Youth Group Backpacking Trip 2006

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Heading up the AT.

     Our youth group went on a high adventure backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail, covering about 17 miles in two days in July 2006.

A shot of some of the group at the beginning of the hike.

     We began Saturday morning near the Eckville Shelter (north of Lenhartsville near Hawk Mountain).  It was a hot day for backpacking, and we were cooled off by a drenching downpour that soaked us to our bones.  The rain let up and we enjoyed sandwiches and fruit for lunch.

     The sun quickly dried us out as we continued onward along the trail.  We took a well deserved break at the Pinnacle (north of Hamburg), from which we enjoyed a fantastic and rewarding view, and watched hawks gliding close to us on thermals.  Along the way we took in vistas, joked, ate snacks, saw a large black bear (most likely at least 300+ pounds) just yards away and later on a couple of deer, and we picked wild raspberries (which is probably also what the bear was doing along the trail).

    
  Continuing up the trail.       A view from the Pinnacle.

     That evening we camped at the Windsor Furnace Shelter (near the Hamburg Reservoir).  The youth learned how to pump water through a backpacker's filtration pump.  Using a lightweight MSR Dragonfly backpacking stove we made our evening meal: Chicken Soup for starters; Chicken & Rice Teriyaki for our main course; and Raspberry & Chocolate Crumble for dessert.  We enjoyed hot chocolate with marshmellows by an evening campfire.  (Unfortunately we accidently brought diet hot chocolate - which we didn't even know existed - but it was good none the less).  Pastor Ben slept in the shelter and the rest of the group in tents.

     We woke up Sunday morning for a breakfast of Oatmeal; Dried Fruit; hot or cold (your choice) of Blueberry Granola Mix; and Hot Chocolate.  We shared in a worship service at the shelter.  We practiced good conservation, leaving the site better than we had found it by packing out trash left by others.

     We went through most of our blister treatment first aid supplies during Sunday's hike.  We enjoyed peanut butter and jelly pitas for lunch with dried fruit.  We rested and snacked at an overlook before descending off the mountain to the village of Port Clinton where we had left one of our vehicles the day before.

     
     At the Windsor Shelter.      Double checking the map.

     At the end of the trip the group had only two questions remaining: "Who is going to rub our tired, smelly feet?" and, "When can we do this again?"  There were no volunteers for the first question, and we have a great deal of interest in making a similar trip possible again for our youth in the future.

     On our Youth Ministry Web Page you can learn more about recent and upcoming Youth Group activities.

      As part of our Children & Youth Protection Policies, we do not list the names of youth with their pictures on the internet.