Greetings to All. Sorry this is so late. Taking over a new (and surprisingly demanding) job, and simultaneously trying to get back in halfway decent shape by hiking over 300 miles in less than 2 months, doesn't leave much time for creative writing....

Did you know that this issue starts the 15th year of Scoutmasters' Minutes? It's True! After some sporadic "newsletters" during my first six months (just flyers, really), the very first issue of the "Minute" was published in December of 1988. [It makes for a rather amusing read today.] Except for my semi-sabbatical in 1998, when two issues of "The Eagle's Nest" were published by Jim and Kim S., the "Minute" has Been a continuous Troop fixture ever since. As you might imagine, it has undergone many changes over that time frame, probably the most dramatic of which was the conversion from hard copies to email (The Staples Copy Center and the USPS are both still in mourning). Of note, ASM Rich S. and I are (very slowly) posting past issues on the Troop website, and we hope to someday have them all up. However, WordPerfect 10 doesn't seem to be real happy with WordPerfect 2, so this may end up being a bigger project than originally anticipated! I'm hoping to not have to retype ancient "Minutes". We'll see....

Daniel E. and Erik K., both sixth graders at Swanson and friends of Zachary A., joined the Troop in December and January, respectively. Mike C., Nick R., and Colin S. joined us from Pack 637 (Little Falls Presbyterian) in late February. Patrick B., Danny B. (brother of Charles), Brian and Connor DeL. (brothers of Drew), Gillum F., Jake G., Jamie M. (brother of Mickey), Henry M., and Sean M. joined us from Pack 111 in late March. And last but not least, Paul C. (brother of Tom and a former Pack 111 Scout) also joined up. Welcome to All!

However, I regret to announce that (completely) inactive Scouts Colin A., Dan McF., Lowell R., and also ASM Bob M., were dropped from the Troop roster as of the first of the year. Colin departs as a Tenderfoot Scout, Dan as a First Class Scout, and Lowell as a Scout. Bob M. was OBL ("Overtaken by Life"). In addition, Nathan P. has moved to Herndon, and will (hopefully) transfer to one of the many Troops in that area. Nathan is currently a Tenderfoot Scout. Finally, Max D. has decided to drop out of Scouting; he leaves as a Star Scout.

The Troop's current roster stands at 72 active Scouts. We remain the District's largest Troop in terms of active (not just "registered") Scouts. Troop 106 (Rock Spring Congregational) is officially the largest Troop, with about 80 registered Scouts.

In addition, the Troop has started a Co-Ed Venturing Crew, "Crew 111." At present, this is just a Unit on paper, but we will be registering a number of Scout sisters in the near future (as they turn the minimum 14 years old), and we'll see what develops from there. "May you live in interesting times."

Matt Stainback, Eagle Scout 1999, was recently credited with using CPR to save the life of the Dean of Admissions at the Naval Academy; Matt received a special commendation from the Navy for his efforts. Brad Jones, Eagle Scout 2001, has accepted a position as a Philmont Ranger for this coming summer. ASM Ari Houser recently climbed Mt. Washington with his local Adventure Group (if anyone wants to see an incredible photo, send me an email!) 14 Troop members earned the Alonzo Stagg medal for hiking all 50 miles on the Alonzo Stagg 50/20 Hike (more on this below). Luke B. earned "Student of the Year" accolades from the Mountain Shepherd Program (for his performance during last year's Patrol Campout there); see: http://www.mountainshepherd.com/soy2001.htm. Finally - but only of interest to our very oldest families - former Assistant Scoutmaster Jeff Kent has moved back into Arlington, and now owns a home on Washington Boulevard, about 2 blocks from my house. Jeff and Katie have 2 boys and a girl; the oldest boy will be joining Cub Scouts this fall.

Although we had a slow stretch for most of the Winter, things picked up dramatically in February, March, and April (must have been all the warm weather). Charlie S. passed his First Class Practical Exam, and Luke B., Carl S., Thomas S., and Neil S. all finished their Life Practical Exams. Advancing in rank were: Luke B. (Life), Will B. (TF), Zachary B. (TF), Peter C. (TF), Ryan C. (TF), Patrick D. (2nd), Brad G. (2nd), Ian H. (1st), Ryan K. (2nd), Mickey M. (TF), Anthony M. (2nd), James N. (TF), Thomas N. (TF), Jack O. (2nd), Patrick O'M. (TF), Alan R. (TF), Brian R. (TF), Thomas S. (Life), Carl S. (Life), Neil S. (Life), JJ T. (1st), and Patrick W. (TF). Earning Merit Badges were: Luke B. (Astronomy and Bugling), Michael C. (Wilderness Survival), Sam F. (Citizenship in the Nation), Dan H. (Personal Management), Marshall K. (Art), William L. (Citizenship in the Nation), Stefan N. (Citizenship in the Nation and Communications), Carl S. (Swimming), Neil S. (Astronomy), Mark T. (First Aid and Nature), and Eric W. (Personal Management).

