Scout Camp

[The Dude and a friend on the hike down from "Friendship Point".]

The Dude and I spent the weekend at Camp Phillippo near Cannon Falls, MN. It's an annual event where the Boy Scouts of Troop 150 "host" the Cub Scouts of Pack 150. The highlight of the weekend is the turkey roast on Saturday. They dig a pit, line it with rocks and drop two 14 pound birds (heavily wrapped in foil) into the pit and cover it with coals. This cooks for 2 hours and 15 minutes - all the while tended by scouts who keep burning logs to make coals, and then pouring coals into the pit.

It was delicious - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn. "Cub Scout Thanksgiving" according to the Dude.

[Building the tripod.]

There was a lot of outdoor stuff - building a tripod - I'm not sure what we would ever use the tripod for - it was mostly an exercise in knot-tying. We took a hike to "Friendship Point" with it's commanding view of the Cannon River valley. The boys mostly messed around, making up games and running through the woods.

[The view from the top of Friendship Point - looking west toward Northfield and Carleton - of course.]

We also were asked to do a one-hour service project - removing Buckthorn. We pulled a lot of Buckthorn. The trouble is we didn't apply herbicide so it will be back next year stronger than ever. One of the dads is a professional forester and it drove him crazy that we weren't really solving the problem, but the kids had a blast identifying Buckthorn so the Dad's could saw and hack it down.

[Phoning home to report on the deluxe accommodations Saturday night.]