The Unusual and Exciting, Typically Hazardous, Adventures of the Ice Age Bacon Patrol

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Givens Hot Springs

In March the Scouts decided to head to Givens Hot Springs to pass off some of the swimming rank advancement requirements. We headed off on Friday afternoon and were some of the first campers at the pool, which was nice because Givens can fill up with Scout troops quickly. We set up camp and went swimming. We passed everything off and then played some games. One-breath-underwater-distance-swimming, water basketball and squirt guns were in order. After swimming we headed back to camp and enjoyed some excellent Skybaby Special, prepared by our historian. We were all worn out from playing hard in the hot water so we hit the sack. The next morning we rolled out of our tents late, enjoyed a breakfast of oatmeal and boil-in-the-bag omelets, packed up camp and played ultimate frisbee and California football until it was time to leave.

Enjoying breakfast.

Waking up is hard.

The Scouts found these little fish in some puddles. We thought they were

tadpoles at first but they are really little fish. Not sure what they kind they are.

Successful fishing. All of these did get set loose.

Our only request was that they not get muddy.

Picture time.

The scars of ultimate frisbee.

Grimes Creek

At the end of November there was enough snow in the mountains of the Boise National Forest that the Scouts decided to try to go sledding. We found a nice camping area at Grimes Creek and set up camp. After a dinner of chili the Scouts spent the rest of the evening pelting one another with snowballs and trying to start a fire. That night we recieved a couple additional inches of snow. We ate breakfast, broke camp and headed to the snow hill. The sledding was fun, though bumpy and all was going well until one of our Scouts unintentionally left our sledding area and came face to face with the snow hidden branch of a fallen tree. That quickly wrapped up our camp out as we performed first aid on our comrade and got off the mountain and to the urgent care. It was very much a blessing that all he required was eleven stitches. We are glad that his recovery was quick and that it wasn't more serious.

Packed and ready to go.

Waking up to couple new inches of snow.

Darn, forgot to pull my backpack into the tent last night. Oh, and there is my sleeping pad too.

Time for fire building 101. Notice the Scout in shorts.

Playing snowball fetch with Trigger the dog.

Success!!

Breaking camp.

Now what next?

Cleaning mess kits.

Like a professional.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Bruneau Sand Dunes

The Scouts decided to head to Bruneau Sand Dunes for our October camp out. We set out and arrived not too long before nightfall and got started on preparing chow. The boys opted for their classic evening meal of Skybaby Special and it was delicious. We discovered that a loaf of french bread does wonders for cleaning the cooking pot and mess kits after a meal. This will be a practice we will continue to use. That night we played night games, re-told tales of Maggie, the wild and mysterious woman that haunts the Owyhees, and settled in for some shut-eye. The night went well and we awoke with the sunrise. After an oatmeal and hot chocolate breakfast we had hoped to do a little orienteering but the course did not turn out as planned. We did have a good block of instruction on the use of a compass and map. The Scouts hope to put these new found skills to use soon so we will need to set up another orienteering course on a future outing. Then it was time for the sand. The Scouts were up and down those dunes more times than we could count. Running, racing, rolling, sledding, sliding, flipping, and burying were the activities of the day. After getting sand in every nook and cranny of the body we made PB&Js and hit the road for home.

*Note: Our Historian got an excellent camera for his birthday and took some amazing photos during this outing. Unfortunately those photos were deleted in his first attempt to transfer them. These were what were left, taken on another camera. Next month though!

Campsite in the dawn.

The sunrise.

Breaking camp, getting ready for the day.

Playing a pick-up game of football.

Time for breakfast chow.

Learning how to use a compass.

Forgot to pack a lunch, but not a problem for this Scout.

A narrow escape for this beetle.

Playing on the dunes.

Made it to the top.

Escape from being buried alive.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

War Eagle

Yvon Chouinard, founder of the companies Black Diamond and Patagonia is quoted as saying "It's not an adventure until something goes wrong." I've quoted this to the Scouts of our patrol on numerous occasions, mostly trying to lighten the mood when someone realizes they've forgotten their rain jacket or mess kit utensil. The saying's meaning is deepened by another of Yvon's famous quotes which reads, "Real adventure is defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive, and certainly not as the same person." And now enter the Ice Age Bacon Patrol's journey to War Eagle Mountain.

Not to allude that anyone was in real danger of losing their life, but this was certainly a trip of high adventure. The Scouts had been working on their cycling merit badge over the past months and performed multiple 2, 5, and 8 mile rides on varying terrain. The culminating event of the merit badge is a 22 mile bike ride (if you are using mountain bikes on dirt roads and trails) completed within a certain time frame. Our group decided to travel to the Silver City area in September on a camp out and spend our Saturday completing this ride. Our purpose in traveling to this part of Idaho was to begin our ride at the top of one of the high mountains in the area and to take advantage of the downhill as much as possible.

We met Friday afternoon and loaded bikes and bags. We had a good group so we took two vehicles and rolled off to Silver City. Once into the mountains we arrived at a good downhill stretch and decided to unload the bikes for a shakedown ride, which proved to be fairly uneventful. We reloaded the bikes at the bottom of the hill and traveled on to Silver City. For most on the trip it was their first time to visit the old mining town and we spent the last light of day exploring the town. As dusk fell we loaded the bikes again and headed up the mountain to find a camp site. The evening was filled with pitching tents, an MRE dinner and a few rounds of the night game Fugitive. Then we bedded down for the night.

The following morning we had a quick breakfast and broke camp. We traveled the rest of the way up the mountain and finally arrived at the top. We unloaded the bikes, made final adjustments and safety checks, and began our descent. Not a mile into the ride we had our first crash and first blood was drawn. We checked wounds, did a bike swap, and continued down the mountain. The views were excellent and the weather was perfect. We found, however, that speed was our enemy and after two other crashes, one that was quite a close call, we had to implement a "no one rides faster than the leader in the front" rule. The rest of the ride continued without significant disturbance and the Ice Age Bacon Patrol finished their 22 mile bike ride. Well done to the Scouts, they had earned every mile. And for a few, it was certainly a journey from which they came back a changed person.

Loading up bikes.