Camp Meriwether Weekend (Stormy and Sunny!)

This weekend I pitched in with Troop 628, which explains why this is on the Venturing blog. Thomas, Hunter, Frank, and I made the rainy drive down south of Tillamook to Camp Meriwether. We're scheduled to go to camp there for a week this summer, so it was good to let the boys check it out. They have made some MAJOR improvements in the 17 years since I was there last, most notably a huge new lodge for dining and stuff. Our adirondacks had very waterproof aluminum roofs, which kept us dry but also relayed the noise of the huge storm very loudly all night. A cool site about Camp Meriwether is here.


Well, there weren't enough of us for capture the flag or anything, so I played with my camera. I set it up on a timer on a small tripod and exposed for about 5 seconds.


Then I figured out I could even do letters. My 5-year-old son would be very pleased.


Frank was the first up, and he had water ready for hot chocolate when the rest of us rolled out. This is how you cook when your car is just up the trail. The crab cooker and the cast iron are very effective and quick (and heavy)! Mmmmmm . . . bacon!

Camp Meriwether (The Weather Turns . . .)

We arose to blue sky and sunshine. And, it stuck around! So, we didn't even need raingear to accompany Frank on a tour of the camp. Since we arrived after dark, it was neat to see things beyond our beloved home, Viking.


One campsite we poked around in (which of course was unoccupied) was Bunyan . . . as in Paul Bunyan . . . although many Scouts might encounter bunions if they persist in ill-fitting footwear. In the distance is Cape Lookout. One summer my high adventure group went rock climbing (supervised of course) out at the tip. I believe we climbed up from that small ledge you can see off the end. It was really really cool, and kind of scary because the weathered rock was not exactly trustworthy (thankfully our ropes were).


Thomas and Hunter at Lake Chamberlain (named for early settlers . . . or perhaps that character in The Dark Crystal . . .) This begs a gelfling joke about my Scouts, but I'll pass. :-)


The super Frank tour also took us to the meadow, where we stood alongside a flagpole and the old anchor chain from the Struan. Even photoshopped, it's hard to see the beach very well in the background. Special thanks to the random Scouter with the BYU hat for taking our photo!

Camp Meriwether (Guns and Dogs!)

Camp Meriwether offers a lot of merit badges that involve shooting things, so there are areas for archery, black powder (where this Fort Clatsop-inspired building is), .22 shooting, and shotgun shooting.


The four of us went through about 150 rounds (total). Thomas really needed a gun with a shorter stock on it so he could better brace against his shoulder. He did his best with what he had, and only a few shots killed the plants beyond the target range. I was impressed with Hunter's marksmanship, and his targets probably look better than mine. Frank, who was kind enough to sponsor our ammo, did really well too.


So here are my targets. I'm going to go out on a limb and venture that rifle #6 (the one I had all 3 times) needs its sights adjusted up and to the left. I'm pretty happy with my clustering, though, and Frank said I could've gotten the merit badge for 5 within a quarter. I never got that badge when I was in Scouts though.


Frank was also the foodmaster for lunch. It was a bit like cooking hot dogs with a blowtorch, but dry firewood was hard to come by (as you might imagine).

Camp Meriwether Overnighter (cont'd)

Needless to say, there weren't a lot of GTIs around. It's not really intended for muddy service roads . . . Still, I managed not to get stuck, and we were able to haul the boys and I with all our gear back home when it was over.


We did some exploring after lunch on Saturday and found this Order of the Arrow ceremony site. It has posts that contain kind of a synthesis of the Scout Law and Oath.


I am helpful AND friendly (and good at cheesy smiles)!


Many moons ago, I was at Meriwether for Senior Patrol Week as part of summer camp. During that time, we stayed down the beach a little ways at David Douglas. Frank said they don't really use it anymore and it's probably overgrown. So, we HAD to go see if we could find it, and after ascending a steep trail we did. It must have been a bit of a workout to get from that campsite to the main lodge and camp. Anyway, Thomas and Hunter were having lots of fun with wood and rope here and it was just great to be there with the sunshine and beatiful Cape Lookout in the background.

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