The Survival weekend trip technically started after everyone arrived at base camp, with the new scouts staying there, however for us older scouts the real adventure did not begin until farther down the road at a second place, when the hike would begin. Now, the main part of the trip is the competition, where scouts compete to see how much they could “survive” in the wild, with no troop gear used. There is also a hike beforehand to practice backpacking hikes. The hike would be five miles long, with about half of it being a loop and the rest of it going to the campsite. Everyone got their packs and all their other stuff and the maps that would be guiding us on the hike. We then marched to the head of the trail we would be on. Everyone got their compasses out, and since the younger scouts needed the requirement, they would be guiding us.

So we walked the trail for about and hour and a half, going the wrong way no more than once or twice. After about two and a half hours, we got to the halfway point (we were back at the beginning) and we stopped to rest and have lunch. From then on, we walked along the shore side of a lake for a while, and then, as is inevitable when we are almost at the destination, we got completely lost. Finally, after some help from passing hikers, we blundered onto the campsite. Once there, we had some more food, all the scouts were assigned to their campsites, and the different groups began to build their shelters, using tarps and ropes. Soon the scoutmasters came around for scoring the quality of the shelters. After that, all the groups had dinner at their campsites, with a delicious variety of food being served. The scoutmasters again came around for scoring; although this time they could use their sense of taste. Later that night, everyone came to the group campfire, including the new scouts, and watched skits, jokes, and songs organized wonderfully by the master of ceremonies. Finally, everyone went back to base camp or to their self made shelters, and fell asleep. It was a cold night, but overall pleasant.

The next morning, everybody got up and packed up their personal gear as well as their shelters. Once that work was done, the entire group went to the main campfire, where we would be watched as we cooked breakfast. The breakfasts were just as good as the dinners, and were also scored for quality. Once our mess kits had been cleaned up, the winner of the competition was announced. Everybody did a camp wide clean up, and then we brought all the gear down to the cars. So ended our survival weekend trip.