Boy Scout Troop 149 took a canoeing trip to Okefenokee

Home

From January the 3rd, to the 5th, the scouts from Troop 149 went to Okefenoke for a canoeing trip. A total of 38 people, scouts and adults, went on this trip and it took 7 hours for us to drive down there. When we got there, it was dark already. Paul, our scoutmaster, went to sign us in. Then, we moved to our campsite and all the scouts set up their tents. We slept around 11:00 p.m. that night.

The next day, we woke up in a freezing cold. After breakfast, we went to the dock and got our life jackets, paddles and canoes. There we were divided into three groups The other two groups left first because they were going to the Nixon’s hammock of camping that night. canoed to Nixon’s Hammock and they camped there that night. The scouts (11) in the other group including myself started canoeing the last. We canoed toward the big water sign. We had five canoes, in each of which there were two people, with the exception of our canoe which had three. In addition, there was an adult in each of the other canoes, but we had all scouts in ours. Due to the unbalance of people paddling, our canoe zigzagged across the water. Accidentally, I splashed the others in my canoe and Fred on the other canoe also splashed us. We saw a lot of beautiful birds singing aloud. A stick bug also attracted our attention because it climbed on Andrew’s arm. Not surprisingly, we saw a couple of allig! ators doing nothing. We were very quiet, the crocodiles didn’t notice us because we were watching them from behind. By the time we had almost reached the big water sign, we decided to paddle toward the side and have lunch. All the five canoes bunched up and enjoyed sandwiches and fruits.

After lunch, we canoed more. Soon we reached the big water sign and turned left following the signs. Here we paddled through trees growing in the swamp. We crashed a bit. Having three people paddling in your boat makes it kind of awkward when one side does not balance the other. We fell behind everyone until we got to a sign that said rest area. Here we decided to get back to the dock so we turned

around. On our way back to the dock, the river’s current was strong. Andrew, Connor, and I were zigzagging across the water again. By the time we got back to the dock, we were tired. Still some stayed at the dock and fished a bit, but did not catch anything. Charles and Don got back the last and they claimed to have seen a seal on their way back. Back at camp, we helped some scouts complete their merit badge requirements.

At dinner time, we had hamburger helper, toasts, and fruits. Afterwards, we made peach cobbler for dessert and it was delicious. Then Andrew, Connor, Charles, and I played cards in the tent. The next morning, Andrew and I got up very early (6:30) to start our camp fire. Charles was on cooking duty, we enjoyed some well-done bacon and eggs. Then we got everything packed up and started to head back as soon as the other two groups came back from Nixon’s Hammock.

This canoeing trip was a very successful one. We all enjoyed it very much. We also learned more about canoeing and next time, we won’t be zigzagging any more!

By: Dan F. February, 2003