Troop 451 - Durham, NC - Past Events 2006

USS Yorktown - Dec. 1-3
Scouts and Scouters spent the weekend exploring the famous aircraft carrier and other ships in the harbor. Based on personal experiences, the Scoutmaster located several unique and fascinating areas of the ship.

Caving Day - Nov. 18
Scouts investigated a Virginia cave for an adventurous day underground. The Scouts were able to check out a number of different and unusual features of the cave.

Virginia Creeper Trail - Nov. 11-12
Scouts and Scouters biked over forty files down the Virginia Creeper Trail. The bike ride was very challenging as the weather was cold and rainy. Nevertheless, everyone made the bike ride.

Presbyterian Point New Scout Camp Out - Oct. 21-22
The troop spent the weekend working on Scouting skills for advancements. A number of scouts biked from Durham on a ride of approximately 56 miles. Everyone enjoyed the weekend out in nature.

District Camporee - Oct. 12-15
The troop participated in the joint Mawat and Orange District Camporee at Camp Reeves. The camporee focused on orienteering skills. We took first place in the Scoutmaster Look-a-Like Jack O'Lantern Carving Contest. Many of the patrols also took home ribbons in the various orienteering competitions. View Photos

Eagle Celebration - Sept. 30, 2006
Troop 451 celebrated its over one hundred Eagle Scouts and its thirty-five years of support from Westminster Presbyterian Church with a wonderful evening of fellowship, food, and reflections. Over one hundred and seventy Eagle Scouts, Scouts, and friends joined together for the evening. Thirty-three former Eagle Scouts returned to the troop for the celebration to talk about their experiences and meet their old Scout buddies. Some of the Eagles traveled in from Texas and Illinois along with many family members. There were many highlights during the evening including the Proclamation by City Mayor Bell stating that Sept. 30, 2006 was Troop 451's day, comments by the troop's first Eagle Scout on Scouting in the past, the Scoutmaster's recollections on the troop's history, Scouting stories from the audience, and the Eagle rededication. The Eagle event was special for everyone. View Photos.

Merchant's Mill Pond - Sept. 23-24
Scouts and Scouters spent the weekend canoeing around the trees of Merchant's Mill Pond. They played tag around the trees and a game of capture the flag with a Scout troop from Virginia. They also enjoyed a special treat of chicken cooked in dutch ovens.

British Invasion - August 1-21, 2006
Troop 451 hosted 7 Scouts and 2 Scouters from the East Coker Scout Group in England. Activities included a Durham Bull's baseball game, a trip to the beach and tour of the USS North Carolina, white water rafting, visits to the Daniel Boone Boy Scout Camp, Cedar Point Amusement Park, Niagara Falls, and Camp Raven Knob for rifle and shotgun shooting, and tours of Washington DC and New York City. PHOTOS: Cedar Point ; Niagara ; Raven Knob ; Washington D.C.

Camp Campbell Water Park - August 3-6, 2006
Our British Scouts and Scouters joined Troop 451 for a fantastic weekend of water fun. The highlights of the weekend were various types of boating, the water slide, tubing, Jim's wipe out, pickin' the pig, deserts, and fellowship all around. View Photos. DJ Photos

Summer Camp Raven Knob - July 23-39, 2006
Another great summer at Raven Knob. Over 30 boys and leaders spent a week at our favorite summer camp in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Swimming, camping, pioneering, sailing, canoeing, electricity, reptiles, environmental science, and numerous other merit badges were earned, not to mention the return of great fellowship. View Photos.

Philmont Contingent Trip - July 4-19, 2006
From July 4, 2006 through July 19, 2006, six Troop 451 Scouts, two Scouts from outside Troop 451, and three adult leaders, became Occoneechee Council Philmont Crew 707-N-2. Along with three other Occoneechee Council crews, we departed RDU airport early in the morning of July 4, 2006, flew to Phoenix AZ,.and immediately proceeded to the Grand Canyon. We hiked, toured and visited the Grand Canyon for a good part of July 5. What an awe-inspiring place! Then, we drove across to Albuquerque, NM, stuffed ourselves at a Golden Corral, and then proceeded north to camp late that night at the Bandelier National Monument. The next day, July 6, we toured Bandelier, went rafting on the Rio Grande River, and camped that night near Pilar, NM which is less than 60 miles from Philmont base camp.

