COAST

Michigan fall weather. Ya gotta love it. This past weekend was another round of COAST (formerly known as Outdoor Leader Training) training for scout leaders, at Camp Gerber. Friday was wet and cold. Jacket and poncho provided protection. I cached a little, even in the rain, on the way up, and found my last cache for the lower peninsula county challenge (see previous post.) Then arrived at camp, set up, and greeted participants as they arrived.

We had flags, then first aid instruction, then a cracker barrel. Saturday morning found the weather to be the same, if not a bit colder. We joined the patrols for breakfast (pancakes) then started right into our day.

Flags, site selection, then round-robin training in knots, stoves, map & compass, plant and animal ID, Leave No Trace, and woods tools. Stopped for a lunch break then right back into things. Finished at 5 p.m., by this time the rain had stopped though it was still damp and chilly.

Dinner was an instructional session in cooking, mostly dutch oven style. Good food was prepared and enjoyed by all. We had closing flags then a campfire (inside style due to weather.)

We had lots of fun at the campfire - each patrol had a couple of performances, as well as the staff. We put on a session of "If I weren't a Boy Scout" that had everyone rolling on the floor laughing! Another cracker barrel closed the day.

Sunday - cool but no rain! Breakfast again, was supposed to be eggs but the patrol I ate with had switched the menus and had pancakes today. I was looking forward to those eggs, but it was not to be. Morning flags, then Scouts Own, then packing/hiking and the usual inspirational talk from Mike, our council exec. He was surprised by DA BEARS (yep, my bears) with his very own bear which was actually an owl (his wood badge critter) dressed in full scout uniform in miniature. He was as close to speechless as I've ever seen him.

Closing flags ended the weekend, other than checking out and staff meeting. We were able to leave at about 2 p.m. Of course, I did some caching on the way home. Finally got to PJ Hoffmaster State Park to do the Entmoot virtual. That was a bit over a mile hike each way, up some big hills and sandy paths. Definitely got a workout! I now have Michigan's oldest virtual on my find list.

Next session of COAST: April 16-18, 2010. Looking forward to it!