepared for campfire. The Big Bucks feasted on fresh shrimp, potatoes and sausage. Oh yeah cheesecake too! Thanks to our outstanding grubmaster.

The campfire was the highlight of the evening. The older scouts worked hard on the event by preparing a large fire and planning the event. The rest of the scouts went on a night hike and arrived to the amphitheatre seeing the bon fire a blaze. Torches by Alex and Damien led them in. Colby emceed the event and did a great job as usual. We had several good jokes, skits and the song by our SPL (Jonathan) and ASPL (SAM) that will always be remembered(Don't Stop Believing by Journey). Scouts were awarded for their efforts of the day. Notable awards were the Broken String Broken Nose Award for Nash, Leadership Awards for Jonathan and Sam and the coveted Scouting Spirit award for Connor Smith. We closed with Thorns and Roses and a flag retirement ceremony both long time traditions of our troop. We quietly left campfire as the embers burned down and went back to retire ourselves. We were tired after the eventful day.

Sunday morning we competed again on the lashing events after breakfast. It was great to see the new scout patrols working as a team. There was significant improvement in one day. Colby led a beautiful Chapel Service and we were soon on the road home.
The Games weekend 2007 will be forever remembered as the Flaming Games weekend because of the fire. I will remember it for these other great things:
1) The leadership demonstrated by our SPL, ASPL and older scouts,
2) The excitement and the attitude of our new scouts and their parents as they embraced the winning tradition of 168,
3) The great campfire emceed by Colby,
4) The shooting instructor's and parent's efforts pulling together the resources for a gun's and arrow's fun and,
5) The involvement and positive attitude of our new parents.

The scouts new and old grew taller this weekend. It appears the greatness of Troop 168 is safe and will continue.

Camp Cherokee - 2007
Whirling Smoke Weekend - Polar Bear Surprise
February 16-18, 2007

It was supposed to be a Weblo weekend -- a preparation for the games. Instead it was a weekend of leisure and fun. Hiking for the Philmont crew and leisure time for the rest. We shot rifles and shotguns and added Black Powder for the first time. We had as many scouts as adults. We saw a rebirth of our campfire and embraced a boy led troop by our SPL and ASPL.

We learned before we left our new scouts would not attend until the next campout so we put off our games until the then. We hiked in the morning and shot in the afternoon. The hike was a tour of the entire camp. The camp is an outstanding view in itself. We have seen it most at night (oh the cherished night hikes into the wilderness). Outside the impromptu swim into the icy waters by our SPL it was fairly light hike. Jonathan was awarded $20 bucks for is lunacy and later at campfire the "I will do anything for $20 bucks" award. (See pictures below).

The windy afternoon and poor shooting equipment kept the scores on the clays lower than we have ever seen. The black powder rifles were a hit-something new for 168. Nick M and Colby helped out Slade on advancement. Both demonstrated servant leadership and were awarded accordingly at campfire that night for their efforts. Saturday evening we had cooking contests. There was buried roast, stuffed bell peppers fried fish and all kinds of delicious desserts. All scouts participated and ate well. The Apache patrol had to dig up their dinner and cook it conventionally but was awarded "Most Creative". The Leprechauns led by Colby were awarded "Most Tasty " for their stuffed Bell peppers and steaks.

Campfire was a hit again with some outstanding jokes. Evyn harassed Aggies with his jokes. Skits were few but good. We had Thorns and Roses and Awards and turned in because we were all tired. Thorns and roses echoed a good time. Most enjoyed the camp, the weather, the food and the new friendships.

Sunday morning we were all surprised by the drop in temperature to 28 degrees. We broke camp quickly and had a nice Chapel Service prepared by Nick. M. He discussed the importance of Trust in friendship. It was a great message . With the extra time we went through our tents and discovered what was missing with each. After the productive morning we hit the road around 10:15am.

I was especially proud of 1) Slade and his efforts on advancement and his respect he shows toward adults, 2) Colby and Nick M. help with Slade, 3) Nick M. continual growth as Chaplain Aide, 4) Jonathan and Sam's leadership as SPL and ASPL, and 5) Elliot Grass for staying in and attending after his patrol and tent mates bailed on him in the 11th hour. Thank you to our Campmaster Paul Perry and Grubmaster Mark Edson. It was good to have Mark back in camp with his culinary delights. Thanks to our shooting instructors Bob Mundlin and Rich Jacot, our quartermaster Steve White and our scoutmasters Jeff Bennett and Scott Flynn. We also we be remiss not to thank Karie Edson for making the Awards and our other parents that make the weekend a success.

I guess I will remember most is the whirling smoke, the icy dip of our SPL, the surprise Polar Bear evening and the howling Saturday night at campsite "Howling Coyote".