Congratulations to all the above Scouts!

With the arrival of Spring and Daylight Savings Time, things are picking up. This weekend, Hugh S. and I will be camping at Camp Snyder, undergoing Council Philmont training. On April 12th - 14th, we'll have the Annual Patrol and New Scout Campouts. And on April 26th - 28th, the Projectoree. Also in April, Stefan N. and Charles B. will be completing their Eagle Projects; we are expecting (at least) 3 May Eagles!

Our Annual Poinsettia and Wreath Sale was held December 1st and 2nd, and netted nearly $3000 for our Troop funds. [This was consistent with the past few years.] Thank you to our Scouts and many of their parents who helped out with this event. Troop participation was nearly 100%, and the very few who could not help let us know and were willing to offer help in other Troop endeavors.

Once again, we sold out of wreaths after the 10:30 Mass. We will (again) increase our order of this popular sales item next year. We also experimented with some new varieties of poinsettias, some of which proved popular. Our only weak selling item were the white poinsettias, and we will adjust that part of our order next year. The last of the roping also took some discounting to move out the door.

Thanks to Ramona H. (Burt B.'s mom) who organized a successful pre-sale at St. Agnes School (which was also extended to our Troop families). This offer allowed people to make an earlier pick-up of their plants and get the best selections.

The profits from this year's sale will go towards rock climbing gear.

On Saturday, December 8th, the Troop braved rather horrid weather conditions to compete in the 25th Annual Baltimore Orienteering Day, run by the Baltimore Area Council. This year it was held at Patuxent River Park, the same location as in 1999, under cold, rainy skies. Fortunately, everyone was well prepared, and we took pains to warm everyone in the vans between activities. The day started off with an instructional map walk to teach the basics of orienteering, then went into an un-scored relay orienteering event, then route orienteering, and finally the highlight of the event, score orienteering. [In 1999, the team of Max D., Neil S., and William L. took first place in the route orienteering, beating out 104 other teams!] Troop results this year: 15th out of 32 scored Troops (or 15th out of 74 total Troops, if you prefer - and we do!, we do!). Younger scout pairs results (out of 159 pairs or triples):

Ray DiN. and Charlie S., 15th
Will B., Jack B., and Zack B., 23rd
Ryan K. and Burton B., 88th

Older scout pairs results (out of 118 pairs and triples):

Ian H. and Mike D., 28th
Will K. and Patrick P., 74th

Ray DiN. and Charlie S., Will B., Jack B., and Zach B. all got ribbons for their places (ribbons are given to top 25 finishers).

Will K. and Ian did a nice job as the SPL's. Ian says he wants to come back next year and do the Super-Scout solo. All in all, everyone had a good time and the younger guys learned a lot. Rich did a nice job of teaching and coaching before turning them out for the events.

Participants included: Will B., Burton B., Jack B., Zack B., Ray DiN., Michael D., Ian H., Will K., Ryan K., Patrick P., and Charlie S., and Adults Ted G., Hugh S., and Rich S.

On Monday, December 17th, we held an "end-of-the-year" pizza party, featuring an electronic PowerPoint presentation of the Troop's Wind River Range Trip in Wyoming this past summer. About half the Troop showed up to enjoy the show, "amusingly" narrated by Mark S. A nice break from the stress and hub-bub of the Holidays.

On Monday, December 31st (yup, New Year's Eve), we headed up to Whitetail Ski Resort in Mercersburg, PA, for our Annual Beginner Skier/Beginner Snowboarder Trip. The trip had originally been planned for the previous Thursday, but the resort hadn't even opened yet due to extremely warm weather throughout early and mid-December. Fortunately, a week-long cold snap started up on Christmas Eve, and a week's worth of machine-made snow was awaiting us on New Year's Eve.

We arrived at 8am, exiting to a pretty sharp breeze but clearing skies overhead. Dr. Bob and I settled affairs at the "Groups" desk, then rejoined our crowd upstairs - who were just about done layering on the clothes. After splitting into skiers and boarders, the respective groups headed off to the rental shops to gear up. Everyone was on the slopes by about 9am - fortunately, the crowds were still thin at that point. Dr. Bob, Matt G., and Steven S. worked with the beginner skiers, while Eric W., Dan H., Hilary P., and I escorted our beginner snowboarders. Dr. Bob gave his patented beginner skier lessons, eventually splitting off the faster learning groups to work with Matt and Steven.

