We left Deer Valley Community center and headed north on
I-17 to Camp Verde. We stopped at A & W for lunch before continuing on.
We arrived at Camp Geronimo around 1pm. We unloaded all the equipment
and began setting up camp. Most of the camp was setup before dinner. Our
first meal at camp was mystery meat meatloaf, overcooked green beans,
instant mashed potatoes and cake.
In the evening we navigated the Cat's Eye trail. It is
an orienteering course that is done at night. the scouts are given a
sheet of paper with compass points, paces and a starting location. the
scouts must use a compass to navigate the course to find reflective
markers. if navigated correctly, you will find the designated end point.
The scouts were woken up at 5:45 to cleanup camp and get
ready for breakfast at 7:00. Even though there are no classes on Sunday,
the scouts still have to get up early to practice cleaning camp for
inspection. A good camp inspection is a requirement for us to achieve
Big G Gold.
After breakfast, the scouts continued cleaning camp
before shower cleaning duty. 6 scouts went to clean the showers. This is
another requirement for Big G Gold. After the showers and camp were
clean, all of the scouts attended a church service. Three services were
available for the scouts; Catholic, LDS or non-denominational.
After a busy morning, the scouts ate lunch and then had
free time for the afternoon. They took this time to visit the
Nappenberger (camp store), catch crawdads in the creek, play catch or
any other activities.
After dinner, we attended the opening campfire. This was
a time for the camp staff to introduce themselves and have some fun.
There were quite a few skits put on by the staff. all of them were
really entertaining. After all the skits, announcements and other
information relayed to everyone.
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Leaders area
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Relaxing
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bucket full of crawdads
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lookout behind you!
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casual conversation
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flower against sky
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flower against creek
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Webber Creek
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DAY
3 - Monday, June 9
The day started at 5am so the scouts could cleanup
camp before breakfast. You would be surprised how dirty the camp
site gets after just 1 day. The scouts work to cleanup camp right up
to 7am breakfast time. Our site scoured a 25 out of 25 points for
campsite inspection.
After breakfast the scouts go to their assigned
merit badge classes. They can have as many as 4 classes to attend
(most have 2 or 3), each one usually runs for 50 minutes. Classes
usually keep the boys busy until lunch. After lunch the scouts have
free time where they can work on "homework" or do planned troop
activities.
In the early afternoon, the troop hiked the fireside
trail. it was a short 45 minute hike on one of the trails need for
Big G Gold. During dinner we celebrated Adam's birthday. The dining
hall staff was kind enough to make us a cake. In the evening we went on another night time
orienteering course. This time we did the Hawk Eye.
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Environmental Science class
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Archery class
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Archery class
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Wilderness Survival class (shelter in background)
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Wilderness Survival class
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Orienteering class
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Cooking class
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Canoing class
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DAY
4 - Tuesday, June 10
Today the scouts had to get up at 4:45 to prepare
for polar bear at 5:15am. The polar bear swim takes place every
morning for 3 mornings in a row. You jump in the water at one end of
the pool, swim to the other side and get out. It sounds easy when
you are in Phoenix and the pool is the temperature of bath water. At
Geronimo, the outside temperature is 50-55 degrees and the water
temperature is 65 degrees. It takes your breath away and wakes you
right up! The rest of the morning was spent cleaning up camp, eating
breakfast and attending classes.
In the afternoon the troop went on another hike.
This one a lot longer and outside of camp. We went on the Turkey
Springs trail that leads up to the top of the Mogollon Rim.
Normally Tuesday nights dinner would be in camp. The
Dining hall provides a box of food including hamburger, potatoes,
carrots and other ingredients. The troop then decides what they want
to make with it. But this time is special! Georgia brought up a
fully cooked Lasagna dinner to celebrate Vinnie's birthday (which is
actually on Wednesday).
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Motley crew
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Weather rock
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Environmental science
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Knot tying
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Bored?
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Wiped out SPL
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The gathering
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The leaders
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DAY
5 - Wednesday, June 11
As we get further into the week, you will start
noticing a pattern to the madness. Get up, do polar bear, clean
camp, eat breakfast, go to class and eat lunch.
For the first time since Bud has been attending
Geronimo, everyone received a free polar bear pass. The pool
chemicals were out of balance making it unfit for swimming.
The afternoon was spent preparing for this evenings
inter-troop campfire. Several other troops come to our site (the
inter-troop part) to share in a campfire program (the campfire
part). The scouts come up with stories, skits or songs to present at
the campfire. Then they spend the afternoon practicing them and
making any props that are needed. The boys from the other troops
also provide entertainment. Unfortunately, the Forest Service would
not allow us to have an actual campfire, so we improvised with
lanterns.
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Future home of new ramada
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The lake
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Downtime
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Brothers
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Knot tying
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Former SPL
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DAY
6 - Thursday, June 12
This morning was the same as yesterday morning; with
the exception that the pool chemicals were in balance. Scouts were
able to get all three days of polar bear while only getting in the
water twice. Cherish the moment, it will probably not happen again!
The afternoon was spent working on any merit badge
homework and finishing up any I-did-it-all activities. These
activities included knot tying, running the obstacle course, archery
and rifle shooting. Completing the I-did-it-all activities gives you
a special patch.
We had a special guest arrive today. Ray Villa came
up to tell the Mogollon Monster Story. We had several troops from
other campsites who came to listen to the story. Ray did an
excellent job telling the story as only he can. a special mention to
Kat and Jen who provided the high pitch scream at just the right
moment.
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Ray ready for storytime
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downtime at camp
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Horsemanship class
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They both need a haircut!
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Putting on a harness
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patient horse
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which one is not like the others
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brushing the horse
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Forestry class
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Ray ropeing
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DAY
7 - Friday, June 13
Friday is just as action packed as the rest of the
week. I starts out with the Tenderfoot run at 5:30am. The run takes
you around the entire Camp Geronimo. You have to stop at certain
checkpoints along the way to get a mark on your hand. This ensures
that scouts don't take any shortcuts. The first scout to finish the
race was Aaron at ~15 minutes. The highly coveted last place was
given to Pat at ~72 hours.
The Mighty Mogi Challenge was held in the afternoon.
The challenge contains 13 fun activities for adults and scouts to
perform as a patrol. The activities include putt-putt golf, nail
driving, seahorse riding at the pool, flag folding, and shooting.
Last year the adult leaders finished in 13 minutes. We slipped a
little without Barb's help and finished in 15 minutes.
After the challenge was the Scoutmaster Splash. The
scoutmasters jump off a platform at the pool to show off their belly
flopping skills. Bud did a fine job representing our Troop.
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Tenderfoot run - on your marks!
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Tenderfoot run - finish line
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Tenderfoot run - your almost there
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Tenderfoot run - fearless leaders skipping?
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Tenderfoot run - what?
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Our resident hair stylist
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Scoutmaster Splash - Bud on platform
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Scoutmaster Splash - Bud in mid-air
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Scoutmaster Splash - Bud is done
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DAY
8 - Saturday, June 14
We packed up and headed home in a cloud of dust! We
were out of camp and checked out by 8:30.