WILDERNESS SURVIVAL IN THE PINEY WOODS
January 20-21, 2007

 

I am proud of our scouts. They knew it was going to be cold. They knew it was going to rain. They could have stayed home safe in their homes watching cartoons and thumbing through the ads to the Gap. Instead they showed up prepared and they demonstrated grit. It did get cold and it rained all night.

We loaded the vehicles in the rain. A Southlake police officer asked what we were up to and we explained. He shook his head in disbelief. If he knew Troop 168 better he would have known we do not cancel because of weather. Our best times have been with the worst weather.

It rained all the way to the Hope Place. We disbursed into the marsh or swamp at that time to build shelters. The rain slowed and the scouts were able to build fires and construct shelters. All participated and several great shelters were built. It was great to see the effort and the variety. ( Click here to check out the pictures! )

Mr. Jordan cooked lunch of venison and duck for the Big Bucks. The scouts fended for themselves. That night Mr. Jordan cooked wild hog for the troop. Thank goodness for the pavilion as it was down pouring at that time. The boys scarfed all the hog and salad, beans and homemade cheesecake. We were amazed at the amount of food consumed. We opted to eliminate campfire do to the conditions. Most of the boys retired to the shelters and some simply went to their tent. By the end of the evening only David White made it through. No surprises here. He had a plan and worked the longest on his shelter. The next morning we had a great breakfast thanks to our grub master Mr. Jordan. We all ate well and observed the parting of the clouds and alas SUNSHINE! We had a beautiful Chapel service thanks to our ex chaplain aide Colby Edson.

We had thorns and roses and loaded up wet gear and wet boys and headed home. Thanks to Mr. Hope for letting us use his place. Thanks to our grub master Mr. Jordan for his tireless effort.

Great campout. We were challenged more than ever. Most showed up and those that did grew a little taller. Oh yeah we brought all back alive too. Overall a great survival experience.

 

See pictures here: http://bsatroop168.shutterfly.com/2007gallery/195

BACKPACKING OKLAHOMA
Beaver Bend State Park
Broken Bow, Oklahoma
November 18-19, 2006

When it comes to backpacking ... "Ounces in the morning become pounds at night."

This was our first real backpack trip for Troop 168. It proved to be a great warm up hike for Philmont. We now better understand weight, not enough water and conditioning. Next time we will be stronger and better prepared ... and yes much lighter. We pulled out of the church parking lot at 7:15am. The scouts were packed and looked sharp in their hoodies and scout caps.

They promptly went back to sleep and remained that way until we arrived in Beaver Bend State Park. We met at the nature center had lunch and discussed the days plan with the park ranger. Alex had his nice designer lunch bag. Reid and CJ had their lunchables. First sign of how far we must go to get ready for Philmont. Badin Powell would have been proud of that sight.

We divided our crew gear and approached weigh in. Most scouts were above 30 lbs. Slade had 27 lbs on an 88 lb body. Ouchh! He was the star of the hikers for the weekend. We hit the trail following our fearless SPL.

Before we were on the trail less than 1 mile Sam had an attack. And being the good scout he is, he left his tp in the bottom of his pack. Mr Mrasek bailed out the emergency with his private stash. The rest of us marched on trying to forget the spectacle too firmly imprinted on our brain.

The hiking was either up or down. Once we reached the first mile marker we realized we had signed up for more than we have bargained for. We hiked up and down and all around. Beautiful views, vistas, etc. It was well worth the drive. The weather was picture perfect for a hike. The scouts did great. Breaks were more frequent as the day labored on.

We arrived at camp about 4 hours later at the only flat spot on the trail. It was just a short controlled fall to the bottom. Once we were there we realized we must climb out in the AM. That was ok because the backpack was coming off.

We cleared a few rocks and debris and set up camp. Water was filtered and soon the smell of chicken almandine was in the air.

Thanks to the grubmaster Mr. Grass for the wonderful meal. All ate well and enjoyed the beautiful evening rapidly coming upon us.

We had an assessment of the hike versus a regular campfire. We discussed things we learned that day. The stars were bright and we turned in at 7:30PM because we were tired and it was getting cold without a fire.

Sunday we broke camp at 8:15 AM and reloaded water (most of us) and hit the trail back. Muscles were sore and shoulders were bruised but we all pressed on. I thought I was in shape but I realized the only way to get there is to hike with a pack up and down inclines.

All of the crew going to Philmont showed up but one. We discussed how important that it is to train and get prepared for this excursion. You are as strong as your weakest link and we will not bring you if you are a drag. We realized we must train harder and more often.

On the hike back you could tell we were getting stronger. You could feel a team coming together. Except for a few scouts forgetting to bring water on the hike back it was uneventful. …..oh I must mention Clueless and Lark (rhymes with Lewis and Clark). Damien and Jeremy blazed a new trail home. We warned Jeremy about following Damien he now understands why.

We arrived back. We had a great lunch and Nick presented a delightful Chapel service. We thanked God for having us back safe and sound with all scouts and scouters accounted for.

