2015 Homeless Campout - Troop 1 - night of December 11, 2015

Location - Frankfort KY

Mileage - 1/2 mile from home
Weather - Warm.  NO Rain
Clothing - T-shirt, long pants and fleece jacket.
Shoes - Hiking Boots - for exploring under the bridge
Camping Style - I slept under a cardboard box
Sleeping bag - I brought my Teton 0 bag, but didn't use it until 2 AM.  I had my wool blanket, and was warm until about 2 AM.
Sleeping - I slept on my cot.
Main Activities - This is the third year that Troop 1 has done this campout.  They met at their chartered organization and walked to the Soup Kitchen for supper.  After supper, we walked to Capital Bridge where the man was found frozen to death in 1984.  That was the reason why the Soup Kitchen and Men's Shelter was started.  We went to the bridge this year, and a guy named Gene was asleep under the bridge. He had been drinking and was kicked out of the Shelter earlier in the day.  As of December 28,2016, he has been checked into a rehab facility in Lexington KY where he will be able to sober up.  Since Gene was under the bridge, we did not invite the Scouts under the bridge to see what the conditions were like.  This was the 2nd year in a row where someone was under that bridge during Homeless Camp.  Last year it was Bennie.  After the bridge, we went back to the church to get settled for the night.  The news crew was there, and interviewed several of the Scouts.  The video is posted on this blog.
Extra Gear - No extra gear for this trip.
Nights Camping - 1
Total nights camping so far this year - 22 nights in a tent or outside in 2015!  I also had 3 nights inside a building with the Scouts.  This was 2 nights at Aldersgate Camp in the Lodge in December 2015, and 1 night for the lockin at the beginning of the year.

Next Campout - The next campout will be in 2016.  January 30, 2016 is the Klondike Derby.

This was my cardboard shelter.  It was quite comfortable.  

Troop 1 and Tyler from Troop 215 camping area.

One of the scouts from Troop 1 being interviewed during the campout.

Same Scout being interviewed.

This is me talking to the reporter.  Nothing I talked about was put in the story.  Being on TV is not why I was there.  This was my first year at the homeless campout.

Council of the Eagles.  This is a great story, and will be used in many upcoming Scoutmaster Minutes.  As I was sitting in front of the camping area, two guys walked by.  One of them I recognized.  He had lived at the Shelter when I first started at Executive Director.  I knew it already about the guy who had lived at the Shelter, but both guys are Eagle Scouts; they are brothers too.  They ended up spending about 30 minutes talking to the Scouts at the campout about working on their goals, and if that goal is obtaining the rank of Eagle Scout, they must work hard.  They talked about all the benefits of being an Eagle Scout.  The guy who had lived at the Shelter pulled me aside later and told me that he was doing well now.  He told me that he had simply lost his way while he was living at the Shelter, and I reminded him of who he was.  I was a Cubmaster of a Pack in Frankfort when I first started at the Shelter.

Since that night, I've been thinking about why I would be in the role of a homeless shelter director, especially as someone who was a registered Scouter that loved my work with the Scouts.  The guy who talked to the Scouts that night was the only Eagle Scout that I know of who has lived at the Shelter since I've been here.  However, there have been many guys who have been involved in Scouting.  I hear about it all the time from the men who live here.  They tell me how they miss the fun times that they had as a Scout.  

These Scouts have simply wandered off the trail of life, and I feel like I have a chance to remind them that the trail is still there to be  traveled.  That has to be why I'm here.

And so ends the 2015 season of camping.  What an adventure it was!  22 nights camping outside in 2015.  21 nights outside in 2014.  I joined Troop 215 as an ASM in December 2013.  I had one campout with the troop in 2013 (one night).  That means I've had 44 nights camping since December 2013 to the end of December 2015.