For the boarders, my plan was to put them in the 9am Group Lesson and then give them private Troop 111 instruction afterwards. As it turned out, the first Group lesson wasn't offered until 10am, so we had about 40 minutes of preliminary work with them beforehand. It proved to be beneficial. The boarders all participated in the Group lesson from 10:00 until 11:30. In the meantime, Eric, Dan and I explored the other terrain including the beginnings of Whitetail's new terrain park.

At 11:30 we returned to the Group lesson area and met up with our freshly instructed beginners. We suggested a quick lunch followed by some more personal Troop 111 instruction. By this time all of the skiers were trained and slaloming away. Following lunch, Eric, Dan and I evaluated each snowboarder's abilities and broke the 9 beginners into smaller groups based on their new skill levels. Eric escorted a couple of the more advanced beginners, borderline intermediates, to the slope called Snowpark and helped them negotiate a slightly more challenging slope, while Dan and I continued to work with the others on the less steep beginner slope. As they got better and more confident we would send a couple over to Snowpark with Dan or Eric to see how well they managed it.

After a couple of hours and after one or two returned to the beginner slope for some more work, we eventually got all of the snowboarders comfortable on Snowpark and classified as what I would call Advanced Beginners or Beginner Intermediates. By about 2pm, all snowboarders had achieved sufficient skill to negotiate Snowpark and were released in buddy pairs. At 4:30, we reassembled everyone (just as we were getting the heave-ho from the lodge), turned in our rentals, and headed off for a pizza dinner in Hagerstown. Home well before the New Years' festivities started.

Our latest crop of skiers includes: Burton B., Zachary B., (Mike and) Ryan C., Pete F., Elizabeth H., James N., Thomas N., Nora P., Sarah R., and Olivia and Patrick W.. Our latest crop of snowboarders includes: Tom C., Matthew C., Michael C., Ray DiN., David G., Dale R., Alan R., and J.J. T. Thanks especially to Matt G., Dan H., Steven S., and Sarah and Eric W. for their efforts with the learner sub-groups. Thanks also to our escorting Adults Mark N., Tony N., Hilary P., Annette R., and Jim W.

Brad Jones was awarded the Eagle rank at an Eagle Court of Honor on January 6, attended by numerous Chain Bridge dignitaries, 18 Eagle Scouts and 1 Girl Scout Gold Award Recipient, and about 70 other friends and guests, at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Arlington (the home of Troop 111). Dr. Bob, Scoutmaster of Troop 111 and Acting District Chairman, adroitly served as the Master of Ceremonies. Dick Meyers, Eagle Board Chairman, and Joe Gibson, Associate OA Advisor, spoke on the significance of the Eagle rank. Ralph Belter, George Mason OA Chapter Advisor and Program Vice Chairman, administered the Eagle Charge and Oath to Brad. The long lineup of witnessing Eagles included District Executive Brian Fasci and Lodge Administrative Advisor Ray Garant.

Three of Brad's close friends from the Order of the Arrow spoke about Brad and his Scouting experiences, toasting and roasting him in varying degrees: Chain Bridge Chapter Vice Chief Mark Gibson, the Chapter Chief Chuck Reynolds, and Chapter Chief Emeritus Jesse Knight. The OA Chapter presented an Eagle choker to Brad as a member of the ceremonies team.

Brad had and extensive and distinguished career with the OA. The OA Amangamek Wipit Lodge #470 named him "Arrowman of the Year" in 2000. As the first Chapter Chief of the Chain Bridge OA Chapter when it was organized in 1998, Brad organized the Chapter, accomplishing his lofty goal that the youth would lead the Chapter and run its events. Brad was re-elected for a second term in 1999, was appointed and then elected Lodge Vice-Chief for the Central Virginia Area in 2000, and served as the Lodge Chief for four months in 2001. He was honored with the Vigil in 2000. As the Chief on the Chapter's Brotherhood Ceremony Team, he lead the team in winning the Lodge ceremony competition in February 2001 and then winning the OA Section competition in May 2001.

Brad was honored with a Commissioner's Award by the Chain Bridge District in May 2001, the only youth to have been so honored. His four years of service to the District included establishing the District's first web site, representing youth on the District Committee, and leadership with the Spring Projectorees and the Fall Camporees.

