Canyon Creek Snow Campout

On Friday, January 11, 2008 we went on a camp out to canyon creek. There was 8 inches of snow on the ground there. The deacons that came were Zach, Justin, David, Nick, Porter, Ian, Brice, and Brice's friend David G.. The priests that came were Brad and Jeff and one eleven year old scout, Tyler, came. The Leaders that came were Brother Bradshaw, Brother Weed, Brother Severtson, Brother Lindblom, Brother Barbier, and Brother Erickson. We left the church at 4:15 and arrived at the campground at about 7:00 p.m. As soon as we got there we set up camp. We cooked some soup and hot chocolate. After that we made a campfire and a while later we went to bed.

The next day in the morning we made another fire. For breakfast we ate breakfast burritos. Later on that day we had a sled race. we had to make our own sleds out of wood using lashings. There were two teams: Porter, Ian, Brice, David G., and Justin on one team, Zach, Nick, and Tyler and David on the other. During the sled race you had to switch riders at a few of the stations, Then you had to pick up one of the priests onto the sled and bring them onto a picnic table further along, then you had to answer 3 questions from the scout leaders, then you pull the last person to the finish. Team Porter, Ian, Brice, David G. and Justin won. Later after that we ate lunch then we cleaned up our tents. Then we went tubing for a while then we all left to come home and arriving home at 6:30. It was a very fun trip.

For more pictures from our campout, please visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/severtson/CanyonCreekSnowCampout

Coon's Bluff Campout

On Friday, November 30th we went on a campout to Coon's Bluff. The leaders that went are Brother Bradshaw, Brother Weed, and Brother Severtson. The young men the went are Zach, Justin, and Porter.

We got to Coon's Bluff about 5PM and it was already raining pretty hard. So we put on our coats and rain panchos and started unloading the van and trailor so we could start setting up camp, and more importantly dinner.

The first thing we needed to do was setup our campsite. Since it was raining that meant we had to set up rain tarps. It was hard to set up because it was raining. Brother Bradshaw and Brother Weed had to climb up trees to set up the tarps. It soon turned out that the scouts were making silhouettes, which made setting up the tarps a whole lot more fun.

After finally setting up camp we got to build a campfire and make dinner. For dinner we had "hobo meals" (tin foil dinners) with potatoes, hamburger, and carrots. Zach buttered the tin foil and distributed the hamburger while Justin and Porter washed and cut the potatoes and carrots. Brother Bradshaw prepared the charcoal that we cooked on.

By then it was about 11:00pm and we all wanted to go to bed. It rained hard for several hours then it stopped except for a few occasional sprinkles. But that's when the wind started. Instead of mild winds as the weathers reporters told, the winds were very strong. But all the tents were fine except for the leaders tent that the canopy blew on to and ripped a hole in it.

In the morning we got up and played by the river digging holes in the river bank and making a "sand castle" like city in the dirt. Then we had breakfast of hot chocolate and cereal. And since it wasn't raining at that time, we started taking down some of the tents and rolling up our sleeping bags. After we did some more playing and drew faces on wood planks that we then floated down the river and set on fire.

For our skills training we learned to build fires without matches. Using flint and steel, we had a competition to start fires with the goal to make the fire large enough that it would burn a string which was tied about 2 feet above the ground. The first to do this would be the winner. It took us a long time to get fires started...approximately one hour. Justin got a few good fires started, but then they went out. Zach has several little fires that he couldn't get to catch to the large wood pieces. Porter's was first to get a fire that kept going, but then ran out of wood before it could burn the string. Zach finally cheated by pickup up his burning wood and holding it to the string. Nobody ended up winning...

After that we took down our camp, packed up and drove home. We got home around 3PM on Saturday. Even though it rained a lot, it was a great campout. We really appreciate Brother Bradshaw and Brother weed for taking us.

To see all of our campout pictures, please go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/severtson/CoonSBluffCampout

Fall Conservation Camporee

On Friday, October 19, 2007, our troop went on the fall conservation camporee. The boys who attended were: Zach, David, Justin, Nick and Porter. The leaders who attended were Brother Bradshaw, Brother Weed and Brother Severtson.

We got there after dark and setup camp. We had Hamburgers with corn for dinner which Zach cooked. We then went to an opening campfire where many skits were performed. Then had our own troop campfire. Zach burned his hand on a hot banana he was trying to cook. :-)

On Saturday, we had cold cereal and bacon for breakfast. We then had the flag ceremony and gave our troop name "The Procastinators" and our yell "We'll Tell Ya Later!!!". Then we went and did a service project picking up trash at Wood's Canyon Lake.

In the afternoon we went to the water and soil conservation merit badge clinic. A while later we left to go home. We had lots of fun that day and can't wait untill the next camporee.