We loaded up the vehicles and headed back home around 12:30pm.

It was a great weekend thanks to our Campmaster Mike Mrasek. It was a fun adventure thanks to our SPL David White and all scoutmasters in attendance.

Kimball Road Cleanup

September 2006

As they do every month, Troop 168 contributes to the community by removing trash from Kimball Road.

 

 

WORTH RANCH CAMPOUT
September 2006

Great times start with great food! Mr. Jordan got the weekend started with a crackerbarrel on Friday night that was enjoyed by all and included the standard fair of fruit, sausage, cheese and crackers. It only got better from there – at least for the Big Bucks, the SPL and the ASPL.

Go guns and bows! Saturday morning we all hoofed it to the ranges. Mr. Mundlin ran the shotgun range, Mr. Jacot ran the rifle range and Mr. White ran the archery range. All Scouts got plenty of shooting in. This is a great part of our program at 168. Every time the Scouts shoot you see them gain a little more confidence.

While the scores were being tallied from the morning session of shooting, we all went back to camp, relaxed for a while, and had a great lunch. At least the Big Bucks had a great lunch. Mr. Jordan served up bar-be-qued wild hog, and crab cakes – delicious!

After lunch we had a shoot off between the high scorers in each shooting discipline. Jonathan Mundlin, Jeremy Jordan and Patrick Mundlin schooled us all with their shooting skills as they each took a first place finish in shotgun, rifle and archery, respectively. Congratulations guys!

A river runs through Worth Ranch and it’s called the Brazos. Late Saturday, we all waded into the Brazos and cooled off from the afternoon heat. The Scouts built dams, swam, splashed and told tall tales. None of this seemed to affect the fishing. In the span of less than an hour, with the Scouts splashing and carrying on about him, Mr. Flynn caught at least 10 fish – sand bass, large mouth bass and crappie. Great fun! Everyone needs to bring a fishing rod next time.

In our four years of camping as Troop 168 we have never had to make a hospital run. At least that was true until Saturday afternoon. Damien, one of our charter scouts, stabbed himself in the hand while peeling an orange. The damage – 4 stitches to Damien’s hand, blood all over Mr. Rayerman’s camp chair, not sure what happened to that half peeled orange.

With Damien in our thoughts we went about our business. That included Mr. Jordan’s preparation of a great dinner for the Big Bucks. Fried catfish, freedom fries, hush puppies, and coleslaw. After the Big Buck’s got their fill, the Scouts were invited to have a taste. With Evyn front and center, everyone managed to get a morsel. Terrific!

We ended a long day of fun on Saturday with a campfire in the rock amphitheater. This has to be one of the best settings for a campfire around (watching a sunset at the Sid Richardson amphitheater while collecting first place Camporee ribbons also ranks very highly). As the light of the campfire danced off the rock walls that surrounded us we all shared corny jokes and skits. Even Slade, our guest for the weekend, joined in the fun with a corny joke of his own. The highlight was Evyn getting soaked in the “how to build a campfire” skit.

At about 10:30 pm we had lights out. Everybody retired to their tents for some much needed rest. It was a hot and humid night with no breeze. At some point in the night a slow drizzle of rain started. Every Scout knows that there are not a lot of things better than sleeping in a tent while it is raining. This rain, however, came without a breeze. It was dead calm. Not sure how much sleeping took place.

One thing is for sure, at 2:30 AM Mr. White, our extraordinary Quartermaster, was up and doing his job. What some must have thought was a raccoon or possum going through our trash was actually Mr. White covering all of the chuck boxes with plastic to protect them from the rain. Thank you Mr. White. You are the best!

Thanks to all the Scouters who pitched in and helped out this weekend starting with Mr. Rayerman, our Campmaster who did all the behind the scenes planning. Thanks also to Mr. Jordan, the Big Buck Grubmaster, Mr. Mundlin, Shotgun Rangemaster, Mr. Jacot, Rifle Rangemaster, Mr. White, Archery Rangemaster and Quartermaster. You guys make Troop 168 great!

 Summer Camp

Cody, Wyoming   July 23-26, 2006

Click here for pictures ...  http://bsatroop168.shutterfly.com/2006gallery/78

We left Camp Buffalo Bill at 6:30am and met our outfitter, Jake Clarke, at the Irma Hotel in Cody, Wyoming. The Irma Hotel is the oldest hotel in town, built in 1902 for Buffalo Bill Cody’s daughter, Irma. The hotel is a museum too. Countless pictures and artifacts covered the walls.

Jake was there waiting for us letting us know why he liked his coffee black (ASFAD – another story for another day #1). We drove to the trailhead through the scenic Chief Joseph Highway. Halfway through the drive we stopped and studied the beautiful views of the mountains and valleys below. There was the scene of the Nez Peas Indians flight from the Calvary in the late 1800’s. What a wonderful view.