Brad's career in Scouting included 3 1/2 years each with Troops 149 and 111, and included three Philmont treks, a Florida Sea Base Adventure, and the Canadian National Jamboree in 2001. Dr. Bob and Troop 111 presented Brad with a scrapbook, 3-inches thick, on his Scouting activities.

Brad graduated from Washington and Lee High School, Arlington, in 2001, and currently attends the University of Colorado, majoring in communications. As noted above, Brad has been accepted as a Ranger at the Philmont Scout Ranch this summer.

[From Bob: Brad's (impressive) career summaries may be reviewed at: http://www.troop111.org/eagle77.html He may be contacted at: "Jones, Brad (at Colorado)" <bradley.jones@colorado.edu>]

On the Martin Luther King Day Holiday Weekend (January 18 - 21), the Troop headed southwest for our first ever trip to Snowshoe Resort, located in southeastern West Virginia. This event took the place of the traditional annual trek to Canaan Valley, which we have been doing every year since 1988. Our Friday afternoon pack-up went a little slower than usual, as (for the first time) we tried to pack the vehicles according to cabin, rather than having to sort it all out at the other end. I-66 turned out to be a 25 mile disaster in progress as we left the Parish Center, so we headed out the Greenway and then Route 7 to intercept I-81, then turning south. Surprisingly, it is only 12 miles longer, and we saved at least an hour of bumper-to-bumper slow-mo on 66. After a fairly leisurely dinner stop in Woodstock, we continued south on I-81, then turned west on I-64. Then, after a brief gas and go, north on Route 219. Despite the threat on a storm moving into the area, it was clear and cold, with a beautiful sky overhead. After some efforts to locate the correct turnoff (and realizing that "Map Quest" directions leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the fine points), we found Watego State Park, also intercepting "Danger" Rick (who had started off 90 minutes behind us but hadn't stopped for dinner).

The park turned out to be at the very end of a very long and winding stretch of secondary roads, which definitely had us concerned for the next morning (4 - 6 inches of snow expected later that night). Our cabins were unbelievable, especially the newest (and largest) at the very top of the hill. Folks, I have never lived in any house in my life that was anywhere near as nice as my cabin - real wood paneling, a full kitchen, TWO bathrooms with shower facilities, a fireplace, central heat, private bedrooms with beds (no need for sleeping bags), and a large living room and adjoining dining area. In Arlington, a half-million dollar home, easy. The others didn't quite match up to this standard of "roughing it", but were also real, real nice. After an orientation meeting, we set an early reveille, but decided against putting chains on the Troop vans (probably a mistake). Bed just before midnight, still with a brilliantly clear, starlit night overhead.

On Saturday morning, we awoke to 4 inches of snow on the ground and still coming down to beat the band. What a difference 6 hours made! After breakfast and another orientation meeting, we geared up and headed off for the resort, everyone very excited to have a chance at fresh powder on the mid-Atlantic's premier resort. Well, we had plenty of time for all the excitement to wear off, as the 35 miles to Snowshoe turned into quite the Winter driving adventure - especially for the White Van. It took nearly 2 1/2 hours of white-knuckled driving to get to the resort, then another hour to get tickets and rentals. A driving blizzard at the very top of the mountain at 11:00, but fortunately things began to calm down by noon. Everyone headed off to the four points of the compass in their various buddy groups; I worked with Brad G. and Burton B. on the beginner slope (Brad was a novice, and it was only Burton's second trip). Well, another Scout trained to ski!

After lunch, we tackled some of the intermediate slopes, with occasional glimpses of sun here and there. A "Call of the Wild" scenario greeted us below one of the chair lifts, however, as we watched a quite large (and actually quite pretty) wild dog finishing his kill of a deer, ignoring the various exclamations by all the humans passing 30 feet overhead. After that, we decided to head over to the fabled "Western Territories", a completely separate resort on the opposite side of the ridge, accessed via a "commuter bus". This actually turned out to be an excellent move, as the slopes were better and far less crowded versus the main resort. At 4pm, we all reassembled - first time most of us had seen any other groups from the Troop all day - and headed off for dinner at a restaurant in Marlington (I think???). Naturally, as soon as we got back in the vehicles, it started snowing again, so another stressful trip for the drivers. But we made it OK. Dinner was basically a spaghetti buffet, very popular with our famished Scouts.

