Five Scouts and two leaders made this trip - two of the Scouts joining us on their first Scout backpacking trip. We hiked North on the Midstate Trail to Sampson's Pebble in Treasure Valley. From there, we hiked into the Katahdin "leave no trace" site along the Red Trail. By this time, the trails had been largely cleared of damage from December's ice storm, with only a few trees across the trail. Except for a view across Browning Pond along the way, it was easy to feel like we were out in the wilderness, instead of at our favorite Scout camp, almost. TV was hosting a National Camp School, so we did hear the enthusiastic assembly of trainees cheering and singing from across the pond. The weather was perfect - cool and clear, capping off a year of exceptionally lucky camping trips for us. Much louder than the camp school were what sounded like hundreds of frogs croaking in the late evening and thousands of birds chirping over our tents at just after five in the morning. We managed to get our water from the fast-fading stream near the camp site, first filtering it through a hankerchief and then chlorinating it. Not the best-tasting stuff, but it worked. This was our first time using the new troop tents. |
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