October 2012 - Badger Creek

Cold and snowy were a big change from last month's campout, but the boys gathered at the church parking lot all the same and after loading up the vehicles we were off to Badger Creek - BYU-Idaho's Outdoor Learning Center.

The roads to Teton Valley were clear and we made good time to Badger Creek where we were met by one of the eager staff members.  After a brief orientation we made the quick drive to our campsite NW of the pond.

With at least an hour's worth of camp setup and a half hour of daylight left the boys set to it.  They had their two tents up in reasonable time after clearing the snow, but discovered that one of the tent's main door zipper was broken, letting in the cold air.  So while the others prepared their tin-foil dinners the SPL and ASPL trekked to the main lodge for some duct tape.

Eventually all was taped shut and the boys cooked and ate their dinners over the welcome warmth of the fire.  It continued to snow lightly through the majority of the evening, but this didn't deter the boys from playing some night games before heading to bed.

In the morning a fire was quickly rekindled, and while the gear and tents were packed up many hands contributed to the breakfast preparations.  We made scrambled eggs with sausage, potatoes, onions and garlic, and nearly everyone had their fill.

Our Badger Creek guides for the morning arrived and were patient in waiting until our troop had finished packing up and clearing the campsite. Then it was off to our morning activities.

The troop first had to "Save the Baby" by sending one of the boys to a pole along a rope line without anyone touching the ground inside within about twenty foot radius of the pole. They accomplished this in record time.

The second activity involved having all the troop members swing on a rope over a pole to a small platform. This took much longer than the first activity. The boys learned some valuable lessons about teamwork and planning.

The third station was one of our own making where we improvised a trust fall. We were impressed that all the boys fell back with good form and without hesitation.

The last activity was the "Spider Web". Again the boys were given an opportunity to practice their planning and leadership skills as they got all the troop from one side of the web to the other without touching the web or re-using any hole.

As we made our way home we had a final opportunity to "Do a good turn daily" by stopping to help tow out a family whose truck had slid off the road. The boys enjoyed their lunches in the cars while we made out way home arriving just as scheduled.