Sisters Boy Scouts canoe 80 miles

The Boy Scouts of America are still trying to do what they started out doing when British Army officer Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell organized Scouting back in 1910: Help boys to become strong and honest to become tomorrow's strong and honest men.

Last week, 11 young men from BSA Troop 188, Luke Glick, Marcus Gaboni, Thad Anderson, Cory Ozbun, Cody Swartz, Chris Epperson, Andy Stahn, Jerimiah Stahn, Ben Morse, Jeremy Archer and Justin Dean from the Sisters area went on a 10-day, 80-mile canoeing adventure at the Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit in British Columbia.

Four adults, Bruce Kemp, Dave Glick, Eric Liddell and Dave Liddell, accompanied them.

The reports were positive: "Outstanding! It was the trip of a lifetime!" exclaimed Andrew Stahn, Sisters High School student.

Andy's brother, Jeremiah, was a little more reticent. When asked if he would like to do it again, his answer was an emphatic, "No! It was long… very long."

It was probably the adult American bald eagle that swooped down and snatched a fish out of the water not more than 20 feet from Andy and Luke Glick's canoe that convinced them both that they'd like to do it again.

Maybe it was those mile-and-a-half portages (one of them around 78.7-foot Cariboo Falls) that convinced Jeremiah and a few other boys that doing it again would not be that much fun.

Be that as it may, it took the "BSA High Adventure" young men and leaders two days to arrive at their destination, Bowron Lake Provincial Park. The canoe circuit is shaped like a trapezoid, made up of nine long lakes that are connected by streams, rivers and portages.

"The wildlife was fantastic," said Dave Liddell.

"There was a moose calf right behind our camp on Isaac Lake, calling for its momma, who was on the other side of the lake," Bruce Kemp, Scout Master and one of the leaders on the canoe adventure said.

When the momma moose heard her youngster calling and answered, she took the shortest distance between two points, a straight line across the lake. Baby moose, on hearing its mom, did the same thing.

"It made a grunting sound that sounded like a duck," Ben Morse said.

"It was awesome!" Eric Liddell said, as he described how the boys followed the moose out to the middle of the lake in their canoes where mom and calf met each other.

Keeping a safe distance, the canoers followed the moose back to the Scouts' camp and watched quietly as the momma moose reacquainted herself with her young charge, and encouraged it to nurse.

River otter put on a show, along with great blue herons, osprey, ducks, bald eagles, bear, beaver and loons.

"A black bear and her cubs revealed a neat surprise," Bruce said. "While camped at Isaac Lake, we watched a bear cub come out of the forest, followed by momma bear and another cub. Then, surprise of surprises, a third cub joined the trio as they ambled off into the forest in search of berries and ants."

"I missed the bears," said Andy Stahn. "I was resting up from the flu and heard all the excitement when the guys went on about them."

At one point the group encountered Class II rapids on the Cariboo River, which necessitated a portage of camping equipment while the boys ran the canoe down river. Many of the young men decided to float the rapids with lifejackets on and had a blast.

"The lifejacket I had on was too big, though," said Jeremiah Stahn. "It kept sliding off and I had to jam it back under my arms," he added, grinning with the memory of the great time he had floating through the rapids.

"It only rained on us two days," Bruce Kemp said, adding the group just ahead of them had to put up with rain for eight days straight.

When asked about meals, Andy Stahn said, "I had the same thing to eat every day; oatmeal and chocolate milk for breakfast, tuna fish for lunch and freeze-dried dinner at night. "Yeah, the freeze-dried chicken was the best," he said, and with a frown added, "but the beef stew was the worst."

Scouting's American history goes back to 1910 when Chicago businessman and publisher William D. Boyce was groping his way through the fog in England. A boy appeared and offered to take him to his destination. When they arrived, Boyce tried to tip the boy, but the boy refused and courteously explained that he was a Scout and could not accept payment for a Good Turn.

Scouting has grown in the United States from 2,000 Boy Scouts and leaders in 1910 to millions today. From a program for Boy Scouts only, it has spread into a program including Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, Webelo Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts and Venturers.