Scouting Stories [Camping]

[BeastlyGaming]

Wow oh goodness, where do I begin xD

 

 So I am sorry if you go here or have been here... or are going... 

 

 My troop was going to summer camp at Camp Crooked Creek [CCC] in Kentucky (right near Louisville I think)

We were going through just fine, nice lake side area... And all of this trip was foggy cause I can't remember what all happened, not only has it been a while but it wasn't the greatest trip. So we had 3 events that we remember well...

 

#1, We were sharing the camping area with another troop since we both were pretty small group there, and one of their kids is arachnophobia, so he wakes up and sees a spider (most likely those stupid harvester / daddy long legs) and screams, flies out of his tent flailing, turns to go down hill (which is the exit to this camp area) runs, trips over a root and faceplants, skids 4 feet gets up and keeps running down the hill... All while the scoutmasters from both troops were having Coffee... I slept through this somehow?... 

#2 Next up same camp was a scoutmaster from the camp over who went to the Latrine, drops his pants... and *tsits tsits tsits* a rattlesnake's tail waggling...

It was a timber rattlesnake and the guy just went flying out of there screaming xD I still don't know where I was in all of this!

#3 I was here for this... We were leaving the camp, packing up getting ready and I don't know what happened but the scoutmasters were looking under a log and they wouldn't let us get too close since they said it was a Copperhead... apparently there was a copperhead snake in our campsite so they chased it off with a stick. I did see part of it's tail as it slithered off.

 

 I heard the other 2 stories from my scoutmasters, so I'd assume they were real. xD seems viable.

 

Other stories... I can't remember too many good ones.

Other than the "Monsoon" at Camp Buffalo (Buffalo, IN) in 2015... That was cool... we all got soaked, we had a "Tornado warning" for the area, high winds knocked a tree over near the Dining Hall but it wasn't any real damage, I think they said it was just blocking the trail to some of the campsites but they got it chopped up and moved.

[qwazse]

Thanks. It's always great to hear what makes an impression on our scouts!

 

Regarding winds. My line is usually "Winds under 50? It's a good day!"

[NJCubScouter]

Reminds me of the old song, "I don't like spiders and snakes." Long before your time, BeastlyGamer.

[blw2]

at summer camp last year, our troop was placed in the last of their sites to have the old wooden pallet platforms.  They were in the process of replacing with concrete as I understand it.

Anyway, these old and worn-hard pallets were capped with the oldest collection of small wall tents.  Full of holes, missing door ties, etc...

But the thing was, these were infested with daddy long legs

there were a few other spiders too but not many....

We have a few scouts pretty timid with spiders and it was "entertaining"....  Saw a lot of personal growth that weekend with these guys.

[BeastlyGaming]

@@blw2 Was that (look from the back of the dining hall) down the hill out on the left side of the lake way in the rear...

 

 If so was it before you go into the woods or into the woods, cause our campsite was in the back of the camp and I believe it was the last on on the lake, we were near a Pier to fish on... though we encountered loads of wasps on it.

[tyke]

All this talk of poisonous snakes makes me glad that we only camp in the UK

[Stosh]

All this talk of poisonous snakes makes me glad that we only camp in the UK

 

Snakes aren't poisonous, they are venomous.    With no snakes, no bears, where's the adventure?

[tyke]

we only have one venomous snake in the UK, and your very unlikely to see one, and no bears apart from zoo's but we still have fun and adventure

[Col. Flagg]

I'd like to brag and say the US is one of the most dangerous areas to camp, given all the things we have that can cause harm. However, until you've been to Oz (Aussieland) you ain't seen nothin'. They have more snakes, spiders and swimmy things (crocs, sharks, even fingernail-sized jellyfish) that can put you 6' under, than the US has.

[BeastlyGaming]

But there is more than 1 species of Adders on the Island... @@tyke

[blw2]

@@blw2 Was that (look from the back of the dining hall) down the hill out on the left side of the lake way in the rear...

