Day 3 – Almost Our First Layover (3/22/25)
Today has been good! We canoed 7 miles—3 more than the 4 miles we had to do today—and man, I love being powerhouse (also known as the front of the canoe).
We made it to a really nice campsite for our layover. How did our campsite look, you ask? Well, I’d give it 4.5 stars. It has a shelter and flat spots for our tents and gear tarp on top of the bank, and on the bottom of the bank we have a rope swing and a place to put our canoes.
What I enjoyed most today is that we got to swim before supper.
— Kayden, Discoverer
The River’s Beauty (3/25/25)
From day 1 to day 5, the river is just pure gorgeous. One of the biggest things about the Flint River is how natural it is. Although most of the Flint River land is private, the public land is nice and clean.
The land is mostly flat, and there are beautiful mountains across the river. If you camp by shoals, you can get some nice fishing, since fish like to hang in pockets of seaweed there. Another great thing about shoals is that you can get clear water to drink.
My favorite part about the shoals is that you can walk pretty far out into the river because they are so shallow. And the river itself provides plenty of space to do things in it.
— Ginters, Discoverer
Stinky Feet (4/14/25)
I was walking through Dolly Sods, which means walking in a small swamp. First, we hiked a lot, and of course, that made our feet stink. Then we walked into puddles, which let water get into our shoes.
And do you know what water and sweat can do to someone who hikes for 4 more miles? It can get pretty bad—I mean real bad. I took off my shoes to see how bad it was, and it looked like I had dipped my foot in water for the whole day. And guess what? My foot kind of dripped sweat the whole day.
Well, bye—I might go clean my feet.
— Eli, Woodsmen
Day 2 (4/12/25)
Good morning, Woodsmen! Chief woke us up at 7:00 for breakfast. After breakfast, we hiked 3.5 miles and took 3 breaks along the way.
When we got to the campsite, we did chores, had lunch, and then took a siesta. After siesta, we wrote articles, had dinner, and then enjoyed free time with lots of games. We all hung up our backpacks—and it snowed all day!
It was a good day.
— Tyler, Woodsmen
Potomac River Trip (5/13/25)
Today it was rainy, so it felt cozy under our sleeping bags as we listened to the rain splattering on our tents. I really like that sound.
Chiefs woke us up at 7:30. We packed our sleeping bags into our bags and left them in our tents. Then we went under the rain tarp where it was nice and dry and had a good devotion. After that, we took down our wet and soggy tents (not fun!) and went back under the dry tarp for breakfast—Brady’s menu.
Next, we unloaded the gear tarp, loaded the canoes, and started canoeing. We paddled 3 miles before reaching the access ramp. Afterward, we went swimming for a little bit, which was really fun. Then we washed the canoes, played around, and finally loaded them onto the trailer.
— Keith, Explorer