Scouts Camp Out To Help Homeless

Scouts Camp Out To Help Homeless

Patriot Games - Fort Knox, KY, October 16-18, 2015

Location - Fort Knox Military Base, Kentucky

Mileage - 268.2 miles round trip.  I topped off the gas in my truck on the way home.  I stopped at an Exchange (military gas station) on base since I found gas for $1.93/gallon.  I had already driven 159.4 miles, and it took 13.72 gallons to fill my truck.  I was pulling the Scout trailer, and after this fill up, I discovered that I get 11.61 miles to the gallon while pulling the Scout trailer.  That sucks!
Weather - No Rain, but COLD!  Friday night was in the upper 50s when we arrived, 31 Friday night/Saturday Morning, high of 57 during the day Saturday, and 28 Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Clothing - During the day, I wore my Carhartt pants (green), and a t-shirt under a woolen shirt.I also had my fleece jacket from Wood Badge and I took my rain coat. I wore the raincoat on top of everything else on Saturday night to stay warm in front of the fire.
Shoes - Old Tennis Shoes.  I took my hiking boots, but didn't wear them since I knew I would do a lot of walking, and it wasn't raining.
Tent Camping - I set up my Slumberjack Trail Tent 4.
Sleeping bag - I brought my Teton 0 bag.  I zipped it up to my shoulders.  I didn't get cold on Saturday morning, but did get a little cold on Sunday morning.
Sleeping - I used my camping pad on top of my new Texsport Deluxe Camp cot.  I wore ear plugs and a sock cap to keep my head warm.  I wore long underwear (top and bottom), and wool socks.  I ordered the Camp Cot because I'm tired of sleeping on the ground.  The Texsport Camp Cot fit well inside my 4 man tent, and it was very comfortable.
Main Activities - We toured the Patton Leadership Museum that was right beside where we were camping. There were activities for the Scouts at the Patriot Games, but most of what I did was walk around with the Scoutmaster to steal ideas for our troop from other Scout troops at the campout.  There were about 5 to 7 thousand Scouts at the event. We built a fire Saturday afternoon at about 3, and kept it burning until close to 11 when we went to bed.  At 6 PM, I led a Scouts Own Service for our troop.  It was about the Brotherhood of Scouting, and the Scripture I used was 1 John 3:11-17.  I thought it went well for something I didn't prepare for.  I talked about the importance of brotherhood among Scouts...especially from our troop.
Extra Gear - It's not official Scouting gear, but I'm going to admit it...I took a "cheater heater" that is run by propane gas.  It was used for a few minutes when I got ready for my sleeping bag while I stripped out of my clothes for long underwear, and it was used for a few minutes when I woke up in the morning to get back into my clothing for the day.
Nights Camping - 2
Total nights camping so far this year - 21 after this trip.

Next Campout - The 2015 camping season is winding down fast!  It makes me sad.  I haven't signed up for the November camping trip yet, but if it do it will be November 13-15 at Camp Michaels in Northern Kentucky.

Down for the night.  This is me in my Teton 0 bag

The military band played for us in the opening ceremony on Saturday morning.

Scouts from our troop and other troops on top of a tank outside the Patton Museum.

There is one scout from out troop that didn't want his picture taken.  He is in this picture, but you can't see him.

Leadership

Leadership

Military Vehicles at the event were available for the Scouts to explore.

Camp Improvement ideas from other troops.

Kimbap is a Korean dish.  A parent from our Troop who also stayed the weekend with us bought this at a Korean Store in Fort Knox.  He shared this with me.  It was really good!  I even talked most of our Scouts into trying it.  This isn't something you usually have on a camping trip.

Hot Fire Saturday night.  The trailer on the other side of the fire is cool!

Fire

I love this picture.  These Scouts are only 12 and 13 years old, and they're cooking breakfast on a cold morning.

