Preparation Campout

There are quite a few things that I wanted to have the scouts practice before our trip to Philmont. Set up a campsite Philmont style, cook over lightweight stoves, hang a bear bag, purify water, sanitation, etc. So I planned a campout at a local state park (Purtis Creek State Park-http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/purtis_creek/). It was close, had a trail we could hike on, and had primitive campsites that we could use.

We met at the church at 7 am and headed to the park. It is located about 1.5 hours SW of Plano. Mr. White and 8 of the 10 scouts from the crew attended. That morning there were thunderstorms that came through and I quickly tried to go through how we could still do this training in a downpour. Thankfully though as soon as we got to the park the rain subsided. We had a few sprinkles, during Saturday, but didn't really feel it due to the heavy cover from the trees.

The park was quite nice. It has a lake that is known for fishing, and there were a few boats. However, the area was very quiet. There were a few other campers in the primitive area - another boy scout troop, a cub scout pack and a few high school kids.

I was very proud of the boys. Mr. White had a good talk with them about attitude and they all took it to heart. They went through the sessions very attentative. They picked up the topics quite well, and I think they even had a good time.

Mr White and I got some training in making the 1 mile loop several times (I did 7 miles, he did a few more). I was a bit disappointed because I was really sore. I guess it shows that if you let up for some weeks that you loose your shape. I must do better in the coming weeks.

Sunday morning it began to rain. Most of us had our tents put up before the rain. However some of the stragglers didn't, so had to dry out their tents at home.

Sunday after we packed up we saw that the trail and campsites could use some policing. We got permission from the park ranger and got in 1.5 hours of conservation.

On the way home we stopped at Dairy Queen for Blizzards (Mr. White treated). It was a good way to end the weekend.