Troop Outings

Cookfest

The outing we call “Cookfest” takes place usually in April and centers around cooking. It will most likely be a new scout’s first camping trip in the troop due to the fact that they cross over in March. Patrols will meet at a troop meeting or patrol meeting before the trip to discuss what foods they want to bring for the trip, and the troop supplies each patrol with the correct amount of money that is necessary. Cookfest is well known for its competition, where a group of adults chooses multiple items of food, and each patrol must use those foods in any way, and the other items they brought to make the best dish out of all patrols. The selected adults will then judge each dish from every patrol on certain criteria, and the patrol with the best dish will win the Cookfest golden spoon. Cookfest is a fantastic outing, where younger scouts can get adjusted to the troops ways of doing things, highly recommended as the must-do trip for any scout who recently has crossed over.   ~N.A.

Backpacking

Our annual backpacking outing is often in May and is usually a new scouts first experience with backpack camping instead of car camping. Scouts hike a short distance to the campsite carrying their gear, where they can set up tents to explore nearby waterfronts. Older scouts usually head up the night before to add some extra miles and elevation to their adventure.

Canoeing

Every year Troop 159 does a canoeing outing in June at several different locations. We rotate the places the troop goes each year between camping on islands at newfound lake, and going on the fast flowing Battenkill river in New York. Before every outing the troop holds a shakedown on the concord river for new scouts if they have never been on a canoe outing before. Even though it’s only mandatory for those new scouts, everyone else joins in just because it’s so much fun! On the Batenkill outing the troop brings all the gear up on cars and straight into the campsite while on Newfound Lake the gear gets canoed over to the island. The Batenkill river has sections of fast moving water and winding turns which are a lot of fun. Occasionally when you get into a tricky spot your canoe may flip but the river is relatively shallow so it won’t be a problem and actually adds a lot of fun into the journey. On Newfound Lake you can canoe or swim around the islands pretty much any time you want and explore the neighboring island. The fishing is excellent and there are many rocky out coves to fish from either on land or from the canoe. Throughout the day the troop has several games like capture the flag, tag, and races all on the canoes between the islands. Both outings are really fun but also different experiences so I would highly recommend to do both.   ~T.W.

Martha’s Vineyard Bike Outing 

Martha’s Vineyard is a very fun outing. We go on the Martha’s Vineyard biking outing in September as the first outing of each new scouting year. During this trip, we all meet up at the library and load our bikes and gear onto the truck and drive down to the cape. We then take the ferry to the island and get our bikes at the common. We then bike to the campsite in different groups. After arriving, we set up our gear and hang out around the campsite, with a small area allotted as a bike path. Later in the outing, we split off and go on scenic bike rides around the island, potentially visiting the beach but always ending with ice cream. All meals on this outing are provided by adults so there is no extra work for meal planning or cooking. If you love to bike, you should definitely be sure to come on this outing.   ~V.V.

Wilderness Survival

Wilderness survival is the annual November outing, where scouts will be encouraged to set up shelters with their patrols instead of tents. We mostly move between two campsites and most of the day is spent setting up your shelter to avoid at all costs the "last minute tent set up". Meals for this outing will be hot and scout prepared such as soup, ramen and the legendary "slop". I can only predict woe for the scout(s) who eat(s) sausage(s).

Boston Outing 

The Boston outing is the one outing of the year where scouts are permitted to bring electronics, and one of the more fun ones. The outing starts out at a cabin, with power outlets and bunks. Then leave to go to Boston. The scouts walk around, exploring different landmarks and fulfilling requirements for Citizenship in the Nation merit badge, or just enjoying the tour. The day finishes as Quincy Market where the scouts are given money to walk around, buy dinner, and have fun. Then, people start playing games and having fun, and after several hours go to sleep. The next morning, the scouts pack up and then go home.   ~R.Y.

Winter Play Outing

The Winter Play Outing is our troop's annual outing in January. Each year we go to one of a couple campsites. Recent sites we have gone to are Camp Wah-Tut-Ca and Camp Bell. The scouts arrive at camp and put their packs in a cabin that we sleep in. The rest of the day is spent doing fun activities such as sledding, snow ball fights and building snow forts. If there is a lake that is thickly frozen we will go walk around on the lake and play on the ice. That night we sleep in the cabin on cots and in sleeping bags. The next morning we do more fun activities before driving back home. The Winter Play Outing is one of the best outings for scouts that enjoy a more “chill” experience.  ~C.D.

Winter Trek Outing

The Winter Trek Outing takes place every February and is open to all scouts. No scout should miss it! It's been one of the troop's most fun and favorite outing for nearly 3 decades. Scouts can load all their gear onto a sled, and trek into the winter wilderness to set up camp!  Scouts have been known to tent on the thick ice, and end the evening with a giant bonfire.

Patrol Outings

March Outings are usually patrol-based, and each small group selects their own destination with the help of the Assistant Scoutmasters. Scouts have summited peaks, camped on sandy beaches, gone rock climbing, and completed midnight hikes! Patrol outings are an excellent opportunity for scouts to take a lead role in the outing process.

