I thought I would take some time to tell you of what all happened at Camp Navajo. -Jacob
We met at St. Bernard's and reviewed the bear safety instructions, then started driving. Our route took us through Taylor's Falls. We had two cars; oddly, we both stopped at the same Subway for lunch, at the same time, just inside Wisconsin. Getting to camp was a bit confusing, and one car got lost, but we were able to all arrive at Camp Navajo in the Tomahawk Scout Reservation before sunset.
We were placed at the Ponca campsite. (See this map for directions.) Ponca is in the Webelos-only camp on the southeast side of the peninsula. If you zoom in on that map PDF, the campsite due west of the beach at Navajo is Ponca. It is in sort of a triangle of footpaths. It was a very wooded site, with more mosquitoes than breezes. We shared it with a couple of other packs, one with only two boys, and another with six boys.
Wednesday night was a tour of the camp, setting up our tents, walking out to the road to look at the starry sky (John Andert saw a meteor) and getting to bed (after, of course, putting smellables away in the bear box). Thursday morning would start with breakfast, and each camp site had to send two waiters for every table it had (Ponca had four tables for all the boys and adults). We ended up sending four boys once a day, so the two-boy pack could get a break, since the other pack took up two tables on its own. Lunches generally came with a salad bar, but dinner did not; dinner generally had a dessert item, though.
A little more on dining: Each meal came with a song where they asked you to stand up and participate. And some meals came with Announcements. Ask any of the Webelos how to respond to that word. I've already given them permission to do that in pack meetings.
There were different rotations -- different activities -- scheduled by camp. Ponca started with BB guns, which you know were a hit (no pun intended). Other activities included archery; the ecology building, with the Turtle pit (of death) where things live (but not very long) (explanation: they feed frogs to the turtles), that also had a trail going into the woods; the beach, with beach volleyball; the Scoutcraft area with a zip line, obstacle course, and climbing tower; minigolf; and the ever-popular Carpetball (ask your boys for the rules). Of course, the trading post was open at select hours to provide various items, not the least of which were slush puppies and nachos.
Thursday evening, Scoutmaster John Stafford of Troop 66 walked over with another of the troop leaders to visit the Webelos and welcome them to camp. They were in the Choctaw campsite of the Chippewa camp -- this is about due west of where Ponca is, a campsite all by itself on the east side of a parking lot by Lake Nielsen. There's no direct line there, but it is about a mile, one-way.
Thursday night, the weather started to cool off...but that was because of an approaching storm. On returning to camp, it seemed most people tried to secure their tents and possessions, to keep them dry and in-place. The sky was overcast, so no star-watching...but we did notice the lightning illuminating the clouds. Then we were all called back to the dining hall, so we could stay in the storm shelter. They opened the trading post, and boys lined up. Eventually, the storm broke, and we returned to mostly dry tents, and cooler temperatures.
(Note to parents: This is why large plastic bags, such as garbage bags or those XXL Ziploc bags, are good: they can hold a sleeping bag or a backpack, keeping it dry in the face of blowing rain. A poncho or raincoat for each boy is a must as well. Double-check what he packs to make sure he's included such things before he goes on his next camping trip.)
Friday morning, the boys did more activities after breakfast, and after lunch there was a sign-up for activity pin events. They had activities geared towards helping the boys earn a couple of belt loops or activity pins. The boys got to work on one later Friday, with the other being Saturday morning.
Friday night was supposed to be a campfire program, but a storm came in ahead of time. This cancelled the flag-lowering ceremony scheduled for right-before-hand at the "ginormous" flag-pole just outside the dining hall. Dinner was served, and it was nice not to be sweating from ear-lobes to ankles while eating. Afterwards, the boys were sent into the storm shelter to practice their skits for the campfire program, while the tables were cleared in the dining hall. Everyone came back up, and we had a mix of staff skits and campsite skits for entertainment. Noteworthy quotes from staff skits include "C'mon, now!" in a sort of hillbilly voice, and "Harden up, scout!" in an Australian accent...ask your boys for an explanation.
The rain stopped by the time the campfire was over, so we all got to return to our campsites in cooler temperatures. Speaking of keeping cool, there were separate showers below the dining hall for men, women, and boys, so the option to take a shower was there; just maybe not as often as you felt the need!
