We camped at Nickerson State Park on Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday, we rode the Cape Cod Rail Trail from camp and to the north up to Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. It was cool and cloudy at the beach. We ate lunch at the beach but didn’t stay long. On the ride back, we stopped at Wendy’s for a snack and then played a round of mini-golf at Cape Escape. Back at camp, we had time to explore around Cliff pond.

We hiked the Bentley Loop and around East Head Reservoir on a cloudy and cool day. There was a little drizzle at the start of the hike. Most of the trail was heavily wooded. We had lunch in a clearing (notice the social distancing). Then we camped out at the Apache campsite at Camp Squanto. We had chicken alfredo for dinner and a nice campfire.

Camp Greenough held a Klondike Derby and our troop won the rifle shooting award. There weather was cool but no snow. Due to the pandemic, we had to wear masks and the adults weren’t allowed to go along with the scouts to the stations. So only a couple photos at the start and end.

We did a hiking day trip to Blue Hills Reservation. Starting from the eastern side from Rt 28, we traversed the whole range to reach Great Blue Hill. We made a loop going on the northern trail on the way out and the southern trail on the way back for a total over 8 miles. The views Boston were nice.

On a beautiful sunny day, we biked nearly 50 miles on the rail trail. First we went to the eastern end of the rail trail. Then we went north to Deepwater Hot Dog stand run by Tamer’s dad for some hot dogs, chips and drinks that really hit the spot. After the bike ride, we setup camp on the beach at White Pond and went for a swim. We cooked hot dogs over the fire for our 2nd hot dog meal of the day. For breakfast, we cooked bacon and bagels.

On a hot and sunny day, we went on three hikes. First we hiked along the cliffs from Pamet Valley in Truro and climbed Bearberry Hill. Next we went to Pilgrim Springs and imagined the pilgrims coming to this spot 400 years ago to taste their first fresh water in the New World. Then we hiked all the way around Great Island in Wellfleet. We found a shady spot on the island for lunch. Everyone was hot and tired when we got back to the cars. So we stopped at Wendy’s for ice cream and drinks on the way home.

Camp Greenough hosted an evening program where the scouts had a good time launching rockets, tomahawks and riflery.

We helped out the ranger at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge with clearing trails, replacing fence and installing a new sign.

We drove up Saturday morning to Sandwich, NH and hiked in about 1 mile. The snow was hard and not too deep. So we didn’t need snowshoes. After dropping off our gear at camp, we hiked 5 miles round-trip to Beede Falls. The falling water created a wall of ice and we could crawl between this ice wall and the rock face of the falls.

That night was below 10 degrees. So most of the scouts stayed in the loft of the hunting cabin instead of their tents or snow trenches. We kept a fire going using wood and some peat logs that we brought. So the cabin stayed warm. A bobcat came be the cabin to check us out but didn’t stay long enough for us to get a photo.

The troop in Sandwich organized a ski trip to King Pine in NH. They setup lodging, meals and lift tickets. Some scouts did snowboarding and the others skiing. Snow conditions were great and the weather was clear and cold. On the last run of the day, the power went out while I was stuck on the ski lift for over 30 minutes and got quite cold. That evening we went swimming in the lodge indoor pool and that night we did snow tubing.