Blog: Trail Adventure Stories

We Cooked the Entire Campout! A year ago we went camping with the Scout troop. We were car camping to a beautiful spot we'd been to before right on the river. Since the land was owned by friends there wouldn't be anyone else around. The boys loved the privacy and decided they wanted to eat like kings. The week before in our troop meeting we created a menu and made assignments for the ingredients and cooking gear. The weekend arrived and so did several coolers. I realized we were going to be cooking A LOT of food and probably cooking most of the weekend. We got to the site and set up the camp kitchen. I caught myself standing and staring at the mountain of food and supplies. We were going to eat like kings!The boy leader of the troop made cooking and cleaning assignments for dinner and each of the other meals. Soon we had the dutch ovens out and filled with delicious food cooking on hot charcoal.Here is the menu the boys decided on:The food turned out delicious! The Chicken Pot Pie was the best - in fact, it migh... Read More

50 Miles in 4 Days As a kid I was part of a well organized Boy Scout troop. Our leader was an experienced outdoorsman (more like mountain man) and we learned a ton from every campout and outing. One Summer we planned a 50-miler to achieve one of the patches Scouting offers. We earmarked 4 days where we could travel along a route in southwestern Montana. The route included mountain terrain, rolling hills, forested sections, grassy knolls, and water features. We prepared for weeks before the packpacking adventure. We did pack checks to make sure we brought the right gear, we planned light weigh food and water rations, we planned for blisters and other first aid needs.We set out on the trail. Each day the column of boys would stretch out as some boys would pace ahead and others would lag behind. As we reached the pre-designated camp sites each day we'd stop, get a fire started and wait for everyone to arrive. We'd explore our new site, rest from the day's travels, repair blisters, cook food and more. It ... Read More

Sleeping with Rats As a Scout Master I got to camp with my son and his fellow scouts quite a bit as we worked on their Camping Merit Badge. We constantly sought new places to camp and have a great time.Each year we would select a high-adventure camping location where we could spend 5 or so days as a group. We'd plan around the activities we wanted to do. One summer we chose to go boating and wake surfing so we selected Kalispell Island on Priest Lake in Northern Idaho. We wanted to camp out on the island for 4 nights/5 days. Since the camp sites are first come, first serve we decided to arrive on a Wednesday night. We knew the bay we wanted to camp on because it was perfect protection from boat wake and protected enough the boys could swim out.The boys got their gear together and we boated in. They set up camp and then they took to the water. They surfed, skied, boarded and swam. That night we went back to camp and got the fire going. We ate and told stories and horsed around. We had a blast.Later we ... Read More