Kawida Lodge Fall Fellowship - October 2 - 4, 2015

Location - Camp McKee, Levee Kentucky

Mileage - I quit counting the mileage to McKee and back.  It is roughly 150 miles round trip.
Weather - Rain Friday evening. 51 Friday night.  51 and Scattered Rain Saturday.  46 and rain on Saturday night.  Sunny and warmer on Sunday morning.
Clothing - quick dry shorts/convertible pants.  I wore my raincoat on top of my tshirt.
Shoes - Hiking Boots
Tent Camping - I set up my Slumberjack Trail Tent 4. This is my main tent from now on.
Sleeping bag - I brought my Teton 0 bag.  I used it as a sleeping bag on Friday night, and was a little too warm, and used it as a blanket on Saturday night, and slept very well.
Camping pad - I used my camping pad.
Main Activities - I picked up Ben to go with us to the Fall Fellowship.  Brett was supposed to go, but his dad called me Friday afternoon to tell me it would be easier for him if he just took Brett on Friday evening.  I took both of them home on Sunday.  Saturday morning the adults hiked Pioneer Mountain Trail (PMT).  This was the first time I had been on the PMT for at least a few years.  The hike during Fall Fellowship was the inaugural hike since the PMT became an official program of the Camp McKee Alumni Association.  The hike was led by a person who has hiked the trail, he said, 125 times in his lifetime.  He is a past adviser for Kawida Lodge, Tim Brown.  There were some inflatables set up inside Stamler Hall. One was where you stood on a stand and tried to knock your opponent off his stand with a padded stick.  I got talked into battling Thomas.  He beat me 3 to 1 by knocking me off the stand.  He probably would have beat me anyway, but I had only been off the PMT for a little over an hour when we battled.  There were 2016 Lodge Officer Elections at this Fellowship, which adult are not allowed to vote.  I spent too much money on OA flaps.  That's about normal.  I thought it was a great weekend.  I was able to address a Tecumseh Chapter meeting about Troop 1's homeless campout in December.  I made sure it was okay with the Scoutmaster of Troop 1, but I invited Tecumseh Chapter of Kawida Lodge to attend the campout in December.  I spent most of my weekend hanging out with the SM from Troop 269, but I also spent some time with the Bluegrass Council Vice President of District Operations.
Extra Gear - No extra gear.
Nights Camping - 2
Total nights camping so far this year - 19 after this trip.

Next Campout - This weekend!  Patriot Games at Fort Knox.  October 16-18.  It is supposed to be in the 50s in the daytime and mid 30s at night.  I CANNOT WAIT!  I love cold camping.

The theme for the weekend was The Lodge Awakens.  It was like Star Wars. The officers did a skit to teach the theme of the weekend.  It was cool.

Saturday Morning hike of the Pioneer Mountain Trail.  I couldn't convince Thomas to go with me, but I still had plenty of friends on the hike.

About a mile away from Grape Knob, which is the peak of the PMT, is Pilot Knob.  Thomas and I hiked Pilot Knob a month ago.  It is where Daniel Boone first looked over the Blue Grass area of Kentucky in 1769.

I always cut my knee or another part of my leg when I'm hiking. A brier cut my knee on this hike.

Muddy Boots are manly.  The trail was slick, but not too muddy.

After lunch was Kawida Lodge Officer elections.  Adults stayed in the back while the Scouts were voting.

After elections, the inflatables were set up.  Thomas and Brett battled it out.  I got talked into getting my butt kicked by Thomas only an hour or so after coming off the trail.

Sunday morning right before the Scouts Own Service led by Sebastian.  It was a good service.  There were a lot of Scouts and Scouters that stayed until the end.  It made it helpful for cleanup.  This group sang happy birthday to me since October 4 is my birthday. I turned 43 this weekend.

These are my acquisitions for the weekend.  To get the little wooden coin, each OA member had to memorize the OA prayer which is:

For night alone that rests our thought

For quiet dawn that lights our trail

For evening fire that warms and cheers

For each repast that fuels our work

We give thanks, O Lord.

This is all of our gear stuffed in the back of my truck after a good weekend of camping.

