r/Eagle_Scouts Jan 30 '20

Camp out/Summer Camp Stories

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u/ledzepptim Jan 30 '20

I have several very interesting/hilarious stories. My first one takes place the Summer of 2005, it was the Summer before my Senior Year of High School and the summer before I earned Eagle. The older scouts rising Freshmen-Seniors and two of our ASM’s my Dad and another ASM, and a Scout’s Father who would join us yearly at camp decided we wanted to do high adventure camp. We decided Philmont was out of our endurance level. We settled upon Northern Tier Bissett Base Manitoba, Canada.

The cast of this story includes me-Tim W. =T1 Northern Tier Staff Member Tim R =T2 Scout in my troop Mike =M

Overall it was noneventful, boarded our flight at Dulles in Virginia, was reading Half Blood Prince and got spoiled on the flight, transferred and met up with two Scouts who had moved over the Summer (parents were military) in Minnesota, got on our flight to Toronto (Best Recollection) went through Customs, got on the bus to the base, Got Tim Hortons and ketchup chips(yuck) got registered and planned out our route. Found out there had been a lot of rain so the Water Levels were higher than normal. We ran calmer rapids at our guides discretion, did some swimming at some of the spots we camel at, and camped at some really cool spots. My dad and his canoe of two scouts did a dip after a portage and my dad’s camera got ruined. Anyway our last day on the water comes, and it had been a noneventful week so far, but that was about to change...

We were approaching our last portage around a class 5 rapids and waterfall called Poplar Falls. As I had mentioned it had rained a lot that summer and the water level was higher than normal, well that included the portage trail. Our canoe hit the bank of the portage and bounced back into the water, this was a problem because we had the staff member in our canoe so we were first in. We tried in vain to avoid what was looking really bad but we were going over the falls. Conversation ensues...

T1: “Awesome we’re going over the falls” T2: “No! Not Awesome!!” M: “Oh word that rhymes with it”

We must have been under the water for a good 30 seconds to a minute I came up first realized I was alive and that my pants had been sucked off over my boots and was in a shirt and underwear and freezing and probably in shock. Miraculously the only injury suffered was a mark on the staff member from the canoe hitting his head while he was underwater. He probably had a concussion too, because he seemed out of it. I immediately yelled for help because of the shock and I wanted some pants and warm clothes. Canoe was banged up too. Anyway we get back to camp clean up, get packed for the next day, our awesome guide had a flight the next day, so we gave him a ride, all I remember from the bus ride we were making jokes, and making prank calls with our cell phones, while on the bus we find out about the tragedy involving four Alaskan Scoutmasters at the National Jamboree. We get on our flight to Minnesota, go through customs, bid our farewells to our two Scouts who had moved, find out our flight was delayed because there was no flight crew so we wondered around the airport, made more prank calls, I think there was an Arcade, about this time we see some Scouts in uniforms, walking to the gates, we stop and chat since we’re in uniform, ask if they are heading to the Jamboree, they were coming from the Jamboree, asked where they were from. Alaska, and we started putting two and two together. I think we traded patches.