Posted on 08/24/2008 5:59:03 PM PDT by Coleus
When the six Boy Scouts from suburban Maplewood, N.J., went camping in the Grand Canyon, they expected an adventure they would long talk about, but they did not expect to be clinging to treetops and praying to survive a flash flood. The six Scouts and three adult leaders were eventually guided to safety by American Indians who live in the area, and plucked out of the wilderness by a Black Hawk helicopter. By the time they flew away, the 10-yard-wide canyon next to a stream where they had been camping had become a 300-yard-wide raging river.
The scouts and their leaders were among more than 200 people rescued from the flash floods that followed heavy rains and the failure of a dam this past weekend. Rescuers were still combing the vast national park for 11 campers who were either washed away, are still in the park, or have simply gone home and are unaware that people are searching for them. For the Jersey scouts, however, the flood was a test of their motto to "Be Prepared." Through a harrowing night and the next day, the Scouts earned their badges, said Kevin Muench, who was along on the trip with two of his sons, Colin, 13, and Tommy, 11.
"It was part of their preparedness," said Muench, a dentist who has reveled in wilderness camping since his teens. "The Scouts, when they needed to do something, they did it. When they needed to hike, they really hiked." The troop had been camping for about a week when they set up their tents next to a stream in the narrow canyon. A ranger came by Saturday and told them to move to higher ground "because floodwaters are coming," Muench said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
My sons’ troop burned down one of their tents last year.
How high was the 'fun' level?
Years ago my troop attended a camporee, with the intention of competing with other troops demonstrating various outdoor skills.
Just after we arrived it began to rain very heavily. We toughed it out and erected our tents, dug the drainage ditches to keep the water out, and secured our food supply from the animals. Then we found that we had little to do but sit in our tents while it rained. There was every prospect that the entire weekend would be spent that way.
We sent for the parents to pick us up and were back home by midnight. We didn't care how tough things got, but there was very little interest in being bored.
Well, they talk about it every time they mention camping.
“It was probably an established wilderness camping spot”
Leave it to the government....
I guess I won’t be experiencing camping in that canyon. Momma didn’t raise no idiot.
As a 1970 Eagle Scout all I can say is that Scouting is an adventure and these young men got theirs on a Grand (canyon) scale !........Glad they all came home safe !
All those paper drives and car washes payed off in lifes lessons !
You probably did the right thing.
I said, "I Can verify that it is those camping trips where "things got tough" that stick in your memory."
Your comment begins, "Years ago..."
You made my point: you still remember the experience, and are, apparently proud of how you guys handled it. Now try to remember as much about one of those "It was beautiful" trips...
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