Elkhorn District Fall Family Cub Scout Campout - September 18 - 20, 2015

Location - Scott County Park - Georgetown KY

Mileage - At most 30 miles from home.  I drive to Georgetown for Scouts once a week.  The campout was in the same town as our Scout meetings, so I didn't calculate the mileage.
Weather - Warm Friday evening.  WINDY all day Saturday.  Rain arrived about 4 PM.  It rained for a few hours.  It got cold Saturday night.
Clothing - quick dry shorts/convertible pants.  I wore my Scout uniform during the day Saturday.  I wore tshirt and shorts during the football game between troops.
Shoes - tennis shoes.  I put on my work boots for a few minutes on Sunday morning, but changed out of them as soon as I could.  The work boots aren't comfortable.
Tent Camping - I set up my Slumberjack Trail Tent 4.  I had to borrow stakes because I left the set that goes with the tent at McKee earlier this year.
Sleeping bag - I brought my Coleman Sleeping bag.  I used it as a blanket on Friday night since it was warm, but zipped it up tight around my shoulders on Saturday night because it was somewhat cold.  It kept me warm on both nights.
Camping pad - I used my camping pad.
Main Activities - Recruiting cub scouts and leaders to possibly join Troop 215 in the future.  Our troop was responsible for teaching Readyman (first aid) to Webelos.  We had a lot of scouts come by our teaching.  The Scouts did a good job teaching!  We had only one patrol during the event since we only had 10 Scouts and 2 leaders that attended the campout.  Usually Scouts cook every meal, but I really wanted to make breakfast.  I made my egg and cheese quesadilla for breakfast.  I cook the eggs, and then lay down a 6 inch tortilla on the grill, put egg on it, spread a very light amount of salsa, then cheese.  Fold over to fry on both sides so the cheese melts around the egg.  It is super good.  When I make it at home, I add sliced ham, but I forgot to bring the ham this time.
Main Activity for me - Scouts Own Service on Sunday morning.  I was the chaplain during the event.
Extra Gear - No extra gear.
Nights Camping - 2
Total nights camping so far this year - 17 after this trip.

Next Campout - This weekend!  Oct 2 through 4.  Kawida Lodge (Order of the Arrow) Fall Fellowship.  I've been to a lot of OA events this year.  I really like OA events because it is EASY camping!  I don't have to worry about anything other than showing up.  

Saturday morning stove.  I'm boiling water for coffee.

Troop 215 taught Readyman (First Aid) to Webelos.  This is the first group that went through the section that Thomas, Tyler and Brett was teaching.  There were three stations in our troop that the Webelos had to go through.

It was really windy on Saturday.  The wind put a tent under a lot of stress, so I pulled the poles out in order that they wouldn't be broken.  This is R. climbing in the tent to get his gear out.

I love this picture!  Two of our Scouts having fun.

There were 5 Boy Scout Troops at the event to help with teaching Scout Skills or other things for the Webelos or Cub Scouts.  When the teaching ended, we put together a football game between the troops.  Each team had scouts from each troop.  This way it didn't turn into a rivalry thing between the troops.  I made sure that the Scouts knew each other on their team.  I was line judge.

The sunset was nice that night.  

I was chaplain for the event.  I delivered the Scouts Own Service on Sunday morning.  Scouts from Troop 215 participated in the service. The one reading the scripture in this picture is my son, Tyler.

Scouts Own Service

I asked for a Tiger Cub to come up from the audience.  I mentioned to the group that my oldest son, Thomas, who is standing on my right in the blue coat, started Scouts as a Tiger Cub 11 years ago.  I talked about how this past summer, Thomas and 7 other Scouts and 3 Scouters from Troop 215 went to Philmont Scout Reservation. While hiking early in the morning, they were followed by a mountain lion.  They could see the eyes of the mountain lion with the light of their flashlights.  I mentioned how the young scout in front of me wasn't ready for Philmont.  I think I mentioned how he was ready for the Fall Family Cub Campout, and I wanted to add that it would be older Scouts like Thomas who would get him ready for high adventure camping like Philmont over the next 10 years, but I got too emotional to use words.  I paused for a few seconds, and then moved on with my message of how we honor God by serving other people.

I love being Scout leader!  

