PowderHorn Weekend #1

PowderHorn Weekend #1 - May 29-31, 2009
Camp Squanto
Plymouth, MA

Friday, May29th:
Joe D. picked me up at my house (with a cup of coffee! :)) around 6:45am, right on time. We needed to get to camp by 8:00 am or so to check in. The ride was nice full of good discussions and the anticipation of a very busy weekend. The rain pitter pattered all the way down to Plymouth, rarely getting to be heavy just enough to keep the wipers moving every so often. The grey skies didn't sullen the mood though and we arrived just before 8am.

I took with me my large blue external backpack (thanks Uncle Mike!) and a good sampling of gear. An estimated weigh-in showed it was near 50lbs but included a lot of gear that I would not have packed for a real backpacking trip. What would not be brought was the extra lumbar pack (Mountain smith Day lumbar pack), extra toiletries, 2 large towels, bathing suit, water shoes (not as light as crocs), extra meds instead of just the large medical kit I have, ditty bag to hold all toiletries & meds and some other odds and ends that would not have made the cut. Also I didn't search for my polypro clothing and took mostly cotton (Yikes!) as we were at a camp and not in danager of freezing in the woods. I estimate that all together there was at least 5-8 lbs of excess weight.

Some of the good things I did take, included John O.'s MSR Hubba Hubba tent. I will do a short review on this later but this tent is quickly becoming my favorite though I did surrender it to him afterwards. With the tent, I had a drop cloth not cut down to the tent size though, Raincoat, Rainpants, collapsable chair, cook kit (MSR Windpro with 1 lg & 1 sm canister), sleeping bag, Ridge Rest Deluxe pad, 2-800ml KleenKanteen's, small food bag with snacks (coffee, breakfast & 1 freezedried meal - I always have food with me!), extra insulated cup for coffee, ziplock bags and other misc. stuff. I'm sure I'm forgetting something but it was a heavy pack. I do like external packs but will try the internal pack soon. And be a little more conscious on what I am packing and might even have a gear list with weights prior. We'll see if I have time as each occassion I'm able to pack the backpack is practice and helps for better planning. Overall I was happy with the gear though the RidgeRest just doesn't cut it very well on hard wooden surfaces. I need to find a way to bring my heavier but much more comfortable Therm-a-rest pad, mainly a way to keep it dry so I can put it on my pack. Using the rain pants over shorts when it gets colder does work well for me and my rainjacket does a great job over microfleece. Ok enough gear talk!

So we arrive and check in with our medical forms, speak briefly with the nurse and get our new shirt, weekend agenda and Crew assignments. Powderhorn is based on the Venture Scouts format just like Woodbadge is based on the Troop format. So I got Crew C, later to be known and the "Clueless Crew". I met a spazzy yet entertaining and wonderfully knowledgable Crew Advisor Stephanie. Let me tell you if I had to choose one person to save my sorry butt out in the woods, she'd be on the list maybe 1st. She later gave several of the lectures including a winter trip on Katahdin slide show, WOW! She directed us to our campsite and told us drop gear and get back soon. Joe and I hit the tent platforms and he decided to pitch his tent outside while I put the HubbaHubba INSIDE the canvas BSA camp tent. It fit in the same spot where a very uncomfortable bed/pad would have resided. While the canvas is waterproof there is no bug netting, so putting the HubbaHubba inside without the rain fly makes for a bug free haven. This is a setup I'd use instead of the hanging mosquito nets commonly used at summer camp. So while we got settled we met some of the other participants including some familiar faces. For me it's good to have people there that I know otherwise it takes me a lot of time to get comfortable. After a brief opening ceremony we were off to our lectures. The schedule was flexible but didn't leave a lot of time between lectures. Lunch was good as far as camp food goes and there was plenty of it. They provided a salad bar with lunch & diner and it was nicely done. There was a lot of classroom time as expected especially with the weather being so wet. Generally it wasn't too bad but there were a few periods of rain and wind. The lectures covered a whole range of topics, including what is required when camping with co-ed crew (yes Girls can be part of venture crews age 14+) as well as backpacking and others. I lost my agenda sheet so I'm not sure of the exact order but the topics were good. The one primary draw back was that each topic was only an introduction, of course with such a limited time schedule it's hard to dive deep into any one topic.

The evening ended with the discussions regarding working with teens and "The Sweet 16 of BSA Safety" review. The format provided us with time to have an open discussion with other leaders and gain some personal insights/stories on some of the challenges. I think out of the 1st day it was the most useful of the sessions. Since it was after diner and it was long day I brought along some twisslers and also some Beef Jerky as a joke though both were well received by the group. Afterwards I decided to avoid the morning rush and hit the showers before bed. While getting back to the site we saw that several Cub Scout groups had arrived for the Saturday chuck wagon derby and as usual the scouts were extremely active. Unfortunately for most of the others the noise of the scouts kept many awake well past 10pm quiet time (camp general rule). I think I heard one person say it was near midnight before the running around and screaming ended. This unfortunately is something more and more common with Cubs and being a Cub Scout leader I'm all to familiar with the difficulty in controlling a large group of Cub Scouts. More on that later. I had a good night sleep and was glad for the shower before bed.

