Chilly weather camping

Hank is almost a 2nd year Webelos Cub Scout which means next year he'll be a Boy Scout. That means he needs to decide which Boy Scout Troop he wants to join, and that means he can visit different Troops to see which one he likes best.

A Troop in a nearby town invited a bunch of Webelos to go cold weather camping with them in PA. It is February, and that typically means frosty temps and maybe even a little snow. Well, it was chilly during the day - around 50ish - and pretty cold at night - around 30ish.

At first I thought we were going to be in tents so I was reading all sorts of cold weather camping tips and planning a packing list that would help keep us warm at night.

Then I found out we'd be in a cabin. Cool. Mostly. After 2 days without showers, we were all getting a little stinky and being in one space made our space a little stinky too. But we were warm and dry so it was all good.

The Troop planned their camping trip as an opportunity to practice first aid skills because there's a big first aid meet coming up. They also took some time to help the Webelos who were there with some of their advancement skills.

Tying knots.

Hank's least favorite thing to practice, but doing it with a 'cool' older Scout made it more bearable.

They also went on an orienteering hike. The Webelos paired up with older Scouts and off they went into the woods...actually the trail took them along the road, but they didn't realize that until they were finished.

I forgot to mention that there were only latrines for toilets. And there were about 300 other Scouts at the camp for a Klondike Derby (you can google that if you're interested) so the potties were Mucho Stinko.

The Scoutmaster informed me there were real bathrooms at the bottom of the mountain. In lieu of going for a run - which I had hoped to do, but squashed because there were so many boys/dads at the camp - I made several 1/2 mile trips down the mountain to the potty.

Hank had a great time. Everyone was really nice, and he got along great with the boys so this Troop is definitely on the list of possibilities.

We headed home Sunday morning to shower and get ready for our next adventure - Williamsburg...