Dale Hollow Lake - Boys Island - July 31 to August 2, 2015

Location - Dale Hollow Lake - State Park, near Albany KY

Mileage - 293 miles round trip.
Weather - sunny all weekend.  High 88 during day, Low 59 during the night.
Clothing - quick dry shorts and tshirt.  I also brought an additional tshirt, swimming trunks, and a rainjacket.
Shoes - Keen Sandals all weekend.  I discovered that they're best as water shoes.
Hammock Camping! - It was a hammock camping weekend.
Sleeping bag - Fleece sleeping bag liner.  Good to about 65
Camping pad - Didn't use one.
Main Activity - Fishing and playing in the water.  Canoeing and Kayaking on the lake.  I cooked supper on Saturday night.
Extra Gear - We had no extra gear.  Everything was transported to the campsite by Canoe or Kayak.  No room for extra gear.  We put our gear in cat litter containers.  It worked perfectly!  Everything fit.
Nights Camping - 2
Big Thing to Learn - Hammock camping is different than tent camping.  When you lay down for the night in a hammock, you may be hot, but by 3 AM, you'll be cold.  I showed up for the weekend with shorts, t-shirt, rain coat, no socks, and sandals.  I had a fleece bag liner.  The first night I was very cold.  I went to bed wearing my tshirt, shorts and that was it.  I left the bag hanging over my hammock in the ridge line so I could get to it easily when it got cold.  By 4 AM, I had the fleece bag over my head while trying to stay warm.  It didn't really work.  
The second night I went to bed wearing my tshirt, shorts and my rain coat.  I also tied a bandana over my head and ears.  This kept bugs out of my ears at night.  By the morning I woke up mostly warm.
The next time I hammock camp, I will have the convertible pants with the bottom part on my legs.  I wore the convertibles, but left the bottom part at home.  I could also bring a fleece jacket to wear to bed.  This will keep my upper torso warm.  I am planning on bringing wool socks to wear to bed even if I don't wear them during the day.  I think if I had all of that I will keep warm.  I think I could also be warmer if I took a small camp pad to keep under my back and butt.
I also have to do a better job tying the hammock.  I learned a lot this past weekend.  I retied it a few times.  I put a strap on the trees and clip on each end of the strap.  Then tie a ridge line between the carabiners.  Then I can clip the hammock on the carabiners.  I was doing it a little different at first, but that seems to be the best way to hang a hammock.
Total nights camping so far this year - 15 after this trip.

I got a call from my friend Dustin on Tuesday.  He asked me if the boys and I would like to go camping with him and his son that weekend.  Thomas politely declined, but Tyler agreed that it would be fun.  From the beginning we knew we were going to be man camping.  This meant canoeing or kayaking from the parking lot to the campsite.  We would carry all our gear in the boats.  We would fish all day, but bring enough food with us just in case we didn't catch anything.  Good thing we did that too, because we didn't catch anything.  When you go primitive camping at a lake, it is the most important that you bring a water filter.  Boiling water would have worked, but we could have gotten sick if we had forgotten the filter.  

This is the campsite.  The island we camped on was called Boys Island.  It is right beside Trooper Island at Dale Hollow Lake State Resort.  Half the island is in Kentucky and the other half in Tennessee.  Most of our gear was transported to the island in the yellow cat litter buckets that are in this picture.

We hung 4 hammocks on 4 trees.  That means that 3 of us shared one tree. I took the picture above with my phone at about 6 AM on Sunday morning with the part of the camera you take a selfie with.  I was actually laying in my hammock when I took this.  Everyone else was still asleep.

On Saturday morning, we had dehydrated meals that you can buy at a big brand store.  I put too much water in mine, but it was okay.  I also drank Starbucks instant coffee, which, btw, it much better than lugging a percolator on a camping trip.  It is actually good coffee.  After we ate, we allowed the boys to go down to the bay and kayak around in the area until we got there.

We got all our fishing poles ready, and headed over to an island in Tennessee where we could swim and fish.  We found out really early that the fishing was difficult that weekend because of the heat and because of the boat traffic on the water.  The lake was full of boats.  We swam at the island for a few hours, and we practiced flipping over the kayaks.  Since the wake that is caused by the boats is very dangerous and can flip a canoe or kayak very easily, I wanted to make sure I knew if I could get back in a kayak if we flipped.  Luckily we were never flipped by the wake.  The best way to not flip is by turning the front of your canoe or kayak into the wake.  You need to face into the wake in order to not flip.  By the time the weekend was over, Tyler and I were very much more comfortable with any kind of wake coming at us.  It was no problem.

