Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 06:01 AM

For November’s outing, Troop 594 had a campout at the Mullinex’s forest. Because Richard and his brother had been fellow scouts at our troop, they permitted us to stay on their property. This outing was probably the least popular of all the trips my troop has had. It consisted of three scouts and two scoutmasters (the minimum amount). Being close to Thanksgiving and the extreme procrastination of planning this trip are two of the main factors for that low number.

On Friday night everyone arrived down in the forest and set up camp. The other family and Sander backpacked their gear in, while my dad and I went together on the muddy road in the SUV. Because of the expectancy of precipitation, tarps were set up over the place where we were planning to cook and eat.

The next morning, after everyone was awake and up, Sander had the task of cooking breakfast (and for the whole weekend), and we had the job of cleaning up. That morning I made an ax yard, and later we found logs and branches, chopped them up, and carried them to the fire ring.

Lunch was meat and cheese sandwiches. Later on we played on the Mullinex’s rope swing they had in their backyard. Next we learned another scout skill called splicing. It is very difficult, but we were finally able to do it. Splicing is used to join ropes together pretty much permanently. This helped us complete the pioneering merit badge. Once this skill was finished, we painted the Cobra Patrol box. Dinner was quesadillas with guacamole. This meal, cooked by Sander, was delicious. The next morning we packed up in the rain and went home. Although, it wasn’t a very popular trip, I will give it credit for getting some things done.

Matthew Carpenter