Boy Scouts Troop 17 Website

Boy Scouts Troop 17

We did it again. In the spring of this year, we succeeded with another adventurous camping trip to the North Georgia mountains. In late April we traveled Northward to Rabun County, in Georgia’s northeastern corner, next to South Carolina and North Carolina. We made our camp along the bank of the west branch of the Chatooga River. The Chatooga is well known as a good trout fishing stream, but we had other plans for this trip. Let me share with you what our boys accomplished that late April weekend.

Although our camp out actually began on Friday, April 30, preparations and planning began well before hand. I like to tell the boys that a weekend camp out takes about two weeks to accomplish. We have to begin planning and preparing at least a week before the trip. After the trip it takes about a week to clean, dry and put away all our camping gear.

In addition to gathering and packing their personal gear, the boys have to organize themselves into patrols. In Scouting there is a methodology for functioning in a large group called the Patrol Method. In the Patrol Method the boys organize themselves into smaller groups of six to eight boys. Each patrol has a Patrol Leader and an Assistant Patrol Leader and each patrol is responsible for preparing themselves for the camp out. The patrols have to plan the equipment they will need to survive the weekend, and they have to develop their own menu, too.

You know what? The Scouting Patrol Method seems to operate much like our community support groups! I think the reason is that the scouting organization has learned the lessons of subsidiarity like we have in our community life.

On that Friday morning we began loading our camping gear into the scout trailer. We then drove for three hours to the remote and undeveloped campsite in the Chattahoochee National Forest. We set up our temporary homes for the weekend under threat of rain. Thank God the heavenly perspiration held off for a few hours until we were set up.

In the afternoon the boys were free to enjoy all the usual activities like building camp fires, cooking outdoors, playing games like capture the flag and hanging out with their buddies in the wilderness. They also enjoyed swimming in the Chatooga River, but these enjoyable activities were not the prime goal for this trip.

The primary goal was to take place on Saturday. We were prepared to hike up Georgia’s second tallest mountain, Rabun Bald, which is 4696 feet above sea level. The hike was a three-mile climb up a trail called the Rabun Bald Trail and then descend the same route for a total of close to six miles. According to Tim Homan, author of the hikers’ guidebook The Hiking Trails of North Georgia, the Rabun Bald Trail is known as our state’s steepest trail. According to my topographical map and readings on my GPS, our assent to the summit from the trailhead was a little over 2200 feet.

Of course, once we were at the summit we had to walk back down the mountain. If you have ever walked mountainous terrain, you know that walking down a mountain is as challenging, but in a different way, as walking up the mountain. After our hike my sore muscles convinced me that Tim Horman is correct in his assessment of the Rabun Bald trail—it certainly is steep.

The trail was beautiful, too. Despite the rainy weather conditions, we were determined to ascend the mountain. As we climbed our way up through the rainy forest, the misty clouds would wisp around the coves and ridges. Occasionally the clouds would clear long enough for a glimpse of the manifold terrain that we were climbing through. I heard several exclamations from the boys witnessing this scenery like, "Awesome!" "Look at that!" and "That’s cool!"

I also noticed quite a number of wild flowers in bloom. Spring is the peak period for blooming wild flowers in the mountains. Later Hank Edmonson identified one of the prevalent species we saw on the trail—wild orchids. On our way back down the mountain, we stopped for a rest in one of the gaps. A mountain gap is a low spot in the terrain between two peaks. I have learned from experience that water can often be found near the gaps. So while we were resting, I explored down a game trail.

Following the faint game trail a few hundred yards down the side of the gap, I found the spring. Surrounding the spring for a 100 yards or so was a beautiful display of yellow wild flowers flourishing at the water source. The blooms reminded me of daisies but I don’t know for sure if they were a wild variety of daisy or not. I bet Hank would know. He is a very talented outdoors man.

I replenished my water supply from the spring for the rest of the hike and went back up to the main trail. I was thrilled with my discovery and when I told the other hikers, Hank and some of the boys wanted to see the spring and the wild flower display, too. So off they went down the game trail.

A few hours later we were back at camp and I was exhausted. I just wanted to sit and rest but the boys were still full of energy. Some of the boys wanted to work on some advancement requirements. So we got busy on that. Scoutmasters are often energy challenged on these camp outs.

If you are wondering what advancement requirements are, here is a brief explanation. Boy Scouts have a series of scout ranks and awards that they can achieve as they participate in the life of our troop. A Boy Scout begins with the rank of Boy Scout and continues his growth and learning with the Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks. If he wishes to continue earning merit badges, he will achieve the ranks of Star, Life and finally Eagle. After Eagle there are three more ranks that are like icing on the cake. These ranks are the Bronze, Gold and Silver Eagle Palms. We call this process the Trail To Eagle. I’ll share a few examples of the practical life skills the boys have to master.

Requirement number 12A for the Tenderfoot rank is "demonstrate the Heimlich maneuver and tell when it is used." For Second Class, a scout has to "participate in a 1-hour service project," requirement number 4. For First Class, requirement number 4A is "help plan a patrol menu for a camp out." There are many more requirements for each rank.

To reach the scout rank of Eagle, a scout has to fulfill 59 rank requirements and earn 21 merit badges. By the way, merit badges have their own set of requirements, anywhere from 4 to 22 requirements to earn one merit badge. So, you see if a scout achieves the rank of Eagle, he has persevered through quite an ordeal. Further, if a scout achieves the scout rank of Silver Palm, he has to earn an additional 15 merit badges.

All in all, the boys had a great adventure in North Georgia. The camp out was a success because the boys pulled it off. Our scouts had to organize and prepare themselves individually. The patrols had to get prepared, too. For Troop 17, organization and preparation in advance of the camp out enables us to have an enjoyable and memorable time together.