Scouting in Action at NOC

This morning's pre-breakfast hike was northbound on the trail where I had some wonderful experiences.  My favorite place to sit about 40 minutes up this trail is a large rectangular piece of stone that looks like a bench.  I practiced the sense meditation I teach at school and was overwhelmed with the sound of bees.  It was a constant him in all directions over my head.  It was beautiful and fascinating.  Their lives move on without our knowledge of their existence. 

I heard and saw plenty of birds; the same weird sounding crow from yesterday that Hunter Smith noticed, a normal sounding crowd, and a pileated woodpecker.  Saw slugs, toads, and caterpillars, too.  The best wild life was running into backpacker Steve whom we had met the night before as he stayed in the room next to ours.  He was glad we were providing lifetime memories for these girls and reminisced about his Scoutmaster, a bomber pilot from WWII named Jack Gantt.  Jack write a book that he showed me pictures from called "Scouting in Action". I am going to look for that!

We had a wonderful morning session of Wilderness Survival with Joel and Jeremy. They were excellent and taught the girls quite a few things, such as using a knife (to make fire sticks), 

gathering the proper amounts (lots) of tinder and kindling,

the fine art of making fire with the bow drill,

adding your embers to the bird's nest, and finally, getting water to boil!  

First team to do so won the Oreos! Joel and Jeremy liked their prize, too!  Girl Scout Cookies!

After lunch we went down the Nantahala River in "Duckies", one and two-person rubber kayaks. 

It was SO much fun!  Only Sydney had an "out-of-boat" experience but she did what she was trained to do and our guides got her back in her boat quickly.  She was unfazed!

Our Duckie guides, Sarah and Zag, loved their Girl Scout Cookies!  They were fun, professional, and a joy to be with.  Thanks once again, NOC!

After another wonderful dinner by Jeremiah, we had our final adventure for the day. We drove to Tellico Gap and climbed the 1.4 mile trail to the Wesser Fire Tower at sunset.  

This hike rewards you with a drop dead gorgeous 360 degree view of the mountains from an elevation of over 4,500 ft. We had a blast!

We laughed and joked and talked and took selfies!  It was funny how they got tired of the view and just started taking pictures of themselves!

I guess it's more likely that they discovered that they had cell service!  We really enjoyed ourselves this evening and came together even more as a group. 

The girls finally noticed the bee sounds too and Megan said "How did bees float all the way up here?"  We all howled with laughter as Kelly said "Bees don't float Megan!  They are not balloons!"

The girls are exhausted tonight!  There is not a peep coming from their rooms. 

I had to smile when I overheard this conversation as we hiked the steepest part of the trail; 

Kyra - "Kelly, how is your mom even doing this?"

Kelly - "She doesn't give up!  Now keep moving!"

All the girls did a great job climbing that peak and they practically ran down it. 

Sue and I sincerely hope that, like Backpacker Steve's Scoutmaster, Jack Gantt, we are changing the lives of these young people, one fantastic experience at a time!  Scouting in Action!