Troop 54 hiked a portion of the Midstate Trail we had not hiked before, starting at Fay Mountain Orchards and ending at Hodges Village Dam, a project of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Our route was based on the Midstate Trail Guidebook, which is now fairly out-of-date. Portions of the hike followed the plan exactly, but toward what was to be the end of the hike, the Midstate Trail had been re-routed so that it no longer passed by the dam. As a result, we hiked through Oxford to get to the dam entrance, bringing our total distance the first day to 11.2 miles. See the actual trail as recorded by Joshua Froimson:
GPX file
GPX file displayed in MappingSupport
Trail conditions were great, with no rain during the hike in and very little mud or water on the trail. The only downside to the trail was that portions of the trail were on roads. Our site was a fairly large field with a metal fire ring. The volunteer "staff" at the dam (like a campmaster at a Scout camp, were friendly and helpful, even filling and transporting our water container to the site.
While at the dam, we performed a service project, removing invasive species and trash from along a couple of trails.
Keeping weight in mind, the Scouts made a meal of macaroni and cheese with taco seasoning, canned chicken and hot sauce.
The rain came and went in the early evening but really got going through the night and into the morning.
We had four Scouts and two leaders participating on this trip.
This was the troop's seventy-eighth consecutive month with at least one overnight camping trip.
Page updated 3/5/17.
