Troop 245 -- Recent Campouts

July, 2002    Sunset Falls

A change of plans brought us to Sunset Falls, about 20 miles north east of Battle Ground State Park in Washington.

A great couple of days around the falls -- a little swimming (ouch, that's cold water!) and more just goofing around the water.  The trip featured a short backpacking jaunt uphill, a taste of backpacking for the newer scouts who had never backpacked before. 

This weekend was also a good chance for the newer scouts to work on basic camping skills.  We had never been to this campground before, but it turned out to be an excellent camp spot as you can see.

June, 2002   Dan and Joe’s Eagle Projects

A short campout at Camp Adams, near Molalla, OR, for a couple of renovation projects.

Rebuild Stage – Joe’s project was to rebuild the stage in the camp’s campfire bowl.  We dug out the old stage, hauled away nail-infested, rotting lumber, and rebuilt the stage with creosote-soaked timbers and a nice deck-like platform.  The new stage is put together with screws, so it should last a long time.  We also shifted the new stage to be more centered in the bowl area.  We only had one casualty, a boy who stepped on a nail that went right through his tennis shoe.  Ouch!

Covered Benches – Dan’s project was to build four covered benches, each about seven feet wide.  Dan developed the plans from measurements that he took from a love-seat sized construction he had seen on a trail, then expanded to make it a full sized bench.  Lots of measuring, sawing, drilling, and bolting, and then redoing a lot of it when Dan wasn’t quite happy with the angle of the struts compared to one he had built at home.  The finished product looked great in the each of the four venues chosen by the camp.

After a full day of work, Dan and Joe treated all to pizza and then we went to the camp’s gym and played indoor ultimate until pretty late at night.  We had a good showing, about fifteen scouts and a few dads.

May 25-27,2002     River Rafting Family Campout

Memorial day weekend is the time for the troop’s annual family campout.  This year we went rafting on the Deschutes river which runs through the town of Maupin.  We camped out in the town park.

April, 2002   Horsethief Butte

A high-adventure climbing campout just across the Columbia River in Washington.  Rock climbing (top-roped), rappelling, and thankfully a short walk back to the road!

We had practiced at Club Sport's climbing wall the week before so everyone knew how to handle the ropes.