The Scouts of Troop 708 made their way to Shaver Lake this past August to spend a week at Camp Chawanakee. The camp was fantastic and everyone had a great time earning merit badges, fishing, boating, swimming, shooting and just kicking around. While the boys were busy in merit badge classes some of the adults took on the challenges of COPE (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience), which had them practicing skills that would challenge them and help them in their mentoring role with the Scouts.

The Scouts also took on camp service projects including the construction of a flag pole for the camping area they occupied. In addition, temporary structures were constructed to show the Troop’s Scout spirit and let others know that Troop 708 was with them that week. Projects built included an entry archway and an outdoor game board. These were very creative and called upon the boys’ imagination in addition to their Scout skills.

By the end of the week the 13 Scouts who attended this year’s summer camp had accomplished the following:

• 67 merit badges were earned
• Two Scouts each earned 8 merit badges
• 10 Scouts advanced a rank
• One Scout caught 2 fish
• Three adults passed the COPE course

This was another successful summer camp and everyone will be able to look back on a lot of great memories.

Check out the slideshow: Summer Camp 2010 – Camp Chawanakee

Troop 708 had some great camping trips the last couple of months.  The first trip was in June and consisted of a short ferry ride and hike to arrive at our campsite on Angel Island.  It was a great spot located above some of the old buildings that are remnants to the past history of the island.  The Scouts enjoyed hiking to Livermore Peak, the top of the island.  We then headed down to the beach passing through abandoned military buildings on the way.  The parents had a wonderful gourmet dinner thanks to Chef Wong.  While the fog and wind hung around until early Sunday morning, we did wake up to a beatiful blue sky.  Check out some of the pictures from the Angel Island camp out.

Not to be outdone, our July backpacking trip to the Sierras was another great camp out.  Six scouts and five adults headed up to the Pinecrest area for a short hike into the Emigrant Wilderness, which is located in the Stanislaus National Forest.  We arrived in the late afternoon on Friday and spent the first night at the Crabtree Trailhead.  The next morning we got up, packed up our tents and gear, had breakfast and then headed out to Camp Lake, a hike of just under three miles.  The Scouts did great on the hike.  It was amazing to see how popular this trail is as we passed couples, families and other groups heading back and heading out.  Camp Lake is situated at 7,650′ and is simply beautiful.  This also was a great experience as it required the use of backpacking stoves and the need to monitor our water usage as we had to filter water from the lake and stream.  We did get in a Scout safe swim by hanging out in waist high water for an hour or so.  The only downside to the trip was that the mosquitoes were out in large numbers.  Check out some photos from the Camp Lake trip.