A great bunch of High Adventure (HA) Scouts and Scouters had a fun day hike this past Saturday while the Troop was camping in Dupont Forest State Park in North Carolina. The Crew comprised the following Troop members, many of which were making their first HA trek.

We got on the trail, which Will J., Crew Chief, had laid out for us, about 9:00 AM after a short drive from our really nice campsite. Everyone was eager to get on the trail as we'd not been hiking for several months, so it was time to change that status. Will J., with map and notes in hand, and a very eager Crew, lead the way. The Great Scoutmaster was also watching out for us as we had some really nice weather to hike, especially for August.

The hiking terrain was pretty easy overall and it did not take long for us to figure out that this area would be a good place to come back another day to do some mountain biking. Will J. noted to the Crew that he'd mountain biked these trails before, so with his help, maybe we could make that kind of a trek in the near the future. Anyhow, we made very good time on the trails and soon came upon a very small and very old cemetery from the 1800's. Unfortunately, most of the stones were so well weather worn, we could not read the inscriptions except for one, with a death date of 1886. Sad, that such a piece of American history should be lost for lack of maintenance and preservation.

Our hike next took us to the first of several water falls we would see that day. It was tough not taking the time at this first one to cool the feet but we knew we had to stay on schedule and also knew there was a swimming hole scheduled at the end of the trek. By about noon time the Crew decided it was time for lunch so we headed into another water fall area. Unfortunately, the first half of the Crew moving down the trail to the waterfall unknowingly stirred up a nest of yellow jackets for the other half of the Crew to deal with. Will W., Josh P., and Caleb A. can readily tell you just how much a yellow jacket sting hurts as they all were stung once or twice each. Fortunately, "Doc" C. with his trusty first aid kit was with us and he does make house calls when he hears a fellow Scout holler "Medic." After lunch it was back on the trail as we headed for three more water falls. Two of them were pretty big and offered pools of water at the base that many other people had hiked in to enjoy them.

Along the way Mr. Koontz pointed out sassafras plants to the Crew and what it could be used for, to include making a great cup of tea. Both Adam L. and Caleb A. figured a cup of homemade tea might taste pretty good back at camp tonight, so they obtained several good size sassafras plant roots to give it a try. (They followed Mr. Koontz's instructions to a "T" which resulted in some really great tea they shared with several of us during campfire - well done guys).

After seeing a couple more water falls, the Crew focused on getting to the end of trail to cool the body or at least their feet, at the last water fall were we were to link up with the younger Scouts and their advisors who were doing a five mile compass training hike. However, before we got there we were very fortunate enough to cross trail of a man with two large parrots. I must admit that upon seeing two parrots in the woods, I immediately asked Will J. to do a map check as I was really concerned we'd taken one heck of a wrong turn! The parrot owner was more than delighted to show some of the tricks his parrots could do, to include other animal sound imitations, telling us it's name, and doing acrobatics on his owner hands and shoulder, as well as it's ability to ride on his dog's back (dog seemed most contented with his two passengers and he was not even a "bird dog"). He (the parrot) also showed us how neatly he could peel an apple slice and leave the skin intact. By the way, did you know that a parrot's life span can be 100 years old? Once the show was over (it lasted about 10 minutes and had us all amazed and thoroughly entertained) our parrot friend being so gracious said his "goodbye" and we headed on down the trail again. However, we were not all that much further along when we found a man walking his two ferrets, with another in his bag taking a nap. The ferrets were really awesome and we learned a little about them from their owner (all three were rescues from prior owners who did not do their "ferret homework" before becoming ferret owners).

Finally, after almost 8 miles of trail, we arrived at the last of our scheduled water falls and linked up with the rest of the Troop. The water was pretty inviting, to include sitting under a rushing water fall, which Mr. Koontz got into first. It just looked like too much fun for him to have all to himself, so he was shortly followed by others, to include Mr. Colvin. Talk about experiencing a serious Jacuzzi for those aching muscles! After chilling for awhile it was time to saddle up and head to the parking lot to get back to camp for dinner and get ready for a Troop campfire (orchestrated by our very own Mac Stewart and Nathan Thompson).

Two trail names were earned on this trek. Caleb A. is now known as "Candy Man" for all the candy he carried and shared with the Crew, and Adam L. is now known as "Sassafras" for the great sassafras tea he made (with the help of the Candy Man). Unfortunately, we did not find trail names for the other new HA Crew members, but that's okay, as a trail name has to be just right, so we look forward to the next HA Trek to find that just right trail name.

Special thanks to Will J. for being our Crew Chief and keeping us headed in the right direction at all times, as well as for staying on schedule. Also, thanks to Doc Cotterman for serving as our medic and rendering first aid to our three Scouts who were stung by yellow jackets (I think Doc's billings for services rendered will be in the mail by the end of the week for those three guys). Thanks also to Mr. Stewart who did all the coordination and most of the planning for the Troop's camp out this past weekend - well done!

I was very pleased by the performance of the entire HA Crew during this Trek. All were well prepared for the trek and demonstrated those qualities of good Scouting which are essential to each and every member of a Troop 159 HA Crew. Well done men, and looking forward to our next Trek together.

If you were HA eligible and missed this trek, you missed a good day of HA with some great Scouts and Scouters. I hope you will join us for the next trek as HA is where we put our Scouting skills to the test and build even better Scouts.

High Adventure Scouts Do Scouting At It's Best,

DAVID E. COLVIN
ASM, Senior Advisor, High Adventure Program