Teepee Creek Campout June 12 - 14, 2009
Article submitted by Zach Bailey
We all met up at the scout shack at 4:00 P.M. Friday afternoon. After everyone got there and loaded their stuff into a car we drove to Shoshone Camp where the car campers and the hikers split up. The car campers continued up to Jordan Camp, and set up our canvas tents. The hikers went up to the Waller's property to meet up with the Air Force Survival Instructors.
When the hikers got to the Waller's property we set up our tents and got comfy. The Survival Instructors talked to us about different ways to make a fire like with metal matches, lighters, or even something called shoe goo. We were also shown how to put on camo face paint. After we learned how to do that, we put it on ourselves and played a few games.
One of the games we played was a stealth-based game. There were three points on the campground that you had to touch. But, you had to do it without them seeing you. They said something like 8 medium, slow or fast. So, that's how much time you had to run to try to tag each one. The cycle kept on repeating with different numbers until someone touched all points and touched the person counting.
After we played a few other games, we played Capture the Flag. It was the Air Force guys, Tyce, Josh, and Zach; against the rest of Troop 201. The Troop 201 team ended up winning the game. It was the longest Capture the Flag game that almost everyone had ever played. It took at least one hour! After the games, it was lights out. Everyone climbed into their sleeping bags and tried to get a good night sleep for the long hike the next morning.
On Saturday morning, everyone got up at 6 A.M., stuffed their sleeping bags, folded up their tents, and cooked breakfast. When everyone was done with that and had their packs on, we started hiking. It was about a 7-8 mi. hike. Along the hike, we learned a lot from the Instructors! We learned of some edible plants such as the Oregon Gray and another one that they said was sweet, but it really numbed your mouth after a while. It tasted horrible too. Yet another plant we learned about was the yarrow, and the medical uses of it. We also learned about animal tracks. If you see a track, you can measure from the first track to the third one, and that measurement should be how long the animal is from their back legs to their front ones. The softer a track, the more recent the track is.
Everyone was very tired by the time we got to Jordan Camp where the car campers where. The hikers got there, put their packs down and rested. They set up their tents, and ate lunch. After that, everyone had the opportunity to start the Wilderness Survival merit badge. Almost everyone signed up, and we almost finished it! The only thing we had to do was make a survival kit and show it to Mr. Whitt during Summer Camp.
Other than the merit badge, it was pretty much do what you want on Saturday. Everyone helped make a shelter from the woods, but only 2 people could sleep in it. Anthony Price and Bailey Baker got to sleep in it.
We all went to bed that night knowing that we'll have to get up early Sunday morning to pack up. The next morning, the hikers woke up first as we had to hike back out of the woods to be back at the scout shack at 12:00 P.M.. We had breakfast, packed up and left. Some hikers took some things out of their pack and put them in a car so our packs would be lighter. Nathan's pack weighed about 40 lbs on the way to Jordan Camp, and about 20 lbs on the way back. It took less time to get to Shoshone Camp then it did to go to Jordan Camp from there. Therefore we weren't late to the scout shack.
When we got there, we had to hang the tents up in the scout shack to dry them out, put the troop's stuff away, and put our gear into the car that was picking us up.
The campout was fun for everyone. We learned a lot from the Air Force guys and had fun with the activity's we participated in.
On Friday we all loaded our packs into cars and drove 2 hours to Upper Priest Lake. We all met up at the trailhead, put our packs on, and started hiking the 3 miles to our campsite. When we got there, we set up our tents, ate lunch, and played around. Later that day, we all had to go and find some wood to help start a fire. One group found a really loose tree and pushed it down. We had plenty of firewood after that!
The older scouts that stayed at the second campsite had a contest to see who could go out the farthest into the water, which was freezing cold. A couple scouts went all the way into the water, but most scouts only went in about knee deep.