    On July 7, we arrived at Philmont base camp at Cimarron, NM, to begin our Philmont Trek, Itinerary 12. That day in base camp was very busy as we checked into Outbound Tent City, met Tommy (our Philmont ranger), checked out all the food, arranged for tents, and other supplies that were needed for our trip into the Philmont back country. The next morning, July 8, we took a crew photo, and got on a Philmont bus to our trailhead at Zastrow Turnaround, in the far south part of Philmont. Our ranger gave us a brief orienteering lesson; we put on our packs, and hiked into our first staff camp at Abreu. We enjoyed the Mexican homesteading program of cheese-making, goat-milking, and of course, the Cantina! That night, we received final instructions on Philmont camping from our Ranger as we camped up the trail a bit at Old Abreu.   We took a very scenic hike through Rayado Canyon (it hailed on us for about ten minutes on the way), following the Rayado River up to the staffed camp at Fish Camp, arriving around lunchtime. There, we took the Fish Camp tour, tied fishing flies and tried our hand at fly-fishing. Continuing our trek, we hiked up and down some mountains to reach Phillips Junction, a Philmont commissary where we re-supplied the food and fuel. From Phillips Junction, it was a short hike to reach Beaubien staffed camp, which would be our home for two nights. A few of us got cold (VERY COLD) showers. While at Beaubien, the crew did horseback rides, branding shoes, throwing horseshoes and had a very nice Chuck Wagon Dinner (real beef and potatoes in a stew) as well as a great campfire. After three hours of conservation at Bonita Peak, we arrived at the staffed Black Mountain Camp. This was a neat staffed camp with a theme of a western US Army outpost. We did blacksmithing and black powder rifle shooting. The next morning, we hiked uphill through the Comanche Pass, and then down to our campsite at Lambert's Mine. We managed to squeeze in our camp, and then side hiked down to Cypher's Mine campsite to see and enjoy the evening entertainment called the Cypher's Stomp. It was great, and very relaxing. The next morning, we were able to get signed up for the gold panning and the Contention mine tour program, which was also great. After completing the event, we proceeded along the North Fork Trail to Cito. At Cito. we did take hot showers, which everyone enjoyed immensely and plus we got to wash clothes. That evening, the Cito staff specially invited our crew, both Scouts and adults, to join them on the porch for fun, singing and fellowship. The next morning, we participated in the Cito program, which was rock-climbing.   From Cito, we had to reach the unstaffed camp at Cathedral Rock via the Hidden Valley hike, which was beautiful and included a hot hike up to Window Rock, with great views. By the time we finally reached Cathedral Rock in mid-afternoon, everyone was very tired. We managed to have a nice religious service and we went to bed early that evening. The next morning, we hiked into Clarks Fork, another western-themed staff camp like Beaubien. At Clark's Fork we prepared dinner for lunch (takes more water for dinner) and stocked up every water carrier that we had, as we knew that water would be limited. In fact, we even filled up our 5-gallon collapsible water container, and a crew member carried it in his pack. The hike from Clark's Fork to Shaeffer's Pass campsite was mostly uphill, with a killer jeep trail hike the last half-mile. Once we arrived at Shaeffer's Pass, we set up camp, and celebrated. We had another religious service to complete the requirements for the Philmont Duty to God patch (plus it was just right to give thanks!), and the crew decided that we wanted to get up really early so that we could reach Philmont base camp by lunchtime. The crew got up at 3 AM, broke camp and we reached the famous Tooth of Time around 8 AM and side hiked (well, bouldered) up the "trail" to the Tooth of Time. After that, we started the long, hot, three-hour trek down the switchbacks of Tooth Ridge to Philmont Base Camp.
    WE MADE IT!!! We reached the famous "Welcome Back - You Made It" gate at Philmont base camp and drank down a bunch of water, then started the check-in process by turning back in equipment, getting tents in Homebound Tent City, checking mail, and getting gear out of crew lockers, etc. That afternoon, most of the crew caught a bus into neighboring Cimmaron to get pizza and ice cream. The crew all met back up for the closing campfire, received our Philmont arrow patches. The next morning, July 19, we got back on our coach, drove down to Albuquerque and took our flight back to RDU and home. I believe that if you ask anyone in the crew who went, they will tell you it was an awesome experience. View Photos

