PHOTO ALBUM

This page is dedicated to the trips we have taken.  This is an electronic scrapbook that can be shared with many people other than those in our Troop.

Philmont Scout Ranch 2001:  These are just a few pictures that were taken during the 11 day backpacking trek.  I will try to put more in here as I scan them.

Buggy Top Cave 2-02:  This an area that doesn't get a lot of traffic.  There is a large cave at the end of the 2 mile hike. We had taken the WEBELOS out for a hike as part of their Arrow of Light requirement.

Spring Camporee 02:  This camporee proved to be exciting, but muddy.  The area got about 3" of rain in the day leading up to the event.  There was no rain during the Camporee, but the ground was saturated already.  Everyone had a wonderful time and may have learned something during the weekend.  The theme for this Camporee was Scout basics.

Boxwell Summer Camp 02:  Boxwell is located on Old Hickory Lake in Gallatin, TN.  Its beautiful location features rolling hills with lots of good campsites and hiking trails.  The surrounding waters are excellent for swimming, canoeing, fishing, and other aquatic activities.  Actually, there have been four "Boxwells"; Linden, TN (1921-1929), Narrows of the Harpeth, (1930-1948), Rock Island (1948-1959) and the present one.  Each Boxwell provided great outdoor experiences for boys and their adult leaders and made its own contribution to the camping traditions of the Middle TN Council.
In 1960 the first summer camp season at the present camp was held for hundreds of eagerly waiting Scouts.  Since 1960 over 110,000 Scouts and leaders have experienced camping at Boxwell.

Florida Trip 02: Every other year we try to take a trip LA (lower Alabama).  We go to Mobile, AL and spend the night on the Battleship Alabama.  The next day we travel to Pensacola and camp for two nights.  We visit the lighthouse, the Naval Air Museum and in the evening after supper in the galley, we go the the beach.  GREAT FUN!

Council Fall Camporee 02:  Every two years the Council hosts the Camporee.  This was the year.  They got permission to have the Camporee on the grounds of the Hermitage in Nashville.  The home of Andrew Jackson.  We saw his home from a distance, but we were off in one of the fields.  The theme of the event was the basics of Scouting...ie, fire building, First Aid, Plant Id, Lashing, and Map and Compass.  The event was well attended and the Scouts had a good time.

Stone Door (9-02):  The stone door is part of the South Cumberland Recreation Area.  The area is also known as Savage Gulf.  The area has been carved like a giant crow foot into the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau, the Savage Gulf St. Natural Area.  There are many different trails that can be hiked, ranging from easy to streanous.  You could spend a week in this area hiking the many trails.  See maps for more details.

Franklin State Forest:   In November,02 we went to the top of Monteagle mountain to this camping place.  This a very overlooked area, thankfully.  There are no improvements, except for the trail system, which was an Eagle project for Troop 391 in Estill Springs.  On this day it was very foggy and cold.  We thought the fog would lift at some point, but it never did.  We didn't see the grand overlooks until Sunday on the hike out.  Everyone had a chilly good time.

Franklin St. Forest:  3-03   This trip was more plesent than the previous time we were there.  We hiked out on the western  trail.  There is a very good view of the valley below from there.  The young Scouts had fum playing in an old fallen tree that they were also cutting up for firewood.

Flag ceremony 02:  Our Troop participated in a 9-11 flag ceremony that a local company was performing.

Winter Camporee 03:  The District camping committee picked a spot where no one had been before.  The Winter Camporees in the Elk River District has traditionally been backpacking, and this one was no exception.  We started at the top of Keith Springs Mt. and hiked down into Round Cove.  Down in this case was about 800' in a couple of miles. This also meant that the next morning we would have to go back up those 800'.  In the cove there were many things to do and see.  There were two caves to explore.  The local rescue team helped with a repelling station. This proved to be the best attended event of the day.  There is a lot of logging in the bottom, so there was a tour of the operations there, and there was a talk given on the history of the cove and the surrounding area.  The weather was fine, but cold. I took some video of the campfire, download if you want to watch.  It is a large file, (2.7M).   The overnight temp got down to about 17 degrees.  But, it is advertised as the WINTER Camporee.  Everyone had fun and can now talk about the cold trip where we had the hard hike up the mountain.

Foster Falls, 19-April-03:  This was a plan "B" location, but it turned out to be a very good location.  We hiked the 2.5 miles to the Small Wilds  campsites.  Once there we set up camp ate lunch and then hiked another 2.5 miles futher into the Fiery Gizzard Wilderness area.  The day had been overcast and a very threatening cloud appeared, so we cut the hike short and returned to camp.  The valley that we crossed on the hike has some very interesting rock formations and some very large Hemlock trees.  We returned to camp and started gathering wood for the fire.  Ate supper and sat around the fire till late.  Most of the Scouts went to bed around 9:00.  Some of the adults stayed up till 10:00.  That is very late for a camping trip.
Those attending were:Jeremy G., Simon, Jeremy M., Jonathan M., Corbin, Stephen, Gunner, Joe, Sean, Thomas, C.J., Daniel B., Daniel M., Joe H., Paul, Mark, Mike, Chris, Tom

Spring Camporee 17-April-03:  The theme of this year's Camporee was Emergency Preparedness.  As it turned out we didn't just learn about stuff from the book.  Friday night started out clear, but early Saturday morning the rain started.  It was a slow gentle rain, the kind that makes for good sleeping.  It ended before sunrise and Satruday seemed like it was going to shape up as a very fine day.  The Scouts got breakfast cooked and dishes cleaned before we headed up to HQ for the events.  Everything was going smoothly until the CAP (Civil Air Patrol) started getting storm warning alarts on their radios.  The forcaster was following a storm that was moving across Southern TN, very fast.  We continued with the events till lunch.  At this time the storm was getting close.  We went back to camp to tie everything down and get ready for the predicted 40 mph winds.  Once all was secure, we kept the Scouts close with the intent of moving into the cars when the winds got to us.  This didn't take long.  You could hear the wind coming across the lake and the woods.  We got into the cars and just waited.  About 15-20 min. later the wind was gone leaving only a light rain in it's place.  We got out and started cooking lunch.  We did advancements after lunch as the weather was threatening rest of the day.  Evening came without anymore rain.   Supper was started and finished.  At 8:00 there was an abriviated meeting to "call-out" the new OA candidates.  At 8:20 we were back in camp, and it was a good thing, too.  Another storm was approaching fast.  By the time the first lightning was seen there was only about 10 minutes to prepare for it.  This time it rained HARD for 45 minutes.  At the end, or almost end of this rain, most of the tents had some water in them.  We shuffled kids around to get them into a dry spot and retired for the night.  The rain stopped by about 10:00.
    Everyone survived the night and now they have something that they can remember for quite a while.  "Do you remember the Camporee where we had the strong winds and the wet tents?"
What fun Scouting is...

Philmont Scout Ranch 7-03:  Here are some of the nearly 500 photos taken on our adventure in New Mexico in July.