At the trailhead we unloaded, met our mules and began the arduous task of packing. There were 33 mules and 2 mares for our crew of 19. Finally packed up, were given instructions from the guide on handling mules. He explained not to handle them like a particular kind of welfare recipient (ASFAD #2) or else they would not respect the rider. We also learned to not pet the guide’s dog and he would not pet our girlfriends. The dog was there to alert us to bears on the trail and camp. We trotted down the trail for a couple of hours before reaching base camp. Outside a couple hornet stings to Patrick, it was uneventful. We all adjusted ourselves to our mules and to the saddles. We arrived at our campsite overlooking the Clarks Fork Valley. We unpacked the mules, turned them loose with bells and proceeded to set up camp. It wasn’t long and the smell of pork ribs and rice filled the air. Jake explained the reason for a clean camp. He reminded the boys about their appearance, body condition, hairstyle, your name (ASFAD #3). It rained for a while and a beautiful rainbow broke out. The boys realized the importance of rain gear. The boys laughed and chatted around the campfire watching the sun make its slow descent around 10:00pm. Lights out, bear bags, trash and food in the fire, ……clean camp.

Monday morning we awoke to fresh coffee, bacon and pancakes. After eating our fill, we packed our fishing gear and rode to the river on our mules. Thee were steep descents that required walking some stretches downhill. We arrived, unloaded our gear and began fishing. Many fish were caught, most small. Jake and the Wrangler Matt cooked lunch consisting of hamburgers and hotdogs. It was a fun and relaxing day. A rock-skipping contest broke out just before leaving. Jake again reminded the boys about how to take care of them and what not to put up with from others (ASFAD #4). Jake told us about how poor he was and how he fed his cat (ASFAD #5). We learned many things from Jake that maybe we should not mention. Patrick Mundlin forged the river risking his life to save a $3 lure he inadvertently casted across. Everyone that fished -- caught fish. It rained off and on enough to cool the afternoon and knock down some dust.

We hit the trail and rode up the switchbacks back to camp. It was a great view of mules up above mules going practically straight up. Hopefully the pictures will give it justice.

Back at camp we unsaddled our mules and got ready for a dinner of rib eyes, potatoes, corn and salad. The boys were asking if they got a whole steak that large. They found out their appetite made it easy to finish. A day without cell phones, Internet, video games; snacks etc. create a good appetite. We all slept hard because we were tired.

Wednesday morning we broke camp after a great breakfast of French toast and sausages. Packing up is hard to do. We took pictures and then the rain came. Several scouts had packed their rain gear. We stood in the cold rain and then it finally passed over to a hot dry day. The trip back was uneventful. It was good to see how the scouts learned to handle their animals. All became comfortable with the trail. We arrived back at the trailhead, unloaded, had a sandwich lunch, and said our good byes to Jake and Matt.

We took the scenic drive to Buffalo Bill Camp through Bear Tooth Mountains, a beautiful drive.

 

TEAM EXTREME WEEKEND
May 19-21, 2006
Sid Richardson Scout Ranch
Buffalo 1

It has been several weeks since we finished Camporee. We went into unchartered waters this weekend. Team Extreme it was. It was not for the faint of heart. If physical competition was not your thing you better stay at home safe with mom.

We had five teams – 1 adult, 4 boys. Total of 20 scouts and scouters. Again this was for the physical. There were 5K run, 4K-canoe race, 1 kayak race, 8K-bike race and a 40 ft. tower climb. Running up and down gravel roads, wind and waves – you name it! It is tough to train for the elements. We had one team place second as an intermediate team, consisting of Patrick Mundlin, Casey Flynn, Blake Standifer and Kyle McKinney. The rest of us finished unrecognized and ready to race another day.

We had a great campsite. Camp Buffalo is on a point of the lake in Camp 10. We had water on three sides. A strong south breeze made for great sleeping weather. Super fire rings and shade.

The Rocky Mountain Gophers were in full force. The rest of the patrols competed with several others to fill teams.

The race took most of the morning. We competed hard, walked several miles and enjoyed a nice overcast morning. We had a tasty spaghetti feast, received our t-shirts and listened to the awards ceremony.

In the afternoon, we swam in the lake. We learned more about Safe Swim Defense. We had Scoutmasters’ conferences and several boys got the opportunity to qualify on the rifle ranges.

We had a nice evening with a quality campfire, flag retirement ceremony, and many jokes and stories.

We were a lean mean fighting machine. A total of 20 scouts and scouts had a great time, competed strong and walked away proud.

Thanks to our Campmaster, Scout Flynn and Grubmaster, Bob Mundlin. Thanks always to Mr. White. Thanks to Rich Jacot for driving back to pick the boys up Sunday morning.