Venture Winter Mountains (14+)

Older scouts can participate in more challenging Venture outings (14+), like a winter hike to conquer Mount Madison (a 5K summit, hiking over 4K elevation gain)!  This outing included lots of planning and preparation. The clouds opened briefly and gave us a momentarily view of Mt. Washington. At the lower elevations, the boys took turns cutting up and clearing trees that fell across the trail. What a great time, and truly an adventure for the scouts and the adult leaders!

Venture Midnight Hike (14+)

Why hike in the daylight when you can hike at midnight! Older scouts enjoyed starting down the trail at 9:00pm, and completing over 7 miles by midnight! Headlamps and a full moon lit the way. Scouts set up tents, or slept under the stars. Scouts woke early to do some fishing at the nearby pond.

Venture Bike Trip (14+)

Older scouts put rubber to the pavement for extended bike trips over 200 miles! Leading up to the outing they did several bike shakedowns to ensure scouts and bikes were ready for the journey! Lots of laughs, a few skinned knees, and life long memories are the takeaways from our venture bike trips!

Venture Midnight Marathon Bike Ride (14+)

Light up your bike and take to the streets along the marathon route! 

Philmont

Philmont is a Scout ranch based in Cimarron, New Mexico. In Philmont you get to backpack throughout the ranch. You and your group get to choose how much you want to walk or how little and how many activities you want to do. There are different treks you can choose from, spanning from 7 days to 3 weeks in length. There are many fun activities you will get to do on your hike, some of which are cowboy action shooting, gold panning, and building railways. There are beautiful views in Philmont, the best of which is from the top of Mt. Baldy which is over 12,000 ft high and you can see all of Philmont from up there. Even when the trek is over you'll probably wish it was just a little longer.  ~M.G.

Summit Bechtel

Summit Bechtel is probably one of the best Scout camps in our area. The camp offers 32 merit badges, such as archery, swimming and cycling. The camp will provide you with a tent, bug screens, and food, and more, so you don’t have to bring your own equipment to the summit. The camp’s campgrounds are really good, and the camp also surrounds several bike trails, kayaking roots, and a climbing cave.  The camp also provides specialist programs, such as COPE, fish camp, hunting education, and Brownsea Island that can fit everyone’s style. Our troop goes to Bechtel every several years, if there is enough interest to go on the trip.  ~F.Y.

Northern Tier

Northern Tier, one of BSA’s four high adventure bases, is situated in Minnesota on the border lakes with Canada. Northern Tier’s focus is on canoeing. You arrive at the base, typically after a day or two of travel / sightseeing in Minnesota, and begin preparations for your journey on the water - food prep, gear packing, meeting your interpreter to plan your route, etc. The following day, you depart, and an efficient crew can get out of there well before noontime. The crew gets to decide the route and what they want to do while on the water. It’s days after days of portaging (you become a real pro at carrying a canoe on your back), paddling (often in solitude - really, we went a whole day without seeing anybody), singing (there’s nothing like the feeling of singing as you paddle across an otherwise silent lake at 6 in the morning), and so much more. I mean, seriously, I have so many amazing memories from the trip. Remembering watching the rain roll across the mighty Kekekabic lake while we were perched high on a hill above. Rushing to our tents by 8 P.M. in order to avoid the droves of refrigerator sized mosquitoes. Watching the mother bear and her cub swim across the lake, or the crayfish clustering the shoreline on a night with a full moon. Or looking up at the sky, watching the ISS pass over or taking in the beautiful stargazing. My favorite thing, by far, was simply being able to disconnect from the rest of the world and really be in solitude and one with nature and your crewmates for one week. Northern Tier was an amazing experience, one you really can’t replicate, and I would encourage those of you who have the opportunity to go to take advantage of it!  ~C.P.

Camp Bell & Hidden Valley Scout Reservation is a Boy Scout camp in Griswold, New Hampshire, where our troop goes to summer camp each summer. It is a week long adventure of rank advancement, troop spirit, and most of all, fun! Going to summer camp with 159 is an amazing experience for everyone who attends. Camp Griswold has many merit badge areas, including frontier, waterfront, and the shooting range. This camp has open schedule after dinner(sometimes!) but you will have to plan your normal activities before hand. When you aren't doing your activities, this camp also has a trading post to hang out at, a fishing doc and miles of camp to explore! Also, sometimes we have access to the iceberg, try to climb to the top of this inflatable climbing rock so you can slide down into the lake below.

Highlights of Summer Camp:

• Shenanigans!

• Eat In Site Night - We make hamburgers on charcoal briquettes at our camp. 

• Our annual massive Troop 159 Thursday night bonfire.

• Earning lots of Merit Badges

Every day at Hidden Valley gives scouts more skills and builds experiences they will never forget. It also creates friendships that make our troop one whole unit.  ~B.V.