We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Canoeing

Troop 1577 Enjoys Canoe Day at Lake Audubon

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Sixteen Scouts and six adults did a canoeing “micro-outing” at Lake Audubon in Reston. This is part of the Troop’s efforts to get Scouts outside while social distancing. We created the idea of a “micro-outing” which is a short outing closer to home to avoid carpooling.

It took a lot of work by Scouts and adults to get to this point. It involved organizing swim tests, gathering health forms, fixing the canoe trailer and doing a test micro-outing three weeks ago. But all that work means our troop is now ready to more easily do more micro-outings – both with canoeing and other themes.

Photos by Bill Wacek and Carla Brown

Canoeing and Camping on the Shenandoah River

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Last month twenty-six scouts from Troop 58 in Ashburn, VA, went on an outdoor adventure – a canoeing campout! The troop went camping at the Low-Water Bridge Campground in Front Royal for two nights. On Saturday, the troop departed on a 12-mile canoe trip on the Shenandoah River outfitted by the Front Royal Canoe Company.

The troop recently welcomed twenty-one new Scouts who crossed over from the Webelos program. For this outing, more experienced Scouts were paired in canoes with younger Scouts to leverage their knowledge and let them spend time getting to know each other better. Along the way the troop stopped for brown bag lunches on the bank of the river, had water fights, and capsized two of the canoes!

The canoeing campout also helped Scouts meet requirements for the Canoeing Merit Badge and one of the requirements for the Camping Merit Badge by taking a non-motorized trip on the water of at least 5 miles. Troop 58 is also preparing for a Northern Tier High Adventure in July 2020. During the high adventure trip next summer, Troop 58 Scouts will use the canoeing skills they have developed to explore millions of acres of lakes, rivers, forests, and wetlands in Northern Minnesota, Northwest Ontario and Northeast Monitoba.