March Appalachian Trail Backpacking Trip

I am just about to leave my house when the strap on my backpack breaks. I immediately switch everything into my other backpack that is not that good. My mom then drives me over to Prince of Peace Church where the troop is meeting. The backpacking trips are my favorite campouts! 

We have to fill up a water jug so we can leave it at the second campsite since there is no water at that campsite. I get into Mr. Peterson’s car with some of the venture scouts. We then proceed to drive to the Appalachian Trail campsite so that we can hike up to where we are camping. We have to hike about three-quarters of a mile to actually get to the campsite. The first campsite we stayed at was Mt. Algo North.

Once we get to the campsite, Brandon and I start setting up our tent so that we will be ready to go to bed when we want to. The two of us head up to where the venture patrol is camping and we talk with them a little bit before we head back down to our tent.

We are one of the first ones to wake up in the morning so we immediately pack up our things and start taking down our tent. After that we help get some water for the stove and then start to boil the water so that we can make our breakfast. We eat our breakfast and then wait for everyone else to finish and to take down their tents.

Around 8 a.m. we head down to the road and meet up with Ryan. We then cross the road and get on the trail for hiking. Ryan and I hike together as buddies. We have to hike about 4 miles before we stop and group up. At that point Ryan and I come to the meeting place and there are already a few other scouts there. We wait and finally are allowed to head out again. This time it is only a two mile hike to where we are meeting for lunch. We get there and my mom is waiting with Brandon’s mom. She brought my dog, Daisy — she was happy to see me. Mom also brought some homemade brownies so we were all happy. We walk the last mile to where we are actually eating lunch and we settle down for about half an hour before we get up and go.

Once we start up again I am in a group with Brandon, Ryan, and myself. Along the way we pass some of the others since they stopped to fill up water bottles. This stretch was 5-6 miles of flat trail. The first 2 miles were fine but then it got very boring. We get to the base of the Silver Hill campsite where we wait for everyone else to arrive. This is where we eat the brownies.

After we refill our water we hike up to the Silver Hill campsite and stake out for the night. There is a  group of us hanging around and talking for a while. Tim decides to go for a run and he takes money from people so that he can buy them some drinks. I was the one to start this. Tim got me a big bottle of gatorade and it was quite good. After we eat dinner my mom and Brandon’s mom decide to go home so they hike back down to where they parked their cars. Tim, Ryan, Brandon, and I decide to sleep outside on this big platform. Since Ryan, Brandon, and I do not need our tent up we take it down so that we won’t have to deal with it in the morning. The four of us talk for a very long time and finally fall asleep around 11:30 p.m.

I wake up and stay in my sleeping bag a bit but finally decide it is time to get changed. Finally I decide to get up and I roll up my sleeping bag and mat and put them in my backpack. I am now fully packed up so I help start the stove, heat up the water and eat my breakfast. We are soon heading down to the cars. We stop at a gas station on the way home and I get another gatorade since I was thirsty. We finally get back to Prince of Peace and I am soon in my car heading home!

For more info. about scouting in Brookfield please contact the following people: Cubscouts - Rob Libbey Pack 5 at 203-7445-2412, Rob Janofsky Pack 135 @203-775-9578, Boyscouts Kirk Lauri Troop 135 @ 203-470-9050, Jonathan Gibney Troop 8, Tom Tyrell, Troop 5 @ 203-775-4448.