Last Saturday, a group of brave scouts took to the trails to start working on their Hiking merit badge. We walked the OA trail that begins in Camp Butler, winds through the northern section of the camp (the original Camp Manatoc) and into Peninsula.
There in Peninsula, we found a friend in Thomas the Tank Engine, which was making a stop at the station. A quick rest break and then it was back onto the trail. We had to hop a railing to get past a washed out section of trial. And then the rain and light hail began.
We ended up taking lunch in a metal culvert underneath some railroad tracks. It was the only dry spot around. And of course, as soon as we got in there, the rains stopped. That just gave us time to rest a little bit, drink some more water and explore a nearby lock in the canal.
We continued walking for hours, with very few complaints. The guys found a few ways to spend the time having fun, which included trying to get cars to honk while we were hiking along Akron-Peninsula Road (37 cars honked). A few rest breaks here and there and then we were back into the muddy trails along the Ledges and Octagon areas of the National Park.
Slowly but surely we made our way back to camp. The information given about the trail says it is 13.1 miles long, but I think we walked a bit more than that. We ended up hiking for about 8 1/2 hours, but I’m sure that the scouts thought it was a lot longer. Blisters were few though, and everybody bounced back after getting some food and rest. Mr. Reed even went and ran a 10k race the next day! Congratulations to Mr. Reed!