Then we headed over to St. John Neumann's for Mass - or rather, an hour-long snowball fight followed by a Mass. Well, at least we shoveled off the Church's sidewalks while we were there. This was a private Mass offered for us by Fr. Kuzinsky (???), who is basically the only Catholic Priest for an area 4 times the size of Montgomery County. Interestingly, St. Neumann's was doubling as the Episcopalian Church, which had just burned down several days before. Fr. Kuzinsky expected to be doubling up for 2 to 3 years, with the local Diocese's blessing. Then it was back to Watego, where I managed to mislead the Troop caravan up the wrong road - nearly getting us really stuck - before we figured it out. The state had plowed the roads all the way up to the last cabin - lucky for us. It was still pretty dicey. After a movie (sorry folks, it's gone...), we hit the rack. No trouble sleeping tonight.

On Sunday, basically an instant repeat. Getting to the resort was considerably easier - albeit considerably sloppier - and we were on-site and rarin' to go just as the lifts got going. Brad and Burton felt comfortable on their own, so I joined Matt G. and Al M. and spent the morning tackling the toughest slopes at the main resort (you know it's going to be an adrenaline-filled day when your first slope of the day is "Widowmaker"! After a few hours, things were getting too crowded for enjoymment, and we headed back over to the Western Territories, and spent the rest of the day there - once again, much better snow, and much less crowded. I think we will recommend this as standard protocol for all future trips to Snowshoe - morning on the main slopes, afternoon on the Western Territories. By 4:00, I could hardly stand up anymore, and Al and I headed back to fire up the vans while Matt spent some time with "Danger" Rick W. and the rest of the snowboarders at the Snowboard Park (too insane for me, thanks). We left at 5:00, with (once again!) some intermittent snow on the way back to Marlington. This night, we didn't stop for dinner, but rather just picked up a bunch of pizzas (WAY too many!) to eat at the cabins. After another movie night (again, it's gone!), we hit the rack a little earlier.

Monday morning, we once again got up very early (per vote by the Scouts), did a quick cleanup, and headed back out one more time. This morning, for a change, we had snow with some freezing rain thrown in! But that thawed to pretty much just rain by the time we got to I-64 again. Of note, when we crested the main ridgeline on Route 219, I exchanged CB radio calls with Dawn C., probably 40 miles away (but line of sight). An hour later, we dropped off Peter, and headed back to Arlington, with another Woodstock lunch stop on the way. A great weekend, even if the drivers won't forget it anytime soon!

Participants included: Burton B., Luke and Will B., Jack B., Tom C., Peter C., Drew DeL., Michael D., Pete F., Todd G., Matt G., Brad G., Ian H., Dan H., Will K., Jack O., Peter O'M., Patrick P., Carl S., Neil S., and Eric W., and Adults Dawn C., Hovey K., Al M., Fred S., Mark S., "Danger" Rick W., and yours truly. Congratulations to Neil S., who finished his Life Practical with this event.

On February 1st - 3rd, we held our Annual Winter Cabin Campout, at Camp Tuckahoe in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. This one started out as one of those really weird superwarm days we occasionally had this past winter, with temperatures nearing 80 degrees Friday afternoon. We had an easy but very windy trip out the Greenway, with a brief detour to pick up Rich S. at the USGS in Reston. Then north on US-15 through Point of Rocks, Frederick, and into Pennsylvania, with a stop in Thurmont for dinner. Although we had no rain, the temperature plummeted as we headed through the front and into Pennsylvania, and was in the mid-30's by the time we hit the camp.

This year, we stayed at Poplar Lodge - bunk-beds for about 30 people, so plenty of room for our fairly small group. Poplar has a fireplace, electric lighting, a stove and refrigerator, but no running water; but all in all, we were hardly "roughing it". After setting up (and starting the first of a thousand fires for the weekend), we headed outside to view a spectacular sky - one major benefit of the Canadian high now descending on the area, cold but beautiful. Inside, we held a bunch of games of chess and a massive game of Diplomacy, and Matt G. and I also stroked some guitar for awhile. Mickey M., Patrick P., and Jimmy S. learned enough chess theory to last them a lifetime. Bed at 11pm. ASM Harold E. (from Connecticut) arrived around 1am, having missed the turn to the camp and gone all the way to Maryland before figuring it out. I reloaded the fireplace at 4am; otherwise, it was an uneventful night.

