Photos from the 2011-2012 Scouting Year
Our Scouts beginning our first hike of the camp.
The climbing wall. It\'s not huge, but there is no safety equipment either, so it\'s probably just about the right height.
The Scouts standing in front of what we nicknamed the \"Mortal Kombat\" area, so named because its strictly geometric rows of planted trees are reminiscent of a scene in that movie.
This is the Scouts obstacle course. You can\'t see it very well because of the underbrush getting in the way, but I like the way this picture looks anyway.
One of our Scouts holding what appears to be a yellow garter snake. We caught this little guy while on a trip to get water. The campsite had no nearby water source, so we had to hoof it a few hundred metres to a water reservoir, and carry the bottles back. To their credit, the boys carried out this task with few complaints.
Another Scout with the same snake. I (Scouter Mike) actually caught this one by quickly jumping on him before he slithered away. He was surprisingly fast given the cold weather and the fact that he\'s a cold-blooded animal, but I suppose he thought he was fleeing for his life. But don\'t worry; after capturing him and posing for pictures with him, we let him go unharmed.
A close-up of our scaled friend.
Campfire! There was no firewood at the campsite, so we had to forage in the woods. Luckily, there was plenty of deadfall wood out there, and the forest had shielded it pretty well from the rains of the night before, so it wasn\'t too soggy.
This picture is quite blurry, but you can see the embers floating into the air. It would have been nice to have a tripod, but that would be an odd-looking thing to bring on a camping trip.
Day 2: the boys climbing a fairly steep hill. At numerous points, we left the trail and took shortcuts, and these shortcuts always seemed to involve very steep climbs. Unfortunately, you can\'t really see the grade in this picture.
This picture shows the grade much better. When climbing on this kind of terrain, particularly with rain-slicked leaves beneath our feet, the footing could get quite dodgy at times.
This is a hike we took on the second day, looking for the bigger Venturer-level obstacle course after our boys had sailed through the Scouts course on the previous day.
We also took a few movies:
Campfire
The rope swing