LAKEVIEW DISTRICT - SPRING CAMPOREE
March 31 - April 2, 2006
Sid Richardson Scout Ranch - Lake Bridgeport, Texas

It has been several weeks since we finished Camporee. We went into unchartered waters this weekend. Team Extreme it was. It was not for the faint of heart. If physical competition was not your thing you better stay at home safe with mom.

Troop 168 has excelled at Camporee since it’s beginning. This year was no different other than the fact we were asked to run it. One of our Scouts stated “Might as well run it since we already rule”. Modesty is not one of our strong suits.

The Camporee had over 470 Scouts and Scouters in attendance. There were 13 troops, 25 2-3 year scout patrols, 10 new scout patrols and 69 older Scouts signed up. It was a pretty decent size Camporee. It was a large success due to the likes of such greatness such as Jeff Bennett, Scott Flynn, Bob Mundlin and Steve White.

These men shared in running different parts of the total sum. They made it better and made it look easy. Our admissions were simpler, our games were more fun, we kept cars out of camp and our ceremonies were the best. These were our goals when we were asked to do this last year. We had some tremendous help from our unit commissioner Rick Mauk and his wife Kim. He spearheaded the callout and Kim ran the admissions.

Troop 168 had four 2-3 year patrols and 7 older Scouts participating in the events. We won 4 out of the 5 top spots (out of a total 25 patrols) in the 2-3 year old patrol age group. Congrats to the Rocky Mountain Gophers 1^st Place, Seven 2^nd Place, Grizzlies 4^th Place and Dragons 5th Place. There were only 2 points different between 4^th and 5^th. We had 7 older Scouts participating. Out of 31 Scouts we won the following overall scores for the day: 1^st Kenneth Stone, 4^th Mark McKinney, 6^th Cooper Flynn, 8^th Jason Boggus and 11^th Connor Perry.

We came in third on camp inspections because we missed the bonus of not having our tires chalked. Not a requirement just a subjective call. We won many scouting spirit awards and by far were the best-dressed group out there.

Lyn Flynn and Cherie Bennett took pictures and made a slide show for campfire. Outstanding effort!

We kicked off Camporee with opening flag ceremony run by Colby Edson and assisted by Nick Hope on the trombone and Ryan Bennett on the drums. We had Scouts active in call out ceremony - David White and Damien Jacot as runners. We had Scouts tapped out Casey Flynn, Nick Hope, Colby Edson, Steven Davies and Jason Boggus. It was a grand night for Troop 168.

We closed Camporee with a beautiful Chapel service run by Colby Edson. This was Colby’s largest audience to date. He received many compliments on an outstanding service.

Thank Mr Edson for being the Grubmaster (Karie Edson for securing the provisions) for 46 people. Thank the leaders that assisted in all parts. Thanks to the parents behind the scene like Jenny Hope, Vicki Smith and Julie Morrow. Thanks to Lyn Flynn and Cherie Bennett for their slide show.

A few great moments from the weekend:

1. The “Beat 168 Dream Team Patrol” that gave up on their worst nightmare.
2. The shootoff for second place between Kenneth Stone and Connor Perry.
3. The Hatchet throw.
4. No cars in camp.
5. The slide show.
6. The closing Chapel service.

And yes we did this before daylight savings time, a month earlier than normal.

Stand up and give yourself a hand.

Winter Camp - Wagnon Ranch

January 13-15^th, 2006

 

The weather outside was delightful. Lead and arrows flew through the air with the greatest of ease. First campout without fire. Introduce a new scout in Jeff Boggus to the troop.

 

We left church on Friday and watched the temperature steadily drop and the moon steadily rise. As clear as the skies were we knew there was a polar bear in the woods. We arrived at the ranch and backpacked out over the hill and through the woods. The moonlight was so bright we did not need a flashlight.  The scouts set up camp and returned to a hearty cracker-barrel prepared by our grubmaster and campmaster Mr. Edson.  The scouts wandered off after devouring several hot dogs. They refilled their water bottles and went back to their camp to try to stay warm.

 

The next morning the scouts arrived a little after eight to prepare breakfast. Some scouts were surprised to find frozen water bottles. The day started warming up while Mr. Rayerman set up a GPS course and Mr. Jacot and Mr. White set up firing ranges for guns and archery. The scoutmaster set up for troop leadership training.

The flagpole was lashed and soon we had a flag ceremony highlighted by singing “Texas Our Texas”. Cooper spoke about the agenda of the day and soon we were off to the various rotations. All had a chance to shoot shotguns and archery. Sam and Jonathan were our leaders in scoring on this event. Tom Rayerman won rifle.

 

In the afternoon we had more training and wandered again through the rotations. It is amazing to see the boys improve their scores by repetition. Several boys were hitting tin cans with arrows.

 

The evening included a wonderful Fiesta Siesta by Mr. Edson. Desserts were provided by the scouts in a cooking contest. The 7 Patrol won the Best Tasting Dessert with a fabulous cherry pie concoction. The Grizzlies were a close second with their upside down cake. The Bullfrogs were judged most original with their hot doughnuts and whipped cream.