Saturday dawned bright and absolutely clear. Per vote by the Scouts, we let everyone sleep in til 8:00, then had a rather leisurely breakfast. Afterwards, Drew DeL. and Charlie S. went through a practice session of the First Class Practical Exam with yours truly, while Rich, Harold, and Atom took everyone else outside for a shelter building session (very successful). Lunch was mini-pizzas, courtesy of master-chef Luke B. After lunch, we went into a special session of survivalist fire building, courtesy of Harold, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. There were a surprising number of other Scouts running around the camp - then we found out that the reason why was all the skiing at both Ski Liberty and Ski Roundtop had been cancelled for the weekend - so they were all pretty much stuck (bummer!) After a brief warm-up break, we headed up to the camp's parade field for a football game, which took us to twilight and much colder temperatures (down in the 20's this night!) Harold then taught everyone how to build wax/cardboard/can mega-candles (perhaps Mickey M.'s favorite activity of the weekend). After a late dinner, and another brief star-gazing session (not so good, some haze had moved in), we fired up the chess and Diplomacy games again, taking us up to about 11:30 and bedtime. Quiet Quick!

On Sunday, we got up at 6:45 and did a quick breakfast and breakdown. Due to a communications failure between Luke and I, however, we were an hour early for our scheduled Mass. After checking around for other local Churches, we finally decided to head back to St. Agnes, arriving just in time for Cub Pack 111's Donut Sunday and then the 10:30 Mass. A good time was had by all!

Participants included: Luke B., Tom C., Drew DeL., Michael D., Matt G., Mickey M., Anthony M., Patrick P., Charlie S., Jimmy S., and Patrick W., and Adults Harold E., Rich S., Atom S., and yours truly. Congrats to Luke B., who finished his Life Practical with this trip.

We finished out the 2001 - 2002 ski season with our now traditional trip to Kooser State Park in southwestern Pennsylvania over the President's Day Holiday weekend, for our annual ski trip to Seven Springs Resort. Kooser is about 25 minutes from Seven Springs, and consists of about 30 "rustic" cabins; well, let's face it folks, we're kind of spoiled after Watogo State Park in Wild Wonderful West Virginia! Once again, we packed the vehicles by cabins - a lot faster this time - and headed out Friday afternoon, once again using the Dulles Greenway and Route 7 to get to Winchester in surprisingly quick time. After our usual multi-fast-food dinner, we headed up Route 522 through Berkeley Springs, then up I-70 into Pennsylvania and onto Breezewood. From there, west to Somerset on the PA Turnpike, then west on Route 31 to Kooser.

Surprisingly, there was some snow and ice at Kooser - and we hadn't seen a lick of either before we arrived at the park. After meeting up with the Park "Host" (Lyle - it's his final season at Kooser, so this was the last time), we quickly got ourselves situated, then reassembled at the largest cabin for an orientation meeting. Once that was over, most of the Scouts enjoyed yet another movie (that I've again forgotten the title of), while I worked with Richard H. (from Troop 638) on the basics of skiing (yup, another novice). Bed by 11:30.

On Saturday, we awoke to a revised weather forecast calling for light snow late that afternoon and overnight, but for starters things were clean and dry. Unfortunately, all of the occupants of one of the cabins slept through their alarms, so we got a later start than desired. Once breakfast was out of the way, we headed off for the resort, and were through the rental process fairly quickly (since Robert H. was escorting his son through Rentals, I took the opportunity for three quick screaming runs down the main slope while the lift-lines were still very short). Once everyone was buddied up and on their way, I spent a few hours with Richard, finally working up to the main intermediate slope just in front of the lodge - where he had the distinction of doing the fatest downhill run I have ever seen a novice ever accomplish (faster than I could catch him, believe it or not, without a single fall and under reasonable control); unbelievable. Around 12:30Pm, we stopped for lunch, and I switched over to teaching Elizabeth H. and Nora P., who wanted to learn some basics of parallel skiing. That took us up to 4:00, at which point we all reassembled and headed back to Kooser.

After changing into Scout uniforms, we headed off for our traditional spaghetti dinner at The Italian Oven in West Somerset - this year minus the infamous meatballs that apparently only yours truly liked. Then it was off to St. Peters for Mass - with (unfortunately) an hour and 15 minute wait. Well, to fill the time, some of the drivers did some "cruising" around Somerset (I have no further details), but most decided that "bouncing" the maroon van was just the coolest possible activity for the night. I will spare you the details, but seasickness medication was a borderline requirement! But we enjoyed a lot of music, anyway. Inside, we got a brief recognition from the Altar. Of note, there were three female and only one male Altar Servers.

Exiting from Mass, we walked into quite the driving blizzard - the storm had arrived while we were inside. Getting back to Kooser was actually a bit of a challenge, it was coming down so hard. But things eased up and eventually stopped with about an inch on the ground. At camp, we were happy to see that Keith and Todd G. had already arrived (they were expected much later), having pretty much beat the storm. After a quick change, we once again reassembled for another movie (sorry!), then hit the rack. No snow at midnight, but the NOAA radio said 3 to 4 inches were still possible.

