The annual ScoutHike event took place in May for about 900 Scouts from across the state and despite some very damp conditions, the 1St Northbridge Scouts returned with smiles.
Leaving on the Friday night, our adventurous group of Scouts headed off for Belanglo State Forest, having packed bags weighing up to 20% of their body weight. The Scouts changed sleep points each night, carrying everything they needed between campgrounds, including tents and food.
Participants spent the weekend hiking between activity bases arranged by leaders from different Scout groups with different themes and costumes. On day one they hiked up to 8km in total, with lots of stops to tackle the activities.
Scout Alfie said, “We were challenged by the weather, it was drizzling almost the whole time and it was pretty cold too. Our packs were heavier as we needed to carry all our gear for the cold wet weather.
“I really loved all the bases and loved that the leaders dressed up. My favourite base was the Northbridge one. We needed to shoot a fake deer with a crossbow and they gave us Kit Kats as we were one of the Northbridge patrols.
“At the end of the camp we had a jar of left over peanut butter which we went around offering to the other scouts. About 100 scouts dipped their fingers in. It was so fun!
I really enjoyed Scout Hike, meeting the other Scouts and joining in on the activities.”
Fellow participant Angus added, “It was a challenging weekend because it rained a LOT of the time and we got very wet and some people’s tents even got flooded – but it was still fun!”
The Scouts discussed gear requirements, cooking and camping skills at their regular Friday night session ahead of the event. This ensured all participants were well organised and aware of the challenges (and fun!) they faced.