 

Since we had a fire ban we performed skits and played games in the barn until lights out. At our skit time the most memorable was the centipee on Sam. Jeff Boggus (our new scout) performed well with skits and jokes.

 

Sunday was much warmer. We broke camp, ate a hearty breakfast, shot some more and concluded TLT. Colby put together another great chapel service.

We headed home after lunch and arrived dirty but rested. We slept in a little based on the drive time, lack of fire and we wanted the boys to be rested for the week of exams.  

 

The quote of the weekend was Tom Rayerman referring to Mr. Flynn and Mr. Bennett’s “Motha from a different Brotha”.

 

Thank you Mr. Edson for being a wonderful campmaster and grubmaster. Thank you Mr. Jacot for guns and Mr. White for archery. We would not have them if you did not take the time to be trained and actually show up.

Thanks too Mr. Edson and Mr. Bennett for the “pickin and grinnin’”.

Ironman and Iceman Wilderness Survival Weekend 2006

 

Wow, what a weekend! It was great weather for a wilderness survival. Most of us arrived about 10:00 am on Saturday. We found out quickly that our Campmaster, Bob Mundlin, had arrived three hours earlier with Scott Flynn to set up the day. They took the time to set up two scavenger hunts, one for each patrols dinner and one for the next mornings exercise before each patrol got breakfast. They also set up camp flags for an all night game of “capture the flag”.

 

The first objective upon arriving was to walk scouts through their “altoids tin” worth of wilderness survival gear for the night. Some of the scouts had packed first aid gear, tiny flashlights, pen knifes, flint and steel, others packed snacks and fishing gear. We then went on to build two structures in the base camp out of pre-cut brush. One was small enough to house only one person and the other was large enough for a patrol.

 

Iron man camping meant that the scout had neither sleeping bag nor tent. All had to build their own structure out of what they could scavenger off of the land. We had 22 out of 24 scouts camp as “Iron Men”. The entire Troop then feasted on delicious smoked brisket and sausage with sides of Cole Slaw, fruit and cookies provided by the incomparable Grub master for the campout Jamie Jordan.

 

The boys and dads, with bellies full, were blindfolded and marched off to their remote camps. Each patrol had two hours to build their structures before finding their dinner, and “don’t forget to protect your flag and try and get other flags”. Even the Big Bucks participated with protecting their own flag. The Apaches tried several times with hit and runs and bait and switch tactics to get the Big Bucks flag after getting the Dragons flag, but it was the Dragons who got the Bucks flag first.

 

The scouts continued to swap flags throughout the day as they found their ingredients for their meal of Cowboy Stew.  The Big Bucks feasted yet again on a fish fry with home made cheesecake. By night fall the scouts had their structures built and posted sentries every 45 minutes at their flagpoles to fend off any night sorties. The forecast was 40 degrees for the Metroplex and while we expected slightly lower temperatures at Trotter ranch in , we did not expect the 21 degrees that it fell to. The good news is a polar bear patch; the bad news is that it was very cold. While there was a burn ban in effect, campfires broke out in safe and secure metal fire rings in every patrol campsite.

 

The next morning found the Timber wolves had snagged every patrol flag. The boys scrambled to complete their scavenger hunt and built a big campfire back at the base camp. They were greeted by hot chocolate and Mountain man breakfast by Jamie Jordan and his crew of cooks.

 

Colby Edson treated us to a wonderful Chapel service and Soutmaster Frank handed out awards (thank Julie Morrow for the charming awards she has been making for the campouts). Awards for best camp structure went to Blake and Nick, Landry and Patrick, David and Charlie, Ryan, Cooper and Damien.

Capture the flag awards went to Dragons for “first theft of the Big Bucks flag” and to the Timber wolves for capturing every flag in camp. The Rocky Mountain Gophers won the Scavenger award and the lifetime appointment award went to Jamie Jordan for Grub master.

 

We packed up our camp, and sent out half of the troop to look one last time for Thomas’ glasses and headed back to the church stopping a few times for a sick and pale Elliott to catch his breath.

 

Their are so many people to thank for this campout and I am sure I will miss some, but thanks to Bob Mundlin for the time and effort as Campmaster, Jamie Jordan for grub master, Scott Flynn as Assistant Scout master and Julie Morrow for the amazing awards she provides.

 

Jeff Bennett ASM

Games Weekend

 

The feedback is in, the Highland Games weekend is one of the best camps we have ever had, so say the scouts from the Thorns and Roses at campfire. I tried to capture as many highlights as I could in this re-cap of the camp, but it was very action packed. We had a few drop out last minute for various reasons, but I suspect some had the Dragon Playoff game in mind.

