BSA
Troop 474
Boy Scout Troop 474
Guilford, Connecticut 06437
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Arrow Corps 5 2008- Bridger-Teton National Forest Owaneco Lodge #313
On July 24th, 2008, 28 members of Owaneco Lodge #313, accompanied with two members of Achewon Netopolis Lodge, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, embarked on a trip of a life time. With many of these scouts never having traveled before, the energy ran high throughout the group. These brothers would be going to the Bridger-Teton National Forest, practically in the middle of nowhere, to participate in a service project for the National Forest Service. The members of our lodge removed over three miles of fifty year old, eight foot fence that has prevented native animal’s migration. These animals include elk, bison, moose and bears. In addition, over three miles of barbed wire fence were also destroyed. Overall, over six miles of fence was taken down for this project. The metal from these fences would later be melted and sold for the Forest Service’s benefit. Other lodge’s members constructed a trail that would later be named Arrow Trail in our honor. The thousand people that were at this project would be split into three sites: about 150 at Goosewing, about 150 at Gros Ventre, and about 700 at Teton Pass. Arrowmen were split into 30 men crews and 5 men squads. These are the people that they would be working with for the next four days. We were staying at Goosewing, possibly the most beautiful site in all of Arrow Corps. We stayed with Arrowmen from around the country including New Jersey, Minnesota, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. Many made friends that would be had for a life time. The participants enjoyed a magnificent view of the Teton Mountain range all day long. Goosewing and Gros Ventre took down the fence, while Teton Pass constructed the trail area. Goosewing, with its hard workers, took down the six miles of fence in about a day and a half, two days before the Forest Service had anticipated. Therefore, the men and women of the service had to scavenge for things for us to do, which included erosion control and completing Gros Ventre’s work for them. After the four days of work all Arrowmen felt completely accomplished and were thanked intensely by the Forest Service. Before, leaving for Bridger Teton, the Owaneco participants made a side trip to the Frontier Days Annual Rodeo in Wyoming’s capitol city, Cheyenne. This has been rated the world’s number one rodeo for eight years straight. In addition to men and women representing five states riding around on horseback, there were carnival rides, food and venders everywhere. Things could be bought including, $500 cowhides, to $50 cowboy hats, to other commemorative souvenirs. In our other free time, we enjoyed tours of Yellowstone, hiking, biking, whitewater rafting and spending some time in nearby Jackson, Wyoming. A good time was had by all! On Saturday morning all members left beautiful Jackson Hole High School. Some went home, however the Owaneco members left on a two hour drive for Yellowstone National Park, the nation’s first. Saturday and Sunday included sightseeing of the park and touring the Old Faithful area. Traveling a mile sometimes took forty-five minutes due to the frequency of bison crossing the road and the occasional elk. On Sunday night, the exhausted brothers of Owaneco Lodge made the long journey home.
WWW, Andrew McCloskey |
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