Saturday morning (April 11) started out with gorgeous weather, as 23 brave scouts and nine intrepid "parent-scouters" from Troop 1916 convened at The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer (our troop's sponsor) for the scouts' first backpacking trip of the year. Our destination was Kepler Overlook in the beautiful mountains of Virginia's George Washington National Forest.
The troop had planned to go on a shorter practice hike in February, but due to a long and unpleasant visit by the Polar Vortex, we had to cancel it. So for a few of our younger scouts, this really was their first backpacking trip ever.
After loading up the cars and SUVs, our band of backpackers headed west on I-66 and then turned south on to I-81. After a few exits, we all reconvened at a an enormous highway truck stop for a short break and to grab some food for lunch. The guys stocked up on Funyuns and gummy worms and bid farewell to their last encounters with flushing toilets for the ensuing 20 hours.
We drove another 30 minutes until we reached the trailhead near Woodstock, Virginia. Eager to get going, everyone jumped out of their cars, threw on their backpacks, and began our ascent up Tea Mountain and then North Mountain on journey to Kepler Overlook.
The Hike
Our hike began an old logging road at the bottom of the hill, but it wasn't long before we reached a creek that seemed would be easy to cross. But as we carefully walked across wet rocks with the water flowing just beneath us, the task proved to be a bit more challenging, especially with our backpacks strapped on us.
And this wasn't our only creek to cross. One required a slow balancing act as we walked across a fallen tree that served as our "bridge."
Another was much easier because someone had collected three trees and built a bridge for backpackers to make their way across the creek.
Before long, we made our tight, switchback turnoff, and the trail became a winding, sometimes-rocky, sometimes-muddy, backcountry path through a thick forest of still-barren trees. It was perfect.
The hike was a pretty hefty and sometimes-demanding climb, but all of the scouts did a great job, despite a few ill-fitting backpacks. They walked and walked without complaint. There were only a few short pauses up the nearly 3.5-mile hike, and after about two hours and an elevation gain of 1,185 feet, we arrived at the glorious Kepler Overlook, which made it all worth the effort. If your son went, he did it well. Be sure to congratulate him.
Setting Up Our Campsite
After a brief respite to ease our punished feet and take in the beauty of the valley, we each located our spots for our hammocks and tents, which the scouts set up in a matter of minutes. After a bit of a hangout, the scouts fired up their small propane stoves (or whatever their fuel of choice was), and the preparation of our backpacking cuisine was under way.
As any scout will tell you, with only a stove small enough and light enough to fit in a backpack, simplicity is the key when cooking food in the outdoors. Thus, ramen noodles and MREs (which required only that the scouts boil their own water with their "Pocket Rocket" stoves and pour in into a convenient bag of freeze-dried food) were the preferred selections for supper.
Needless to say, the noodles, rice, and several MREs that originated in various foreign lands were consumed with typical gusto.
Bear Bags
Afterwards, the scouts began the important process of ensuring that no bears, raccoons, mice, or other unpleasant species made a visit to the campsite during the night. With guidance from Assistant Scoutmaster Forrer, the scouts emptied their tents, backpacks, and pockets of anything (from fruit bars to toothpaste)that had even a remote scent. The reason? All of these otherwise innocent items would have been an delicious invitation for a local raccoon on the hunt for a late-night snack.
So the scouts placed anything with a smell to it in their "bear bags," which were then tied next to one another on to a rope that stretched between two trees. With the help of a pulley, the bear bags were then hoisted about 15 feet above the ground, making them out of reach of even the hungriest animal that might have wandered by our campsite (#getthisyoudumbbear). You can check out the "bear bags" and other photos from the hike here.
With that piece of business done, the scouts got the campfire roaring, which was most welcomed, given that the temperature began to drop steadily on Kepler Outlook.
Bohemian Rhapsody in the Woods?
The boys gathered around, told some jokes that all seemed quite familiar, did some skits, and sang some songs. Their renditions of some 1980s classics by Queen and Journey were, to put it mildly, pretty bad, which was, of course, exactly what the scouts intended! (Note to scoutmasters: Please plan a troop meeting devoted exclusively to preparing some campfire entertainment material…)
Seriously, though, it was a lot fun for the guys. After we were treated to their version of "Bohemian Rhapsody," we turned off our flashlights to take in the view of the valley and observe the constellations.
With no city lights to interfere with our night-time view, we saw what seemed like a million stars. As always, the search for the distant planet, Uranus, provoked big laughs!
At that point, everyone seemed ready to head for our sleeping bags to bring some relief from the chilly weather throughout the night. Though half the tents were pitched on an incline at our site, some of the boys (and maybe a parent or two) actually got some sleep.
Down the Hill!
At about 6:30 a.m., we could hear the sound of propane heating up water for breakfast. We even saw a few hot air balloons flying above the valley in the distance.
After breakfast, the boys broke camp, loaded their backpacks packs again, and took steps to "leave no trace behind." Before departing for our trip down the hill, the scouts engaged in their tradition (courtesy of Scoutmaster Salt) of offering up their "roses, buds, and thorns" for the outing--What was good about the hike? (The weather and last night's "entertainment" were popular "roses." What was not so good about it? (One scout referred to his dad's tendency to snore as his "thorn.") And what did each scout look forward to the most when he returned home? (A warm shower is a frequent "bud" for many of our scouts.)
We then strapped on our backpacks for the hike back down the trail, which, to say the least, required a lot less energy than going up. It was an amazingly beautiful day, which made for a perfect way to end a great outing for the scouts and the parents who tagged along.
In nearly record speed, we reached the end of the hike's trail in about 90 minutes. The scouts and the adults seemed both tired and invigorated when we got back to our cars.
Thanks to everyone who made our sojourn to Kepler Overlook such a great experience for all of the backpackers in our troop.
Ryan S. (a.k.a., Gabe's Dad)