Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 10:13 AM

The most adventurous outing of the year

During part of Spring Break 2010, Troop 594 had the most adventurous outing they have ever had. After months of planning and scheduling, eighteen scouts and scoutmasters left for the trip. Where they were going was a place most of them had never experienced before – Okefenokee Swamp. This place is the largest freshwater basin in America and is full of all sorts of wildlife.

Once they arrived at the swamp, they ate dinner and set up camp under a picnic pavilion, which was near the swamp entrance. The pavilion provided shelter from the showers that had come down. The next day dawned beautifully, and they set out in canoes through the swamp. It was just seven miles to the camping dock, so everyone could take their time leisurely. This was good, since quite a few scouts let us say were a little too slow.

During the two canoeing days, a few adventurous things occurred. First of all, two glasses were lost in the swamp. Dr. Denton, the adult head of our troop, seriously asked if he should jump in and try to find those missing glasses. A scout’s dad decided to stand up in his canoe with his paddle waving in the air. Fortunately, he got away with his silly foolishness and did not find himself and his gear floating through the swamp! And best of all, Zach and Ian’s canoe was approaching an alligator. That would have been fine if other people were in their canoe, since they were not doing the best job steering. All the time they were getting closer and closer to the alligator. Finally, they and that gator freaked out, and one of them had to do something. But since they could not steer out of the way, the gator swam away at the last moment. The two Scouts rammed into the side of the bank, barely missing the gator. Thank goodness!

The next day was spent going back where they started from. It was then when something else unusual happened. Although no one caught any fish while fishing, a fish jumped into a moving canoe! These and other adventures made this outing to Okefenokee Swamp the most exciting outing Troop 594 has experienced.

Matthew Carpenter