Canoe & Camping Trip - 2008
(Click here for
permission slip)
>> Must be turned in before March 25 - Please, no latecomers!
<<
Our annual Devil's Foot Island canoe & camping trip is planned for April 5-6. For those of you not familiar with Devil's Foot, it is located in Medfield, on the Stop River. It indeed is a true island, and is normally accessible only by water. Descriptions and pictures of our 2005, 2006 and 2007 trips are on the website.
 | This will be a "patrol oriented" outing.
Patrols (including the Senior Patrol) will select their site and camp as a
patrol. However, cooking will NOT be done on a
patrol level, so that we can provide as many of our Second Class scouts
(and possibly those Tenderfoots who are very close to Second
Class) with the opportunity to perform their First Class
cooking requirements. To accomplish this... |
| The troop will form small "cooking groups",
each group consisting of 4 to 5 scouts and adults. Each "cook" will do
the planning, purchasing, preparation and cooking for their "group", as
defined by First Class requirements 4A thru 4F. Each group's members
will assist the cook on the island. Meals will be needed for Saturday
lunch & dinner, and Sunday breakfast. Two of these meals must be cooked,
either over an open fire or on a gas stove. There are 3 fire sites on
the island, and extra propane and/or liquid fuel stoves will be provided. |
| At this point, we cannot say how many scouts
will be able to do their First Class cooking, because the number of groups
will be dependant on the total attendance of scout and adults. I am
hoping that we will be able to have at least five groups. |
| At the 3/11 troop meeting (and possibly
also the 3/25 troop meeting), the cooks will need to plan their three meals. |
| Other island advancement activities are being
organized by the PLC and the adults. |
| We are planning to have a troop campfire that night, just as we did last year. |
We will meet at Esco Tool, 50 Park Street at 7:45am. At approx 8:00am we will carpool to the bridge at Noon Hill Rd ( the same launch point as last year). (PLC members will already have met at the UCC earlier to obtain any required patrol/troop gear from the lockup.) We will make our way up the Stop River to Devil's Foot Island, unload our gear and set up camp.
We will depart Sunday morning after breakfast, and proceed up the Stop River to the Charles River. From there, we will follow the Charles River to the landing at the railroad bridge on Bridge Street, where we will disembark.
Parents should pick scouts up on Sunday, at approximately 11:00am, just inside the entrance of the access road of the Medfield Wastewater Treatment Plant on Bridge Street, at the Medfield/Millis border. Pickup time is subject to last-minute change, based on when we leave the island and how long it takes for everyone to portage around the Causeway Street bridge.
This is a "wilderness campout". (No amenities available.) Everything needed must be carried in and out, via canoes.
Make sure that your backpack, etc, and all gear are encased in plastic bags, to protect them while in the canoes. (Packing for a canoe trip will be covered at one of the March troop meeting.)
IMPORTANT: All Scouts must wear life jackets! If you do not have one, contact your Patrol Leader, and we will obtain one for you.
Canoes will be obtained by the troop from various resources. If you have your own canoe that you would like use, please feel free to bring it. However, you will have to transport it to/from the launch/landing points yourself.
Any further details can be provided by your Patrol Leaders.
Get your permission slip and fee to Mr. Powers before the March 25th troop meeting. We need to know before then how many are coming, so that enough canoes can be obtained, how many "cooking groups" we can form, as well as how much food the patrols will need to purchase. We cannot have people "drop by" at the last minute, as we will have no space for you in the canoes.