First Posted: 9/2/2014
Troop 160 had fun in the mountains this summer when we took the most exhilarating backpacking trip to the Adirondack Mountains in New York State Aug. 20-24. There were four Scouts, Jonathan Ross, Brandon Kelleher, Andrew gibson and Bryan Melliand, and two adult leaders, Frank Melliand and bob Gercken, on the trip.
We drove to Lake Placid on and, while we were there, we toured the Olympic hockey, speed skating, figure skating, skiing and snowboarding areas. The next day, we hiked to our base camp which was a lean-to that we used for three nights.
We set up our camp, had lunch and went on our first day hike on Mount Yard, which had some nice views. Then we came back to our campsite, ate dehydrated meals which we prepared with boiling water and ate right out of the pouch and packed everything into bear barrels for the night before playing a rousing card game called Old Maid.
The next day, we hiked to Slant Rock and then up Basin mountain (taking the Shorey Shortcut). At one point we were challenged with a steep climb. Although difficult, once we reached the top of Saddleback Mountain, it was quite exhilarating.
We hiked Mount Marcy, which took us well above the tree line, taking about four hours to reach the summit. While on top of Mount Marcy (elevation of 5344 feet), we ate our lunch and were able to enjoy the views before the clouds began to roll in. We began our descent back down to our campsite for a well-deserved swim in a spectacular falls in what felt like 40-50-degree Fahrenheit water before Bushnell dinner.
The last day, we hiked to our cars. We hiked a total of 35 miles while seeing some spectacular views and enjoying the fresh mountain air. A sSout is clean, which is something we practiced on this trip. We concentrated on “leaving no trace” and packed everything out, including our trash.
The Scouts would like to thank Mr. Melliand and Mr. Gercken for making this all possible.
The first meeting of the scouting year was held Sept. 4 at Stann’s Grove Park in Ransom. There were games such as ultimate Frisbee, capture the flag, football, and many other activities. Also, we also had our annual hamburgers and hot dogs dinner, followed by a meeting about the year to come. We held a closing campfire with songs and skits led by the young Scouts and the adults.