I really like this picture of Tyler.

This is a picture of Tyler fishing.  He was using a closed face fishing reel.  We haven't been fishing a lot, so he had a lot of fun with it this weekend, even though he didn't catch very much.

We went back to the campsite at lunch time, and as we approached the bay, we noticed a few pontoon boats in the bay.  I think they were surprised to see people camping there.  Lunch was summer sausage and wheat crackers, and we also had chips and salsa.  I was very satisfied with lunch.

After lunch, we kind of had a lazy afternoon.  Dustin moved his hammock to the shoreline of the bay.  This allowed him to keep an eye on the canoe and kayaks.  He laid in his hammock and actually slept while the people from the pontoon boats played in the water.  Before he went to sleep, he overheard a woman from one of the pontoons say, "HEY LOOK, THERE IS A MAN IN A HAM-MOCK OVER THERE.  AND LOOK, THERE IS ANOTHER MAN IN A HAM-MOCK UP THERE."  We laughed about that for the rest of the weekend.

About 3 PM, we ventured out in the canoe and kayaks again to try to catch some fish.  We went around to the the side of Trooper Island where the boat dock is.  Dustin had caught some really big fish there a few years ago.  However, it was very windy right there, and the speed boats going by that part of the island didn't have to slow down, so the wake made it difficult to stay in one spot to fish.  We went around the island completely and headed back to the campsite.  

Even though we didn't have fresh fish to cook, we still had food.  I cooked. I made french fried potatoes and onions.  I brought 5 or 6 potatoes from home and one onion.  I cooked it over the campfire in my cast iron skillet.  We also had Dinty Moore Beef Stew that I also cooked over the campfire.  It wasn't a whole lot of food, but it was still good.  I'm planning on taking this skillet with me on all my campouts from now on.  It is the perfect size.

Tyler went to bed early that night.  I know he was tired.

This is me on Sunday morning.  I was comfortable, but still a little cold.  Really the only reason I got up early is because I really wanted some coffee.  We filled all the water bottles before bed with filtered water.  For that reason, we didn't to collect water in the morning before we started making breakfast.  That is always a good idea to do before bed on a campout.

About midnight that night, a boat with a few people pulled into our bay, and turned their music up very loud.  It was very irritating.  They didn't stay long, but I started to worry about my safety after they left.  I had two dreams that night about people coming into our campsite.  Both of the dreams were about homeless men coming to disrupt the peace.  The reason I had these dreams is because a few weekends before this campout, I received a letter in my mailbox at work from a man who stayed in my homeless shelter for only a few days in March 2015.  He wrote the letter from a county jail that is in the county over from the shelter where I am the director.  He told me in the letter that he was going to come to the Shelter at night and kill 10 people.  He listed them all.  I was not on that list, but still I think about it quite often.  That was not the first death threat I've received.

I go camping because I need it!  My job is stressful, and camping helps me relieve that stress.  Without camping, I would be a mess!

Sunday morning we had oatmeal and we put trail mix in it.  We boiled the water in our cups with an MSR Pocket Rocket Stove.  We poured the oatmeal in, and then the trailmix.  It was a good breakfast.  We also had coffee.

By 10 AM, we had all our gear loaded up, and we left the island.  We canoed back to the truck, loaded up, and drove back home.  I think I was home by 2 PM.  It was a very good weekend!  Dustin and I are planning on camping the last weekend of the summer with our boys every year.

Something I've been thinking about for a while is starting a camping group for former Scoutmasters (and assistants) who are no longer involved in Scouting.  To be part of this group, you must have been involved in Scouting.  It wont always be "man camping", but it will require that you know what you're doing in the wilderness.  I'm not sure if I will get out of Scouting once my boys age out, but if I do, I only have 5 more years as a Scout leader.  That will give me 10 years of Scout leadership.  I think if I follow the pattern that I've had in the past 2 years, by the end of my time in Scouting, I will be able to say that I've camped about 200 nights as a Scout leader.  As much time as I've camped in the past 35 years (since I was about 8), I feel safe to say I've camped probably 100 to 150 nights up to now.  I belong in the woods!