On Saturday 2/19, eight scouts and seven leaders met at
the North Guilford Firehouse at 7am to drive North to Rocks Tree Farm in New
Hampshire. Upon arrival, we changed into warmer clothing and lugged our gear
down to the campsite, as the road down to the campsite had not been plowed.
After setting up all the tents, we set off to collect firewood and prepare the
picnic table for the next couple nights. We dragged the wood into piles and
cut it into pieces that could fit in the
fire pit. Shortly after
the fire was started, we had dinner- foil meals warmed up in the fire. Mr.
Ott also made
chicken soup to go along with the meals. Everybody had to stay
hydrated with warm apple cider, hot cocoa, and soup. After dinner, everybody
hung out by the fire and some people played Big Booty, a traditional game.
Later, everybody went to bed for the night. When we woke up, we changed and
ate- oatmeal, pre-cooked eggs, and soup. Soon after, we got in the cars and
drove to Mount Pierce. The sky was cloudy so we didn't expect to summit this
year. The path was slippery so everybody either had to wear some form of
extra traction on their feet- whether it be Yak-Trax or snow shoes. We
started up the trail at a fast pace. We slowed down a little so everybody
could keep up. About an hour and a half later, we took a break at the
junction about halfway up the mountain. Here there is usually a few Canadian
Jays that eat trail mix out of your hands, but they weren't there at this
point. A few people chose to turn back at this point, whether it be from
exhaustion or injury. The group that continued up saw soon that the sky was
clearing up and we might be able to summit. We decided to go a little bit
faster because we wanted to get to the top of the mountain before the cloud
cover returned. A while later, we reached the Alpine Zone, the point that the
trees were gone and the only vegetation was small shrubs. From this point on,
we were completely exposed to the wind. After layering up, we went on,
following an already worn path toward the summit. When we finally reached the
summit, the view was spectacular, you could see for miles in every direction.
For a short while, we could even see the top of
Mount Washington! This was one of the few days every year that was this
clear on top of these mountains. Once we took a bunch of pictures and a few
people attempted to make snow angels (Mr. Ott), we decided it was time to
return to the bottom of the mountain. We left the Alpine Zone quickly, the
wind was blowing pretty hard. Once back under the cover of trees, we stopped
for a short time to layer down and grab a quick snack. We even took off our
snow shoes. Going down was much easier than going up, we could slide or run
if we chose to. Once to the junction again, we stopped for a snack and there
were Canadian Jays this time! After refueling, we continued down the mountain,
Morgan and Ben attempting to sled on pieces of cardboard. About a half hour
later we were back at the parking lot. We got situated in the cars and headed
to the hyland center across the street for a little while. We used this time
to use the nice bathrooms and talk to other people there that climb and hike a
lot. A short time later, we were back in the car on the way back to
camp. There, we changed, gathered more firewood, and packed our bags leaving
only what we were going to wear that night and the next day inside our tents.
Everything else was packed and carried up to the building at the top of the
hill. Dinner that night was pasta with meat sauce. It tasted so good after a
day of hiking. After a while by the fire, we went to bed, our last night here
this year. Bright and early, we changed and packed up the tents. Shortly
after, we were in the cars again, this time on the way to the Littleton
Diner. We were overjoyed to eat at a place so nice and heated. After we
gobbled down breakfast, we got to walk around the street, going in and out of
different stores. The most famous to our troop, Chutters candy shop. It is
the world's longest candy counter. They have everything!! Even three foot
long gummy snakes! Everybody spent the majority of their time here, and then
met back at the cars. After using the bathroom one more time at Dunkin
Donuts, we started our long car ride home. Four hours later, we were home,
most likely sleeping, unpacking, or eating. This trip was a lot of fun and I
am definitely going on it next year. I think it was better this year with
more people, so the more people that come, the better.
-Eric Weidman
BSA
Troop 474
Boy Scout Troop 474
Guilford, Connecticut 06437