Troop 189 has been awarded BSA Quality Unit Status in
2003
2004
2005
2006

and the
2007 Centennial
Quality Unit
Award
 

May 07 Lehigh River White Water

AWESOME!”

“COOL!”

“BOY IS THAT WATER COLD, BUT CAN WE DO IT AGAIN?”

Steve and some members of next year’s Venture Patrol

Those are some of the comments we heard after Troop 189 took on the white water of the Lehigh River. This was just a great trip!

We arrived at the Trexler Scout Reservation Friday night and after a little check-in confusion got settled into three side-by-side campsites, one for each Patrol.  After breakfast we drove to the outfitter to get ready to raft. The water is still very cold so the whole Troop was outfitted in full wet suits and booties. We took a bus to be “put in” to the river, and after a lesson away we went.

The river was running fast but low, which made the rafting difficult.  There were lots of boulders, and some of the Troop got flipped out of their boats.  Since everyone had a PFD and had passed their swim tests there were no problems, even though some of the Troop got wetter than they planned.  The sun was out in the morning and a few water fights later a lot of the troop was wet for other reasons!

There were a lot of rapids and everyone was challenged.

When we got back later we had some hot dogs at the outfitter, changed into dry clothes and took hot showers. Then we drove back to the campsite, built a fire, and cooked dinner number two!  Needless to say, some of the boys fell asleep right away and everyone was in bed early.

Sunday morning we learned some skills before we left.  Thanks to Eddie for conducting a First Aid “lunch and learn” session at the rest stop on I-80 in Pennsylvania  for the newer boys.

Once again, the Troop is indebted to our Adult volunteers. For safety’s sake we had two trained adults in evy raft except the one of our Senior boys, who Steve worked with himself. Our very special thanks to the following adults who made this trip happen for our Scouts:

Ed
Kathy
Jeff
ASM Theo
Tom
Bob
Dave
Paul
Andrea
Mike V
ASM Steve

as well as to Troop Instructor David G who was our Acting SPL for the weekend.