Camp Bartlett!

Landon was at Boy Scout camp this past week. This was his first full week of camp as a 12 year-old Scout, and he was very excited.

Camp Bartlett is in the Cache National Forest in the southeast corner of Idaho, about 10 miles northwest of Bear Lake.

The campsites are laid out all around a small lake, with the main lodge on the north end. This week there were at least 200 scouts, plus that many (or more) scout leaders and camp staff. The weather was perfect - sunny, around 80 degrees during the day, in the 40's at night.

The camp is 62 miles away, so when I went up for two days I decided to make a motorcycle road trip. It was a beautiful ride up Mink Creek and down Emigration Canyon, carving through some nice "S-curves" - accelerating through the apex, etc..

After a day of merit badge classes, they held the big "Pirates of the Caribbean" contest out on the lake after dinner. In this event, the scouts go out on the lake in all of the canoes, and the camp staff tries to overturn and swamp them.

It turns into a free-for-all and the last canoe floating (above water) is the winner.
That evening a number of the boys, including Landon, went with camp staff for their Wilderness Survival merit badge overnighter. To complete this requirement, they had to spend the night in a shelter of their own construction using natural material. They fashioned some kind of lean-to, and survived the night, returning to camp the next morning by 7 am, a bit bleary-eyed, but with a sense of accomplishment and in good spirits.

They did have stories of a coyote nearby that kept them awake that night!
The next morning dawned with hooping and hollering echoing across the lake at 6:30 am with the "Polar Bear Plunge" by hearty scouts and leaders. For some reason I was still in bed :-/

The traditional flag ceremony every morning and night was part of the daily schedule. It always included songs, cheers, yells, and cheap entertainment from camp staffers. The next day the 11 boys in our troop continued working on merit badges, weaving baskets, boondoggling,

and finished up their service project of staining part of the trading post building (their favorite place to go for junk food & treats when they had any spare time and spending money!)

The scouts were constantly working up an appetite,

so there was plenty of "creative cooking" going on with some tasty food,

and even a few "guest chefs."

We practiced some fire starting skills, and straightened our camp up to be ready for the daily surprise inspection.

We all had the opportunity for a session on the .22 rifle range for some target practice.

Thursday evening after flag ceremony was the traditional "John Coulter Run" - a much anticipated troop relay which circumnavigates the entire lake and camp. It starts with the first scout reciting the Scout Oath and Law, then running the trail around the lake to tag the next scout, who then must correctly tie a knot selected by camp staff. He then runs to the waterfront where the tag is made for the next scout who must answer a "nature question" and then run to the canoe where another scout is already waiting for the canoe leg across the lake. Once across they tag the next scout who runs the trail to the next station where he tags three scouts who then perform a two-man fireman's carry for about 50 yards. They tag the final runner who sprints the last leg to the starting area, where the final task is firestarting. Here they must, as a troop, start a small fire with flint and steel wool, and then build it up until it burns through a piece of twine suspended above the fire, at which point the race ends!

Our troop left the first station in second place, but by the canoe-crossing we were back to 7th or 8th. Landon did the canoe portion, in which they began to gradually regain some ground. By the final sprint, our troop was back to second place, and it came down to the fire building.

They started the fire quickly, but it started to die out, until they found adequate fuel to build it up enough to burn through the twine...

finishing in first place!

Everyone was very excited, as last year they barely finished second. This year they had the John Coulter Run bragging rights! The rest of the week included other scout fun - like the Camp Bartlett Olympics. Landon and eight other scouts from our troop participated in the Mile Swim. This was 14 crossings of the lake, in 58 degree water, which took Landon an hour and 18 minutes! Way 2 Go, Landon, and everyone else who participated!

At the closing campfire ceremony Friday night, our troop was the only one to receive the prestigious Lord Baden Powell award of excellence. To earn this, the entire troop had to meet a long list of requirements, including each boy earning 5 merit badges, on-time attendance to all classes and flag ceremonies, service projects, troop leadership, camp inspections, outpost overnighter, mile swim, John Coulter, uniform inspections, and a number of others. Way 2 go Troop 413!

I had a nice ride home, and after filling up, found that I averaged 75 mpg! The troop made it back Saturday relatively unscathed, with some minor scrapes, cuts, sunburns, and mosquito bites. A warm shower and soft bed were nice, but Landon had plenty of tales to tell, already looking forward to the next camp!

A special thanks goes out to all of the leaders and parents who helped make this year's camp such a great success - especially Scoutmaster Scott!