Well, we woke up Sunday with 5 - 6 inches on the ground, and more coming! After another delayed breakfast (that one cabin again), we were further delayed when we couldn't get two of the vans out of the park entrance (which was glazed over and very slick by this point). After multiple efforts, it was "Keith to the Rescue"; using his 4-wheel drive pickup and a strong towstrap, he got us out and going again. So we were about an hour late to the resort, but a sea of fresh powder awaited! Today I started off with Matt G., but we linked up with the Keith and Todd G., and the Hovey and Will K., and even "Danger" Rick W. (on his snowboard) through the course of the day. The weather conditions were - frankly - just brutal, with a howling gale and squall lines producing near whiteout conditions at regular intervals. I'll guess we ended up with about 8 - 9 inches of snow, all told. But it was a great day for skiing. And because we had no dinner appointments to keep, we skied right up til 5pm before calling it a weekend. Back at the cabins, we enjoyed a pizza dinner (delivered by the Italian Oven), then another movie (Aliens, I think), then bed.

On Monday, after a reasonably quick packup, we managed to escape Kooser without Keith's help. We said "Sayonara" as Keith and Todd went off to ski another half-day at the Springs. Meanwhile, we headed south in bright sunshine to Mt. Davis (the PA "High Point"). Unusually, there was an extraordinarily intense rainbow (in bright sunshine and clear skies) as we headed south on U.S. Route 219 (yup, the same road that Canaan Valley and Snowshoe are near). Also of interest was the sight of numerous Amish children going to school (even though it was President's Day); we also was about 4 or 5 Amish horse-drawn buggies, each with its requisite orange triangles. With Rick doing a little bit of seat-of-the-pants navigating, we finally got to Mt. Davis. Not surprisingly, the access Road was not plowed, and had maybe 8 inches of snow. "A Bit Dicey" for the Troop vans, but we made it OK. There is about a 40 feet high viewing tower at the peak, which we all climbed. A great view from the top, but windy and quite chill. Rick and I grabbed some photographs of each Scout, and we hit the road again, cutting over the mountain to save some time and distance. Well, that turned out to be even more hairy than the drive in, especially one uphill - but again we made it OK. Continuing south, there was no snow within another 30 miles, amazing. At St. Agnes, we divvied up quite a pile of leftover food, and everyone hit the road. This time, the vans got a badly needed wash! A great trip.

Participants included: Zachary A., Burton B., Matthew C., Drew DeL., Ross D., Kenny and Russ E., Todd G., Matt G., Brad G., Elizabeth and Richard H., Dan H., Will K., Erik K., Anthony M., Nora P., John P., Thomas S., Charlie S., JJ T., and Eric and Sarah W., and Adults Doug D., Ron E., Keith G., Robert H., Hovey K., "Danger" Rick W., and yours truly. This was our first overnighter event that included some of our new Venturer Scouts. And all in all, I doubt if any other Scout Troop in the entire Council was lucky enough to get major snows on both of their major ski trips!

The "First Annual" Chain Bridge District Alonzo Stagg 50/20 Hike was held Saturday March 9th, into Sunday March 10th, starting 5:30am Saturday morning and ending 2:30am Sunday morning. 117 hikers and about 25 support personnel assembled at St. Agnes' Parish Center on Saturday morning, and after a check-in of Biblical proportions, we headed out to Seneca Falls (on the C&O Canal) in a 25 vehicle caravan (this was the same starting point as last year, and in fact the entire hike was a duplicate of last year's route). The weather started off fairly cooperatively, in the mid-50's, mostly cloudy, not too much wind (almost perfect for hiking); however, big storms were expected to arrive later that afternoon and deep into the night.

The hikers were started off at 6:50am in sub-groups based on special needs (e.g., High Adventure Crews) or intended distance (with 50 Milers getting preference). This kept the crowds along the starting stretches of the towpath down to a semi-reasonable density. Dr. Bob used the first stretch of the hike for 2 hours of Philmont instruction "on the fly", primarily discussing trek selection and selection of Colorado pre-activities. As the sun began to peek through, the wildlife sightings increased, with herons (not as many as last year), many mallard duck pairs, a few hawks, and many mud turtles on logs (about 30 all together in one notable convention), quite a few robins, too.

