We camped out at Camp Greenough to work on Emergency Preparedness merit badge with scouter Don Mack. Our troop brought nine scouts and there were six scouts from other troops.
The rainy weather was a big part of this campout. The forecast was for the rain to be scattered and to wrap up Friday night. Before the trip, it had rained steadily for over a day. Still we had some hope as we packed up to head out from Scout Hall as the rain had just let up. But then on our drive to camp, the rain started again, and the forecast kept getting worse. The rain was constant Friday evening and heavy overnight. Then the rain was steady Saturday and very heavy around lunch which turned our campsite into ponds and rivers. Thankfully the rain eased up in time for dinner and a campfire on Saturday night and finally stopped before sunrise on Sunday. Overall there was 4+ inches of rain that weekend.
We setup our tents in the light rain on Friday evening. Next, we setup a popup tarp and put a picnic table under it for cooking. The scouts made spaghetti and meatballs plus Texas toast for dinner. It took a long time to boil the water for the spaghetti and we were running behind schedule and it was past sunset. So instead of cleaning our dishes, we put them out in the rain to let nature wash them. Then we put on our raincoats and grabbed our flashlights and hiked out from our campsite at Stonewall to the Lewis & Clark campsite to meet Don Mack and start on the merit badge. The campsite was deserted when we got there and we guessed that they decided to meet at the pavilion because of the rain. So we hiked over to the pavilion and indeed found Don Mack and the other scouts patiently waiting for us. Don Mack got started on the merit badge lessons. Then we hiked back to our campsite. We didn’t see any other people in the camp but the scouts did find some frogs on the path.
On Saturday morning, we found that our popup tarp had collapsed because rain had collected on the tarp and became too heavy. The scouts made bacon, bagels with cream cheese, fruit and juice for breakfast. Then we drove over to the pavilion where we could stay dry while doing the merit badge class. Don Mack had someone from FEMA talk about the organization needed for emergency response. The scouts practiced skills like making a stretcher to carry someone. For lunch, we made sandwiches under the pavilion. Class wrapped up at 4pm and the rain was light. Scouts went back to camp and explored around the campground before dinner of burritos with ground beef. After dinner, scouts played manhunt in the sports field next to our campsite. Using a large fire starter and lots of nurturing, we got a good fire going despite the wet wood. Then we made smores including having a chance to try having a reese’s peanut butter cup in place of chocolate bar. Yum! Then about half the scouts went over to the dining hall. Don Mack arranged to have it open for us and the other troop setup a movie screen and we got to watch the original Twister. They also had popcorn and cookies for us. Double yum! Back at camp, most of the scouts opted to sleep in the dry lean-tos at our campsite instead of their tents which were a bit wet.
On Sunday morning, we made egg, sausage and cheese breakfast sandwiches. Then there was a practice emergency response scenario of a plane crash where the scouts had to deal with simulated injured airplane passengers and damage to the campground. Then there was a pizza lunch brought in.