Saturday morning was the last meal in the dining hall, followed by the second activity pin/belt loop event. Then it was time to clean-up camp (and get our patches for Camp Navajo) before going down to the beach for a hot dog and bratwurst roast. After that, since all of the Webelos in our pack were going to the Outpost, we met in the parking lot with the counselors who were to be our guides for the Outpost portion of Camp Navajo. We drove north, to a parking area in the White Pine camp, then hiked to the Red Pine campsite. This is one of the newer campsites, and a troop had recently constructed new platforms, holding two tents each, with a central dining platform. Red Pine is the southwesternmost campsite at White Pine (near the swimming area), and most of the tents backed up on a slope that went down to the shoreline about twenty feet away. With the back flaps open, there was a marvelous view of the lake through the trees, and a cool breeze wafting up from the lake.
We took a long tour of the White Pine camp. The swimming area had the "Ice Berg," a white, inflated platform in the swimmer's area that could be climbed and slid down, as well as sail boats. We saw the Scoutcraft area, which had a much more involved obstacle course than the one in Navajo. There was also a horse corral, and a rifle range (Boy Scouts can use rifles, not just BBs). We also saw a large dining shelter, which is how many troops get their food. Rather than cook at their camps (with all the attendant clean-up in bear country), troops can opt to have dining hall food delivered to the dining shelter, and eat there.
After that, it was time for swimming, then everyone returned to Scoutcraft to prepare dinner: Cubed steak and vegetables in foil packets. While dinner was cooking, many of the boys played on the obstacle course, and they even opened up the climbing tower for some boys. After dinner, the walk back to Red Pine campsite took us past the trading post. We also gathered wood on the way, to light a fire on which we made dessert: s'mortillas, or s'macos, a tortilla, heated up, with a melted square of chocolate, and a roasted marshmallow. Delicious!
After cleaning up the gooey dessert, it was time to get ready for bed, but the wind picked up, and some flashes of lightning showed in the distance. The dangerous part of the storm missed us, but we did get rain, and the temperature dropped even further. After it passed, it was cold, but relatively still; the morning was cool enough to warrant wearing a sweatshirt to breakfast.
(Another note for parents: Even if the weather report says it will be hot and sunny during the day, it can still get very cold at night or in the morning, so making sure a long-sleeved sweatshirt or light jacket is packed is a good idea, even in summer. In spring or fall, you might include a warm sweater and a heavier coat. Again, always double-check what your son packs, because being caught unprepared can be uncomfortable at the least.)
Breakfast at Red Pine campsite was oatmeal, apples, and bagels with cream cheese. After that, we cleaned up camp, hiked back to the cars, and drove to the fire tower, back near the entrance to the Navajo camp. This tower is over 120 feet tall, with an open stairway working back-and-forth up to the hut at top. None of our boys seemed to have any fear of climbing that distance. We could just see the top of the ginormous flagpole at Navajo, and could see for miles.
(It is also worth noting that none of the boys who carried rocks to the hut were part of our pack, though our dads put a stop to the rock-dropping before it even began. This is perfectly in line with the Youth Protection Training adult leaders take: using our judgement to stop dubious behavior so that boys, or others, don't get hurt.)
After returning to Earth, our pack decided to hike the 0.8 miles to the Raven's Roost. This is northwest of the fire tower, but the pathway curves around to get there. The Raven's Roost is a Viking or Nordic-themed area. There are sod huts; a fort; a goat pen; a blacksmith hut; an area for a game like bocce ball, but with rocks and wooden blocks; a long-bow archery range where you shoot from something like the fort wall; and a hatchet-throwing range (or was that a bearded war axe?). While the boys played, lunch was prepared: Cheeseburgers over glowing coals!
After lunch, we hiked back to the cars, which were moved by the dads from the fire tower. Unfortunately, they ran out of Webelos Outpost patches, but they will mail me a set when they are available. There are also segments, arc-shaped pieces that can go around the outside of the circular patch. Segments for the fire tower and Raven's Roost exist, and I will see about ordering those for everyone who attended Outpost. We'll award them during our first den meeting/pack meeting/Join Cubs meeting this fall.
Thanks for everyone who helped make it happen!