 

We departed ST Laurence at 6:00 pm, but because of daylight savings time the sun was just setting and it was a dark drive for 2 ½ hours to Camp Tahuaya in Belton. We did not know what to expect, as we had never been there before. We had reserved a remote camp and got the best campsite. It was in a meadow within a very short walk to a spring fed creek, clear and cold.

 

Mr. Perry was our Grub master and he had cracker barrel ready in short order. The boys quickly set up their tents and because of the fire ban we sat under a pavilion and enjoyed our cracker-barrel. The weather was perfect, at about 65 degrees overnight and we slept the sleep of the Highlander ready to do battle.

 

Our SPL Cooper Flynn and Camp master Jeff Bennett checked us in and we were ready to go in the morning on Saturday. There was to be an early mist in the air and cloud cover all day. The boys quickly discovered the Venture Scouts were there in force, which included girls. The boys had the option of wearing kilts and some jumped at the chance.  Sam Wagnon, Alex Diamond and Jonathan Mundlin wore them with pride.

 

In total, there were 13 events, Turning The Caber, Sheaf Toss, Weight Throw, Weight Toss, Clachneart, Braemar Throw, Hammer Throw, Farmer’s Walk, Swordsmanship, Battleaxe Throw, Fell Race and Tug-O-War. The Scouts and Scouters all competed valiantly in every event. As usual Troop 168 excelled in most of the events. The event manager assured us that the results will be posted this week on the net and the ribbons can be picked up soon or they will be at the next Roundtable meeting.

 

It was great fun watching the boys split pumpkins in half with a sword or throwing a bale of hay (Sheaf) 17 feet in the air or even watching Cooper Flynn take third place in the Fell race with a kilt on. The Big Bucks own Scoutmaster Frank Wagnon set an early record in the Sheaf Toss until Randy Hope went a foot higher.

 

As usual there were several boys and men that need to be recognized for doing the extraordinary. Matt Mauro stepped up as Patrol leader for the Dragons and did an admirable job. Every one of the boys excelled at one event or another, and I can’t wait until the awards are ready by the council. We had only one member of the Flaming Lamas show up and he had no grub master and the other patrols fed him throughout the camp.  Mr. Flynn caught several fish including two good size sunfish and a bass. Mr. Perry could easily sign on as permanent Grub master; he made it all look easy.

 

The events were over at 3:20 and the boys decided rather than go on to the Gathering of the Clan competition in Salado, to take the afternoon off before the evenings “Troop 168 Chili cook off”. The boys spent the afternoon swimming in the spring waterfalls, exploring the woods, climbing rock walls and exploring the small caves that surrounded us.

 

The Chili cook off was a big hit. Six contestants competed and when the entrees were all in it took the three judges (Mr. Flynn, Mr. Hope and Mr. White) 20 minutes to come up with the winners. It was a tough decision by the judges as all of the entrees were good. The awards were as follows; Best Heat-Paul Perry (it was the secret spices), Most Original-Connor Perry (the beans were cooked until they melted in your mouth), Best Flavor-Jonathan Mundlin (secret sauce), Runner up-Kyle McKinney (thought of adding hot dog) and Colby Edson (the added steak was incredible) and Best Overall-Jeff Bennett (he cheated).

 

We held our own campfire ceremony in camp and enjoyed the best skits we have seen in a while. Jonathan’s arms entertained us as Alex’s body was eating dry Gatorade and David (Little Billy) Evyn, Cooper, Ryan and Damien did little Billy skits. Thomas and Jonathan Orr sang songs and told jokes. We also will never forget the “most embarrassing moments of Troop 168” skit that reminded us of Evyn’s pancake throw and Landry’s “How far is the mile swim?” Every boy had a skit, joke or song prepared. After the boys turned in Scott and Jeff watched a Ferrell cat scour the grounds for tid-bits left behind.

 

That night we slept the sleep of the valiant as another 65-degree night passed. We awoke early to get one last look at Camp Tahuaya. It was once a stopping place for the Chisholm Trail and an aqueduct and mill were constructed in 1847. It is also alive with deer, rabbits and armadillo. Colby produced his usual “right on target” chapel service in what Ryan described as “Chapel service in a Whataburger”. It did look like the familiar shape of the restaurant.

 

We wrapped up breakfast and arrived uneventfully back to the church by 12:30.

 

Submitted by your Camp-master and ASM Jeff Bennett.

SCORE-O CAMPOUT ‘05

 

Upon our arrival at Sid Richardson we were ushered to the most convenient, secluded campsite available - .  We literally parked within one hundred yards of the entrance.  There were 1,700 people competing in Score-O and from our campsite you could not see another tent.  It was as if Troop 168 had the place to itself.  Mr. Edson, if you are not careful, you may work yourself into a permanent job as Campmaster.  Great job!

