Bears Den - January 2015 (by Cameron Dresdner)

As always, the Bears Den camp out was a weekend of many fun activities.  It all started on Friday January 30th with the older scouts hiking into Bears Den from Blackburn Trail Center - and it was not an easy trek! They hiked the Appalachian Trail for 8.9 miles through snowy, icy slopes.

It was cold during the hike and when they arrived at Bears Den about forty minutes early, they had to wait outside until they opened.  They made a campfire to warm up.  Everyone was tired and hungry.  According to Mr. Mazur, just getting to the starting point of the hike was very difficult. They had to drive up a steep ice and snow covered road.  Hiking across Route 7 was scary as it was extremely windy.  The wind-chill made the temperature much lower causing it to feel like your face was burning.

More scouts and leaders showed up Friday night and Saturday morning. There was another hike on Saturday, this one five miles along what we have come to call “Roller Coaster” section just south of Bears Den. According to Mr. Hollender, Charlie and Luke lost their bearings but managed to find their way back to the cabin, so they have earned the “Rusty Compass” award.

After the Saturday hike, the group played football (this time with a fully inflated ball).  Later in the cabin, the scouts played board games including the all-time favorite “Amoeba Wars”.  Stephen Pungello made an awesome pot pie which was well received by all.