North to Alaska - June 18-July 19, 2006
Ten scouts and three adults departed on June 18th for a month long road trip, which would take them over 11,000 miles to Deadhorse, Alaska and back. The group camped in tents and as far as cooking is concerned, they stopped at grocery stores and bought food ,which they cooked on large propane stoves. After several all-night drives, 30 hours and 8 states later, they were in Magnolia Minnesota. In South Dakota, they visited Wall Drugs, the world's largest drugstore, Mount Rushmore, and the Crazy Horse Monument. Then, it was on to Devil's Tower in Wyoming, the Little Bighorn battlefield , and Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.
    In Montana, the group backpacked 6 miles to Cracker Lake in Glacier National Park and were amazed by the beautiful scenery as well as their new friend, Clark the Goat. The Liard River Hot Springs in Canada was a refreshing stop before entering Alaska and driving north to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks. They drove along the rough Dalton Highway, which paralleled the oil pipeline all the way to the final destinations, Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay. They celebrated with a hearty breakfast before going for a cold swim in the Arctic Ocean.
    Next, they headed south to Anchorage, where they spent the 4th of July. They saw a parade, watched a baseball game, and saw a fireworks show. The following day, they backpacked 3.5 miles to a beautiful Crow Pass in Chugach National Forest. From there it was south to Haines, where they spent a few days at a great scout cabin, explored the town, and went on several day hikes.   On the return back through Canada, they stopped again at the Hot Springs and visited West Edmonton Mall (Go Hurricanes!).
    The group returned through North Dakota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. On the way back, they visited the Soo Locks in Sault St. Marie and crossed the windy Mackinac Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. After spending the night at a base in Detroit, they enjoyed a day of roller coasters at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. The next day, they returned home to Durham. View Photos

New Scout Campout - June 16-18, 2006
The newest members of Troop 451 spent a great weekend at Jordan lake working on advancements and Scouting activities. The weather was ideal and the water fun.

Mount Rogers Philmont Warm Up Hike - June 14-17, 2006
The Philmont crew of eight Scouts and four adults representing Troop 451 hiked roughly twenty miles through hardwood forests and over mountain balds in the Mount Rogers area. The group camped near the Old Orchard and Thomas Knob shelter, which is just below Mount Rogers. Besides the terrific sites, there were a number of wild ponies and deer on Mount Rogers. The weekend was good practice for Philmont. View Photos

French Broad Rafting Trip - May 27- May 29, 2006
The troop spent a great weekend hiking in the mountains and rafting down the French Broad River. Approximately 45 Scouts and twenty adults participated in the weekend event. Many Scouts and Scouters hiked the Hot Springs Trail on Saturday and then rafted on Sunday.

Spring Camporee - April 29-30, 2006
Our Scouts and Scouters joined other local Scouts for a Scottish Highlands weekend that was organized by Troop 424 and other local troops. During the event, there were pipers, medieval knights, and games representing Scotland.   The troop had fun and made progress on cooking. View Photos

Hargrave Military Academy Merit Badge Camporee - March 31-April 2, 2006
Thirty one Scouts and ten adults enjoyed a productive weekend at Hargrave Military Academy working on and earning merit badges.   The highlights of the weekend also included the Saturday evening campfire and cobblers made by adults in the Troop 451.   Over 100 Scouts and Scouter tasted either blueberry, peach, or cherry cobbler. Cheesecake and whipped cream were also served for dessert. View Photos

Shooting and Bicycling at Raven Knob - February 24-26, 2006 Eighteen scouts and six adults spent the weekend riding bicycles, hiking, shooting arrows at the archery range, shooting rifles, working with sling shots, shooting shotguns, and shooting a black powder rifle. On Saturday night, the troop enjoyed a great campfire with skits and songs. The weather was comfortable and temperatures did go below freezing on Saturday night. View Photos

Jamestown Bicycling and Military Through the Ages - Feb. 14-16, 2006 Scouts and Scouters of the troop enjoyed the weekend in Virginia. Twenty Scouts and 9 adults toured on their bicycles and then spent the remainder of the Saturday at the Military Through The Ages site. Everyone enjoyed the displays including the MG 42, a German machine gun of World War II, and British carrier pigeons from World War I. Many individuals dressed in the uniforms of past armies and talked about their armies. During the weekend, the campsite was visited by several hungry foxes looking for food. View Photos and DJ Photos

Timberline Ski Weekend Feb. 3-5, 2006
Troop 451 spent this weekend at Timberline Ski Resort. Twenty seven Scouts and sixteen adults participated in the weekend. On Friday, the Scouts learned about snow sports and went skiing on Saturday. Some of the Scouts earned the Snow Sports Merit Badge. While there was rain on Saturday, the rain eventually changed to snow later during the day and that made for very good skiing.

Mountain Backpacker Jan. 13-15, 2006
Twenty two Scouts and adults hiked up to the Butter Gap Shelter in the Pisgah National Forest near Brevard N.C. The highlights of the trip included the morning snow, the good weather, the warm fire, the chicken dinner, and the late arriving adults who hiked in via Cat Gap. View photos

Boy Scout
Troop 451

Durham,
North Carolina

Boy Scout Troop 451

Durham, North Carolina

Boy Scout
Troop 451

Durham,
North Carolina