Venturing Crew 42

The Crew has returned from their latest expedition, backpacking through the Sangri de Cristo Mountains at Philmont Scout Ranch in northeast New Mexico.  The two week adventure logged more miles than we care to think!

Most everyone is now off on family vacations, summer jobs, a bit of rest, and will reconvene later this month.  You can follow their pictorial adventure in the Crew's Photo Album, with a visual story for each day of the trek.  We'd like to particularly thank our three Advisors, Karen, Susan, and Eric for taking their own vacation time to accompany the Crew.  Look for some news articles in the weeks to come.

Congratulations to Zack T, the Crew's tenth Eagle.  In a wonderful outdoor ceremony held at the Fredericksen Wilderness Park on a midsummer night in Big Valley, east of Poulsbo, Zack was given his Eagle Charge as a "marked man" and completed his long trail to the highest rank in Scouting.  In a particularly moving part of the campfire ceremony, representatives of each rank in the Boy Scout program and an officer in Venturing attested to Zack's completion of all the requirements.  As Zack stated at the end of the evening, making Eagle wasn't about knots, hiking, or awards.  It was about building character, becoming a better citizen, and being a fit member of society.  Yep, he "got" it.

The son of a Coast Guardsman, Zack started as a Cub Scout in Alaska, crossed over to a Boy Scout Troop in Virginia, joined Poulsbo Troop 1571 when the family moved to Poulsbo, and joined the Crew once he was eligible.  He remains active in both units.  Other Crew 42 members in the Court were Jeff Z, Jake K, Brody H, and Eric O.

May 22nd and May 23rd were the days of the second to last Philmont workup hike, where Crew 42 camped for one night along the Gray Wolf River on Duncan Flat, 2.8 miles from the Trailhead.

On the day of the event we once again met in the Wal-Mart parking lot to collect ourselves and perform a quick pack check. After distributing crew gear, we drove to the Trailhead, from where we hiked down the beautiful and slippery trail past Duncan Flats and on into the great unknown until we arrived upon a small campsite by a stream [Ed: Slide Creek Camp].  At that point we decided to turn back and trudge back to Duncan Flats.  Once at our campsite on the Gray Wolf River, we raised our tents, ate our Mountain House meals, and finally settled in for a pleasant sleep before the final hike out.

The next morning was overcast and reflected our opinion of the impending 2.6 mile uphill hike up to the trailhead. But after some breakfast burritos we changed our opinion and quickly tackled the steep trail. Tired and wearisome after the long hike, we reconvened at Fat Smitty's for a victory Burger and then set off for the last time (or so we thought) on to Wal-Mart. Then when the bridge opened and barred our way, we decided to officially close our event for the first time in Crew 42 history on the Hood Canal Bridge with the ever-present thorns and roses, and then head out on our separate ways.

On May 13th through May 15th, seven crewmembers from 1042 along with two Venturers from other crews staffed Days 4 and 5 of Wood Badge training for adults around the area.  As far as I could see, all staffing Venturers did a great job as we presented the seven Principles of Leave No Trace and attended many of the same classes that the adults did, setting up games for the adults, and even acting in skits that the adults in their group put together.

The beginning of the three day staffing event started with us all meeting in the infamous Wal-Mart parking lot, some of us nervous, seeing as this was some of the crewmembers’ first staffing event.  We all packed into our vehicles and drove to Camp Parsons, where the training was being held.  Once we got to camp, we met up with the rest of the staffers and set up our sleeping area.  We then set off to eat the day’s delicious dinner in the Camp Parsons mess hall and meeting the rest of the staff.  Once we finished, we moved to the other side of the camp and set up our model campsite and practiced our previously written (hopefully) Leave no Trace presentations and with that (mostly) well and ready we ran off to play a game of what most would call soccer and go to bed.

Day 2 of us being there started with a rousing breakfast in the mess hall and then walking down to our model campsite and pulling off a spectacular Leave no Trace presentation that left the crowd well informed on the Principles of LNT and our Advisors shocked.  We grouped up with our individually assigned Wood Badge Patrols that we would be sharing much of our time and meals with and we each helped our patrol unload their gear and set up their camping areas.  After we became associated with our patrols, we ate our first lunches and found that there was a certain rivalry between the adult patrols that was both good natured and funny at the same time.  We also attended a seminar about Generations in Scouting. Later that afternoon, we set up the Round Robin, a series of decision-making games that everyone had fun either participating in or watching.  We all went to practice skits with our patrols. At the Campfire Bowl that night, all patrols had either a skit, song, or both that our Venturers participated in and at 9:12 that night everyone gathered to watch the International Space Station pass overhead.

The third day of staffing started with the Venturers traveling to their patrol campsites to eat a breakfast that was cooked (or not so much cooked) by their patrol and then heading to the daily flag ceremony where awards were passed out.  After the Colors were posted, we attended another presentation and then headed off to the conservation project where we helped regrow the Camp Parsons Arboretum.  We then returned to our patrols, ate lunch, and reviewed the Patrol Projects that we presented later that day about things they learned, some talking about lint (LNT) and even one were someone cut off their “finger” (really just a hotdog) when discussing the Guide to Safe Scouting.  After the presentations, our Venturers said goodbye to the patrols by participating in a march throughout the wooded campsites that involved all of the staff and then leaving them to spend the night alone.

Our Venturers were thanked by the staff many times and were told that we did a fantastic job all weekend and I believe them wholeheartedly and I have no doubt in my mind that we will be invited to staff again.

-Stephen