When we approached the gate to the Tunxis ski trail the snow was fresh and deep.
The large Klondike Derby dogsled came in handy, and from my estimation it racked up about 5 miles from the many trips it had to take from the trailer to get all the equipment into the campsite. The deep snow was up to our knees and made the hike difficult, but eventually we packed it down by walking over it so much.
We tried to get some trucks up the trail, which turned into a competition of Ford (Mr. Gilmore) vs. Chevy (Mr. Bushey), but they couldn't get very far. I think Chevy won but Ford went first and helped Chevy go farther by blazing a trail.
Once we got everything set up it was time to build snow caves. They ranged in size from three man tent size structures to caves where the occupants’ feet were sticking out of the door for the whole night. Also a group went up the hill and began to put the outer bark on the Wigwam… okay, we used tarps, zip-ties and bailing twine; a 21st century wigwam. When people had finished building their sleeping quarters, a couple of younger scouts started sledding down the Treacherous Tunxis Sled Run, which became very popular and more and more people joined the activity.
Working on the Indian lore badge was a challenge in the cold and snowy conditions. A couple scouts tried their hand at flint knapping (making arrow heads) and got some decent results. Others built the Wigwam, and cooked some American Indian food. This included pop corn and one squash. I will be continuing this badge, I will just need to look at the troop schedule and see how I can fit classes in. Those of you who have done some work on the written part make sure you fill out the official work sheet from meritbadge.org or open the attachment to print it out.
Christopher Reilly was caught in a surprise “real avalanche.” The snow on the metal roof of the cabin got warm enough from the fire inside to slide off all at once in a giant wave that covered the whole cooking area. Unfortunately Christopher was directly in its path. He was completely buried, but the quick reactions of Ryan Jano got Christopher out and back on his feet in seconds. He shook it off and warmed up a little in the cabin, and soon was back in action.
Sunset came quick and we ate dinner. Bill Meskill made some excellent tacos that the adults all appreciated. The patrol leaders made soup and spaghetti with meatballs, both of which were delicious. After, some went back to their snow shelters to put the finishing touches on them, while about ten scouts went up to the Wigwam to sleep there. The adults went into cabin to hang out and get warm.
The temperature was going down so it was time to climb into a warm sleeping bag and get some sleep. The crew in the wigwam was listening to the Packers Falcons football game on a crank handle radio brought by TJ Nicholson and eating popcorn. Unfortunately, the Packers won. Most everyone stayed sort of warm enough overnight to get some sleep. The Scouts in the wigwam kept a fire going all night by waking up in shifts. However, because of and underestimation of how much fuel was needed, they had to collect and saw some more logs at about 4:30 in the morning. Mr. Mead woke those who weren’t up at 7:00 a.m. with traditional cheery bull horn wake up call. We ate a quick breakfast, packed up and hiked or sledded out.
To see more photos from this trip, go to the Troop Photo Library.