 

We got settled in and our Grubmaster for the weekend, Mr. Mrasek, served up a great cracker barrel of summer sausage, cheese and fruit. As the Scouts retired for the evening, the Scouters relaxed under the pavilion enjoying the remaining morsels of cracker barrel and a few tall tales.  We were all amazed to be joined by a gray fox (and no I’m not referring to Bob Mundlin).  We shared some cracker barrel with him and he was on his way. That was the first time any of us had seen a gray fox in the wild, let alone one so friendly (Bob has pictures to prove it).

 

The next morning Mr. Mrasek was at work again.  He cooked a mountain man breakfast for the whole Troop.  Great fuel for the Score-O competition that lay ahead.  That morning Mr. Wagnon and Mr. Stone arrived in camp to complete the Big Buck Alpha Team – Wagnon, Stone and Flynn.  The Alpha team was the only Scouter team intact from the 2004 Score-O competition.  The Delta Big Buck Team, embarrassed by sanctions from the 2004 competition, was disbanded.  The only remaining Delta team member with the courage to compete this year was Mr. White.  Mr. White was joined by Mr. Edson and Mr. Mrasek to form the Big Buck Delta II team.

 

Saturday morning was spent playing football and talking Score-O strategy.  Upon learning of the Alpha Team’s strategy to go for the most remote location on the map yielding the highest points (Location 75), Ken Stone of the Apache team (made up of Ken Stone, Cooper Flynn and Damien Jacot) laid down the gauntlet. With a grin on his face Ken said, “ we’ll see ya’ there”.  That’s some big talk for a group of guys who probably haven’t pick up a compass since they turned First Class.

 

The starting gun went off at 1:00 pm.  1,700 participants charged into the wilderness of Sid Richardson, compass and map in hand, with one single motivation - amass as many points as possible in three and one-half hours.  Take any more time than that and risk losing points that you have worked hard to accumulate.  Minus 10 points for every minute you come across the finish line after 4:30.  That hurts when the most points you can get for any one location is 30 – and there is only one of those.

 

Alpha team’s strategy was simple. Reach Location 75 in the most efficient manner possible by 2:30 pm picking up as many points along the way as possible. Skip those locations close in that were likely to be crowded with greenhorns. We could pick those spots up on our way back in when the crowds had disbursed.  If we reached Location 75 by 2:30 pm we would have two hours to work our way back to the finish line.  If we were not at Location 75 by 2:30 pm we would reassess our strategy.

 

It worked. At 2:30 pm, out of the thousands of acres known as Sid Richardson Scout Ranch, Alpha team stood at the most highly coveted spot on the map – Location 75. As we took 5 to catch our breath and re-hydrate, we heard Mr. Wagnon gasp in disbelief, “look’ie there”.  We turned in his direction and to our amazement, coming out of the woods, with dead reckoning, was Team Apache.  Cooper, Damien and Ken had made it.  What were the odds of that!  We slapped each other on the back and enjoyed the moment. As we went our separate ways we couldn’t help but grin with pride that those boys had done just what they said they were going to do.

 

Alpha team needed every bit of 2 hours to make it from Location 75 to the finish line. The last quarter mile was a flat out sprint (well as flat out as 45+ year old men can go who have been hither and yon over hill and dale for 8+ miles).  At 4:29:51 Alpha Team crossed the finish line.  9 seconds to spare.

 

We made it back to camp and took a head count.  Everybody was accounted for, and except for a few bumps, bruises and blisters, in relatively good shape. Mr. Mrasek went to work on dinner.  We had spaghetti, with a great sauce, bread and salad.  That hit the spot! After dinner nobody could move.  Rather than go to the Score-O campfire the Scouts decided to perform some impromptu skits for the Scouters.  The Scouters were thrilled with that decision in that they could no longer walk.  The best skit went to David White for his impression of the Amazing Karnack.  We were all thankful for Kyle McKinney who prepared a pineapple upside down cake for advancement. It was delicious! 

 

We slept great on Saturday night.  Sunday morning Mr. Mrasek was hard at work again fixing pancakes and sausage.  After breakfast we were off to the Score-O chapel service.  When it became apparent that nobody was going to step forward and run the service, our own Chaplin, Colby Edson, was front and center.  “Be Prepared”, and Colby was.  He had our boys hand out programs, and, with several other Troops in attendance, delivered a great service.  A proud moment for Troop 168!

 

What a great weekend!  Thanks to our Campmaster, Mark Edson, and our Grubmaster, Mike Mrasek.  Great job!  As always thanks to our Assistant Scoutmaster and Quartermaster extraordinaire, Steve White!  Thanks to our great Committee Chairman, Bob Mundlin, for his continued support and for driving this weekend.  Thanks to Kenny Stone for teaching orienting in the weeks leading up to Score-O and for the strategy session the morning of.  Finally, thanks to our Scoutmaster, Frank Wagnon, for his continued leadership.

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The troop just about to pack out from Camp James Ray after the 2009 Watersports Campout

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