 

 If so was it before you go into the woods or into the woods, cause our campsite was in the back of the camp and I believe it was the last on on the lake, we were near a Pier to fish on... though we encountered loads of wasps on it.

ha ha....no, it doesn't sound like the same place.  We were at Skymont in Tennesee

 

I hope nobody got stung!

[perdidochas]

I think it's a reflection of modern society, but I don't remember kids being as afraid of grand-daddy long legs as they are today.  We used to play with them. 

[Eagle94-A1]

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... :

 

 I was up in Canada doing a 64 mile canoe trip. First day out was gorgeous and very nice. So the second day, I decide to wear swim trunks, jungle boots, sunscreen, and a PFD. WWWWWEEEEEELLLLL a cold front comes through after lunch dropping temperatures, causing rain, and kicking up the wind. Went from lower 70s / upper 60s to the lower to mid 50s in minutes. Plus you got to add in windchill from 30-40mph gusts and rain. Needless to say I got cold real fast. Grabbed a ponchor, but no other insulation.

 

And those 30-40mph gusts caused some "challenges" with my canoe.  The waves cause my canoe partner to freeze with fear. I ended up screaming at my partner, "PADDLE OR DIE, TACO! PADDLE OR DIE!" (Me screaming at partner, not you folks  ) And to make matters worse, my buddy canoe decides play a joke on us. With Taco frozen, they pull up next to us and push the bow of the canoe out. They did it with enough force, combined with the wave action, that we had to use that momentun and do a 360 to get back on course. We nearly flipped over 3 times, and it took about 10 minutes to get on course. By that point they left us behind, and Taco was still frozen with fear.

 

I was not making any headway paddling a loaded canoe by myself in the wind and rain. So I decided to "island hop:"  go to the nearest island, walk along the shore dragging the canoe, then paddling to the next island to repeat. So I am in jungleboots, swimtrunks, PFD, and a poncho in anywhere from ankle to chest deep lake water that is glacier fed. Did I mention the water is barely above freezing?   

 

I finally make it to the rest of the group. I'm disoriented, slurring speech, and blue like a Smurf from the chest down. Yep I had hypothermia.One of the guys noticed it, and started treating me for hyporthermia. But with no dry wood, they couldn't start a fire, and made that comment. That's when I commented, "I have a Sterno can in my survival kit." All eyes turn on me and I am told to bust it out. That's when I say, "But its only for emergencies."  Then my buddy  says " [EAGLE], YOU GOT HYPOTHERMIA. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. BUST IT OUT NOW!"  So a fire got started, I got treated, and all's well that ends well.

 

Except for the hazing I got for years about the "...it's only for emergencies" comment. 

[Stosh]

For many years the troop took an annual float on a white-water river a few hours away.  I have freighter canoes and the troop has regular canoes.  The difference being in the hull design.  I know that my canoes are very difficult to tip over and are totally useless for Canoeing MB where the boys need to tip them over and right them in deep water.  So whenever I went on the river, I never tipped over no matter what came our way.  Because of this I had a reputation that preceded me on never tipping over.   I always would take a new scout with me who knew nothing about canoeing, but whose weight held down the front of the canoe as ballast.  We were doing just fine and the boys was actually following directions and it made the float really easy.  However, I became complacent in that I was relying on him doing the right thing at the right time.  We can up to a low lying branch over the river and I knew we needed to go around it.  When I looked at my new scout he had the paddle up under his chin, frozen in fear of this upcoming obstacle.  It was too late for me to go around and in order not to get caught in the snag, I grabbed the gunnel and jerked as hard as I could to roll the canoe.  It worked and we both ended up in the drink.  He came up sputtering and crying.  I asked if he was hurt and he said no.  I then asked him why he was crying.  He said it was because he was the only scout who ever tipped me into the drink.  I assured him that I had done it on purpose, but he came back with him doing his part to keep us on course in the first place.  I assured him that as a new scout I only had him in the front of the canoe as ballast kinda like a box of rocks.  It was the wrong thing to say..... He laughed and I knew he was okay, except his scout nickname from that point on was "Box o' Rocks".  I was mentioned in his comments at his ECOH. 

[gumbymaster]

There's a reason I prefer to use a kayak paddle while taking newer scouts out on the river.