Saturday, May 30th:
While I had a good night sleep I was woken up by some cubs running by on the road next to our campsite. This was an omen for the day as I knew the Cranberry Harbors chuckwagon derby always brought a TON of Cubs to Camp Squanto. They do an awesome job setting up the theme and events. They run ALL day! We were told at one point that we would be changing our venue for the day since the "little blue people" would be swarming all over the dining hall area all day. While they weren't using the dining hall they were using the outside patio and area all around so it was best to just work with them and move. This was the area we were using for our lectures so we moved to the welcome center.

We began the day with moutaineering discussions and the awesome slideshow from Katahdin by Stephanie. Again while we weren't able to get into deep detail about it the ability to get some familiarity with the topic as well as understand the planning required was great. It's amazing the amount of gear and planning including training and practice required by it. I've read a lot about it so it wasn't news to me but it was great to see that some groups actually are able to get out and enjoy this type of challenge. While we were in the lecture the day began to really brighten up and we could tell it was some really nice weather for us to enjoy.

Before lunch we split into two large groups one went to Scuba and the other to COPE. COPE, stands for Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience and is essentially a really cool outdoor obstacle course. Though it has some elements that aren't solved by brute force, you have to use your mind. We played a few group games designed to get you thinking and build the teams. Some of which were so easy we'll bring them back to the Troop right away. We ended the session wth a tour of the low course and discussions on each areas goal. This turned out great and finished up before lunch. After lunch the two groups switched and we got a great introduction to Scuba and what is available to scouts. I thought we were actually going to be in the water and was worried about the temp as it turns out the swimming part was not run since it was very cold. Afterwards we were given the option of going to the COPE high course (think high tower with lots of ropes) or some free time. Since our schedule was so busy I opted to take a nap and went back to the campsite. A few others did the same and we burned some sleep time with some talk. It was hard to "nap" as the cubs were still prowling the entire camp grounds but it was ok.

After taking a well needed nap we went back and assembled for a discussion on Bike's. We had two speakers with a lot of varied experience. It was a good discussion and added some valuable insight into bikes and trekking. It was nice to see the two styles of biking, one was speed oriented and the other touring. I loved bike riding as a kid and actually did a bike trip with my Boy Scout Troop in Carver from Carver center to Camp Squanto for an overnight campout. I don't remember the mileage but we had a good time.

Finally as the night approached we had diner and a cracker barrel. Along with that one of the leaders took orders for merchandise (clothing) with course embroidery. It took a while but I did eventually order a fleece jacket with zip off sleeves to replace my current one which has some holes from a camp fire. It was a lot of money but it was a purchase I had been contemplating for a while.

As I did the night before I hit the showers, of course heading over to the adult showers we saw many of the cubs playing in the youth showers. I had to find a cub leader and explain that they really shouldn't be playing in the showers. We also had an incident with youth in the adult shower area. The cubs either weren't told that adult showers were off limits to kids (even with their parent) or ignored this advice. There's significant differences between a Cub camp (Massasoit) and a Scout camp (Squanto). Fortunately Joe D. gave the adult some strong words and nothing became of the incident, apparently the ladies were also having the same problem and were happy Joe was barking out some instructions to the cubs. Plus when we arrived in the adult showers the toilets were clogged with tissue and we had to clean up the place a bit.

The night was clear and cool and made for some great sleeping weather. Joe and I agreed that we'd pack up early and get our gear in the truck before breakfast so we could make a hasty exit.

Sunday, May 31st:
I must admit that it was hard getting up early. I was tired from two days of activities and lectures and the thought of going through another day was a bit daunting. Fortunatly we had a light schedule for today. It included a lecture on winter sports mainly skiing and then a discussion on Equestrian. Now the Equestrian lecture was given by some local horse owners who brought four horses with them. Unfortunately while it was interesting it was completely irrelevant as they had no information on how venture crews might be able to rent/use horses for a day etc. So we got bored pretty quick. One thing that was pretty darn funny was when the last two horses showed up. The first one out was a mare and apparently was "in season", well the stallion that was brought out afterwards was quite aware of the first's situation. They had a time keeping the stallion calm for obvious reasons. There were lots of comments flying around and we all had a good laugh.

Right afterwards we were treated to a lively discussion about firearms. Guns are a good thing. :) We talked about what is allowed for Scouts and Venture crews as well as safety issues and range requirements. The guys handling the lecture were great and knowledgeable. After lunch we were allowed to shoot some of them as well. I skipped the shotguns and went for the handguns but they only had a .22 pistol. :( I had hoped they were going to allow us to shoot the black powder rifle but they ran out of time.

At the end of the schedule while waiting for final comments/annoucements a storm rolled in. So we were able to scramble out just as the real rain arrived. :)

I'm sure I left some details out but I hope I got the lectures and events in the right order. Hard to do after a few days removed from the weekend. Overall the course was about what I had expected though I had hoped for more detailed information as compared to just an overview of topics.

Next weekend the topics appear to be real good and I hope that the staff is able to continue putting on a good program.

Unforunately I can't get away from comparing this course to Wood Badge. It's to be expected since both are billed as "advanced training" courses for Scout leaders. While they both are, Wood Badge is far more focused on personal and group leadership while Powderhorn is focused on group programs. Both have their place but to someone who's trying to chose between the two I'd have to say Wood Badge is the more relevant of the two for Pack & Troop leaders. I'd recommend it over Powderhorn just for the reasons I've noted.

Overall the 1st weekend was good, lots of information, lots of fun and good time I believe was had by all.

-Stephen