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2021 Sea Base – St Croix Scuba Diving

US Virgin Islands
June 14-20, 2021
 
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GoPro links – download them if you want to keep them (I do not know how long Mr Baker will keep the links live

Six Scouts and two adults travelled to Sea Base St.Croix and participated in the
SCUBA program which the camp offers. Upon arrival, the Scouts piled into one large tent,
unpacked, and promptly began to play spikeball. After that, the crew met their weeklong guides,
Chris and Yoshi. Camp consisted of the large tents, a small area for flags, and a large pavilion
where the Scouts cooked their meals.


The SCUBA program included two dives per day for a total of ten dives. Each dive was
done at a different location, including places such as Sleeping Shark Chutes, Scotch Bank, and
under the Fredericksted Pier. Scouts used the giant stride method of entry for most dives,
essentially walking off the back of the boat. Once in the water, everybody descended to
anywhere from 30-60 feet for 35-45 minute dives. Under the water, the crew observed Nurse
sharks, Blacktip Reef sharks, Green sea turtles, and large groups of Spade fish and Tarpin.
Among these larger spectacles were also many other marine creatures such as Arrow crabs,
Scorpion fish, Sea Urchins, Pufferfish, and some small squids.


SCUBA gear was returned to the outfitter after each day of diving, at which point the crew
cleaned their BCD’s, regulators, masks, fins, boots, and wetsuits for those who chose to use
them. Once back in camp, everybody (thankfully) took showers and immediately started playing
spikeball again. There was a rotation throughout the week of which two Scouts would cook
breakfast and dinner. After the meal, everybody else would clean up using the three bucket
method. People applied sunscreen successfully, for the most part. No injuries were sustained
during the trip, everybody improved on their diving skills, and everyone had a fantastic time.
This Sea Base experience hopefully sets a precedent for the Troop to continue attending Sea
Base in the future.

2021 Northern Tier Canoeing

Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base
June 20-28, 2021

Two crews from Troop 1128 traveled to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness this summer to participate in wilderness canoeing at the Northern Tier High Adventure Base.  Northern Tier is Scouting BSA’s gateway to adventure in the Great Northwoods. We started our adventure from the flagship base of Northern Tier, the Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base which has hosted Boy Scout canoe expeditions on the shores of Moose Lake since 1941.  This region is associated with a rich history of fur trading which spanned the late 1600s through the late 1800s.  Several fur trading companies hired French-Canadian Voyageurs, a hardy group of adventurers,  to paddle birch bark canoes and haul trade goods and furs thousands of miles each summer by water and portage trail.   

Our trip began with an early flight from Baltimore to Minneapolis on Sunday, July 20. Upon arriving in Minnesota, we drove 250 miles north to spend the night in Ely, Minnesota –half an hour from base camp. Along the way we stopped in Duluth to visit the shores of Lake Superior and skip stones in the rain.  The next day we arrived at base camp where we underwent temperature checks, were assigned our cabins, completed pack checks, selected our routes and purchased our maps.  We completed our gear outfitting the next morning  which included three canoes per crew. We packed our dry bags containing our personal gear and tents into waterproof liners and then into large packs called whales: 2 for personal gear and tents, 1 for the cooking kit, and 1 for food.   The whales ranged in weight from over 60 lbs to over 90 lbs.  We set out that morning for 6 days of wilderness canoeing. 

Both crews paddled long distances (65 + miles of travel), carried heavy loads of gear and completed over 40 portages per crew.   Portaging is carrying canoes and gear over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water.  Portages are measured in rods with 320 rods equaling 1 mile.  Many portages were quite steep and included rocks, roots and other obstacles.  Crews tackled portages ranging from as short as 5 rods to as long as 120 rods. Throughout the trip, crews enjoyed pristine wilderness including waterfalls, crystal clear waters, a full moon and native Ojibwe pictographs dating back 9,000 years.  Crews were treated with sightings of bald eagles, fisher weasels, a mother moose with two calves, loons with their chicks and a river merganser with at least ten chicks. 

We returned to base camp from our adventures on June 27, just before thunderstorms rolled into camp.  After temperature checks at base camp, we cleaned and returned our gear before we enjoyed our first showers of the week and enjoyed a special dinner with our interpreters.  We departed the next morning and enjoyed a huge breakfast at Britton’s before visiting the International Wolf Center in Ely.   The Wolf Center is a research and educational organization that advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands, and the human role in their future.   We enjoyed a presentation about wolves and were able to observe ambassador wolves Grayson and Axel and six week old wolf pup, Rieka.   After our tour, we drove to Minneapolis where we began our journey home.   

Scouts mastered canoeing, portaging, cooking, camp set up and clean up, navigation, canoe repair, catching crawfish and loon calls.   They showed tremendous determination and great teamwork.   Most importantly, they proved to themselves that they could complete a physically demanding week in the wilderness  and still have lots of fun! 

2021 Goshen Summer Camp

CAMP BOWMAN
340 Millard Burke Memorial Hwy, Goshen, VA 24439
July 11-17, 2021
 
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Jun 2021 Beach Backpacking

False Cape State Park, VA

Jun 12-13, 2021

 
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UK-trip Training Backpacking #3

Dolly Sods, WV

May 29-31, 2021

 
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