For our 2022 Summer Camp, we took the troop to West Virginia to the James C. Justice Scout Camp at the Summit Bechtel Reserve.
Like most troops, we plan a week-long “Summer Camp” event every year. We often try something new within our council or reasonably close by. For 2022, we decided to venture out further by spending a week at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia.
Since this is a National BSA Scout Camp, the options available to the Scouts were impressive, including activities such as ziplines, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, and much more.
Below are some pics from our time at camp…
Getting ready to leave for camp!Since we had such a long drive to camp, we stayed overnight at a group campsite in the Kanawha State Forest.Opening night ceremonyThe “Energy Bridge” which joined two areas of the camp. It has a central walkway, and smaller suspended walkways on each site.Summit is a massive campground, which resulted in lots of walking, and beautiful views.Nearly every morning, we woke up with everything covered in dew and fog in various parts of the campground. Not a bad view while enjoying our morning coffee!Several of our Scouts working on their final project for the Moviemaking Merit Badge.Another great view of Summit. This is one of the areas that could be used for fishing during free time. The island with the tent is where the first-year camper program was held.On the other side of the dam was the swimming area. Just beyond this to the right was the area for kayaking, paddle boarding, and swimming.There are walkways on each side of one of the main lakes in the Scout Camp. These walkways include some boardwalks over some of the coves of the lake, which just added to the scenery.On Wednesday evening, we all attended an Order of the Arrow Callout Ceremony, which included several people from our troop. The event, unfortunately, couldn’t be held at the camp’s primary OA area due to storms that were coming into the area at the same time.Right after the OA ceremony, we had to quickly evacuate the area and head to the dining hall for shelter from the incoming storm. Earlier it looked like the storm wouldn’t be that bad, but we ended up staying there for several hours before we could safely go back to our campsite.Once we returned to our campsite, we were able to assess the damage. This is one of the dining flies that was provided by the camp. It was still attached (partially), and the frame was leaning quite a bit.In order to give us more room, earlier in the week we had also set up our own dining fly. This one didn’t do so well. The wind picked it up and wrapped it around a guardrail, a significant distance from our campsite. Sadly it was not salvageable. However, we were very lucky because none of our tents were damaged from the storm. Many other troops were not as fortunate.A model rocket launched by one of our Scouts as part of their Space Exploration merit badge.Two of our scouts lowering our troop flag before the closing ceremony.One of several of our Scouts who earned their Whitewater merit badge during the week.Campfire at the closing ceremony.
