For dinner we alternated cooks and dishwashers. The first 3 that cooked were Carson, Tucker, and Kaleb. Mike was kind and brought his Camp Chef stove so we had a decent burner this time. They cooked some dang good chicken in a dutch oven. Mike has a secret recipe which was really good and fortunately he let us know what it was. The boys cut up bacon and potatoes and mixed it with cheese. It was an excellent dinner with excellent cooks. The clean up crew was Andrew, Ben and Antonio. We got things done and put away in a decent amount of time and then the boys got to play. One of the highlights was chasing a couple rabbits around. A couple of them fell into the creek as well.
Kaleb's dad Ben was instrumental in getting a firewood collection going. He brought down an armful of limbs which spurred all the boys to look. Pretty soon they were hauling whole trees down. I bring a small old hatchet for the boys to use as I don't really want them banging up my nice ax. I could tell it was going to take awhile to chop up those trees so I got my ax out and started whacking away. I cut up the first tree for the most part but by then the boys wanted to use my nice ax and I was tired so I gave in. It only sustained one minor nick which I was able to file out for the most part. Hector chopped a bunch as well.
When it got dark I put out some smore stuff and the boys cut some willows. They had a small campfire program in mind which was to tell scary stories and then I would end with a spiritual thought and prayer. They started out and did two skits. The first was called "JcPenny" and the second was the "Invisible Bench". They did a good job and were funny and were going to do another but then they got distracted in the wall tent while practicing. I heard them playing some kind of a game about a kitty I think. I encouraged them to go on with the program but by then they were getting engrossed so I went outside to shoot the breeze with the adults and the program was over. I think the adults enjoyed themselves by the fire and I had a good time but I know nothing about insulation and concrete so I didn't chip in much of my thoughts.
So about 10:30-11:00 pm the adults had mostly drifted off to their tents. Me and Tom paused a little bit and swapped our woes about our businesses for a minute and then we went to bed. As I was laying out my bivy sack I could tell that the boys had started to tell their scary stories. At first they were laughing really loud and I could tell they were having a good time. I wondered if they would jabber until 2 in the morning like my last group of scouts would. I started watching the stars with my binoculars for awhile and the moon was starting to come up. There were tons of stars out so it was good star gazing. I even saw a few falling stars and the Milky Way was was incredible just before the moon came up. Constellations were bright and I started to reflect on the Creation and the wonder of how it all came about.
It was probably about midnight and the boys had quit laughing and were talking more quiet (I was probably around 100 feet away from their tent). I could hear faint snoring sounds from most of the directions where the fathers were. The boys were getting more and more quiet and then more quiet and then all of a sudden.... Silence! And then about 1 minute later all their voices come together singing "When I am baptised". It was a most beautiful spiritual thing as I listened to them singing all in tune while watching the stars. The words "I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain" really hit me hard. I was very proud of my boys and felt wonder as I realized how great they were and that there was hope for their generation. I knew that all of these boys would be great leaders some day. (Sis. Kunz would have been very proud if she had heard them as I know they don't always sing that well in primary.)
After the singing died down there were a few more giggles and then silence. I imagined them saying their prayers silently as they were drifting off to sleep. After laying there a few seconds pondering what I had just heard.. All of a sudden the thought hit me like a knock on the head. Their voices had been kinda quivering a little when they started. I bet they had freaked themselves out so bad with their stories and then with the snoring kinda coming from all directions they were getting pretty frightened of what goes knock in the dark.... and so they had sung to calm themselves. But my hopes were not dashed because rather than run off to their dads they had formed together as a group and sang and built off each other's strengths. "Now that," I thought, "is a patrol of boys coming together and realizing that with unity and the strength of the Lord they can overcome fears and obstacles." I was still proud.
We woke up a little after 6 am and the boys started cooking breakfast. Ben, Andrew and Antonio cooked scrambled eggs, bacon and hashbrowns with cheese. Other than cracking a few eggs kind of funny and sliding off on the ground and the hashbrowns being slightly undercooked things went really well and we had a good breakfast. Carson, Kaleb and Tucker then cleaned up mostly with me and Mike helping and then we got things packed up. Ben and Hector had their tent down and stuff put away by 6:40 am. but it was still a little after 8 am before we got everything else down and packed. As everybody was pulling out in their vehicles again like a dummy I forgot to take pictures of the actual camp set up and the boys. We had a great time though. I took some shots as we were leaving of the scenery and of the canyon. It is a beautiful drive out. I am thankful to be able to work with these boys and to get to know them. I hope they all get their Eagle Scout award and I am bummed I only get them for 1 year.
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| The plan for cooking and cleaning |
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| The Tetons in the far distance as I topped a ridge out the Packsaddle way |
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| Looking back on Horseshoe Canyon |
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| The Tetons again |
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| The Tetons and overlooking Driggs to the far right and Tetonia to the left |
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| The Teton River at Cache Bridge |
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| The other side of Cache Bridge |
