Grachur Magothy Camp

February 2000

Grachur cabin on the banks of the Magothy River is one of our most popular camping trips.  It offers a respite from the rigors of the outdoors and an opportunity of some indoor heat combined with ready access to the outdoors.  This cabin trip was pioneered by Brev M., a former scoutmaster, who was press-ganged out of retirement for this special event.  Traditionally, it has been an occasion for scouts to learn , practice, and demonstrate their scouting skills, in particular fire-building and pioneering.  This year posed a special challenge with a good foot of snow on the ground, which with the mid-40 daytime temperatures was a soggy mess.  Not ideal conditions for learning the skills of fire-building.  “Be prepared” is the watchword of scouts, so we learned what a difference an egg carton can make.  A single egg carton soaked in paraffin wax makes a lightweight fire lighter that combined with Brev’s expertise soon had numerous fires alight in the snow.  And just to show his skill was not diminished by retirement, or should I say elevation into the higher levels of the Capitol District, Brev got his fire started with two matches and no egg carton.

             During the late morning and early afternoon, six Webelos from Pack 153 took their first taste of scouting as part of their Arrow of Light requirements.  Hopefully, they enjoyed their visit to Troop 396 and will be bridging into our troop this spring.

              Martin S. was “in and out” all weekend attending to his Eagle scout project, but his presence garnered the younger scouts into action in our pioneering project.  Not a piece of rope, twine, poles, saws, or axes were in sight.  Instead a couple of plastic wash basins and shovels, together with a blueprint for an igloo stored in the collective minds of Brev and the Scoutmaster, Paul, were the order of the day.  With Martin’s motivation, a ready supply of snow bricks was soon coming from the wash basins, courtesy of scouts who on balance got more snow into the basin than into snowballs.  It was a perfect day for this activity, the snow just wet enough to stick as the igloo spiraled to its summit.  By late afternoon, the snow was no longer cooperating, so we had to postpone our endeavors until the morning.  Reinvigorated by a good night’s sleep saw a new enthusiasm as scouts rapidly completed their task by placing the final overhead snow bricks in place.  What a structure!  It accommodated all the scouts, who took delight in demolishing it for safety’s sake before we left.  Not as easy as they thought.  Even Martin bounced off the wall with apparently little effect on the igloo.

              Philip K (acting SPL) responsible for new scouts Ryan E., Andrew T., Chas S., Josh H., and old hands Nick B., Danny G., Philip B., and Billy Q.

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Watkins Park

January, 2000

A few inches of snow and a temperature forecast to remain well below freezing all weekend did not deter a few hardy scouts for the first camp of the New Year.  Nick, Ryan, Christian, Gordon, Philip E., and SPL John accompanied by Don and Toni, and Paul braved the cold weather, which lived up to its promise, with 10 degrees on Friday evening and rising to a balmy 22 on Saturday.  Surprisingly, Watkins Park was deserted.

The Ranger had allocated us site 29, which was convenient to the conveniences – not an insignificant fact considering that they were heated.  The value of the Buddy system was brought home to the scouts, when they returned from the aforementioned facilities with reports of “this guy in there watching his portable TV”.  Apparently, as we discovered the following morning, he was a homeless person and known to the Rangers.  We were more circumspect than usual in ensuring that all desirables were safely locked away in the cars that evening.

Twenty degrees may not seem too much, but, by mid-Saturday morning, we had a celebration for attaining this benchmark.  At least one layer of clothing came off and remained off for the rest of the weekend.  Sleds, cross-country skis, and the snow seemed to occupy the scouts’ time for most of the morning.  It is easy to tell the age of the scouts in such weather – the less snow hanging off them the older they are.  Ryan, the youngest, had the greatest accumulation and he was not allowed too close to the fire to prevent the snow and ice from melting and saturating his clothing.

A trip to the supermarket on foot to buy some additional items for dinner warmed up many cold feet and several scouts were sweating when they arrived back at camp.  It was a pity we could not make some of the food we had brought for the weekend take a hike as well, as much of it arrived frozen and did not melt during the weekend. It is a new challenge, one many could do without I’m sure, to crack eggs and find the inside does not want to ooze out in that characteristic amoeboid flow.

Even more problematic was the water situation as the boys, ever opportunistic to activities designed to break one’s neck, used our supply to create an ice slide.  Dispatched to refill the containers, they returned morosely with the empty containers and the plaintive cry of:  “The standpipe’s frozen.”

Our illustrious scoutmaster took to the challenge and, as if by magic, returned with liquid water in the containers.  Stupefied by this miracle, the young men were eager to glean this secret of the backwoodsman’s folklore.

 “It’s a simple matter really.  You dorks (always sensitive to the most diplomatic phraseology) used the blue-handled standpipe.  I used the red-handled one.  Any idiot knows that’s the hot water pipe!”

And so another feather in the cap was firmly in place.

A serious debate arose after dinner about the relative ethics of eating one’s chocolate bar earlier in the day and expecting an equal share later when the remaining scouts ate theirs.  Nothing like a little diplomacy in action and the art of compromise to save the day.  However, the warning is written in stone – eat it now, or starve later.

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