On the Mt. Vernon Trail (past Key Bridge for those going more than 25 miles), we also saw many dozens of Canadian Geese and black diver ducks. Five separate Break/First Aid/Food and Water points were set up along the way, with formal take-outs at 10, 20, 26, 30, and 35 miles (the last 15 miles were around a loop in central Arlington, passing the last Aid Station at Bluemont Park 6 times; this kept everyone together after dark, with frequent breaks and constant trail monitoring, and the ability to call it a night after any loop). The weather varied from partly to mostly sunny through the morning, with highs near 70 just after 12 noon - but then began to deteriorate around 2pm, when our first batch of heavy rain came through. Not surprisingly, a lot of folks decided at that point that 25 miles was a pretty good hike, and headed to St. Agnes (the 25 mile stop point) between 2:00 and 4:00! However, one "benefit" (if you will) to the low cloud cover and humid air for the long hikers was the impressive roar of the jets landing at National (our third station was at Gravelly Point, always a neat place when the planes are landing from the north). About 22 people continued past Gravelly Point (26 miles), cutting right on the 4-Mile Run Trail and eventually passing over I-395 (and Matt Berra's Eagle Project).

After Shirlington we dog-legged to the W&OD Trail. Fortunately, after that first squall line at 3pm, the rain eased off for awhile, with just one more light batch around 6pm, and it stayed warm through midnight: breezy, with broken clouds and (later) occasional stars, actually quite pleasant. The first long hikers (Christina and Frank R.) arrived at Bluemont Park (the 35 mile point, and the start for the loops) around 4:00, just as the last long hikers (Drew DeL. and yours truly) were leaving Gravelly Point. Three hikers dropped out at 30 miles (Shirlington) (Charles B., Drew, and "Unknown"), 1 at 35 (Paolo R.'s buddy Kyle I.), 1 at 41 (Paolo), and 1 at 47 (Dan H.), the latter 3 all stopped at Bluemont Park. The front-running R.s finished around 9:20pm - in an impressive 14 1/2 hours.

After that, it was a steady stream of 3 mile loop-de-loopers for the next 5 hours, all constantly monitored by the ever-vigilant Mark S. (who probably biked over 100 miles during the hike!) The long-awaited main front (finally) came through just before 1am, with very heavy rain, strong winds, and some lightning - much more intense than the two earlier rain sessions. Fortunately, it only lasted about 15 minutes, then rapidly cleared up again. Also fortunately, there were only 4 of us left on the course (we think) at that time (Matt G., Stefan N., Al M., and yours truly), all in one last group, and we all had top notch rain suits. Stefan was finishing his fifth (last) loop, while Matt, Al, and I were finishing our fourth loop. It did get much colder and windier after the front passed, but we only had that one last loop to go, so persevered. The 3 "dead-enders" finished our fifth loop at 2:20am, with a good 30 minutes to spare on the 20 hour limit!

In all, 16 hikers finished 50 miles, setting new records both in numbers (previous high was 5) and percentage (16/117 starters; previous record was 5/52). 14 of the 16 finishers were from Troop 111, and the rumor is that the other participating Troops couldn't believe how tough we are (though perhaps "crazy" is the more accurate term!) The event also beat our previous record for starters, which had been 72.

50 Mile Finishers (all Troop 111 except where otherwise noted) were: John B., Russ E. (Grad Eagle-647, older brother of Kenny E.), Matt G., Dave G. (ASM-638), Dr. Bob, Anthony, Lourdes, and Mark M., Al M., Stefan N., Christina (Girl Scout Gold-2450/Venturer-574) and Frank R., Neil S., and Chris, Eric, and "Danger" Rick W.. Lourdes M. and Christina R. were our first ever female finishers. The "Heartbreak Kid" Award goes to Dan H., who had to stop at 47 miles.

The complete list of 111 attendees and distances hiked follows:

Participant	Miles
Luke B.	30
Rob B.	10
Will B.	10
Bob B.	10
Jack "Tiger" B.	10
Victor B.	10
Zachary B.	10
Charles "Chuckles" B.	30
John B.	50
Tom C.	25
Matt C.	20
Dawn C.	10
James C.	10
Peter C.	10
Mike C.	10
Ryan C.	10
Patrick D.	10
Drew DeL.	30
Ray DiN.	25
Jeffrey D.	25
James D.	20
Michael D.	20
Kenny E.	20
Ron E.	26
Russell E.	50
Mike F.	10
Peter F.	10
Sam F.	10
Sherry F.	10
Ted G.	25
Todd G.	33
Matt G.	50
Brad G.	10
Dan H.	47
John K. Jr.	26
John K. Sr.	26
Hovey K.	20
Mary Ellen K.	10
Will K.	20
Mike K.	10
Ryan K.	10
Dr. Bob	50
Marissa L.	10
William L.	25
Anthony M.	50
Lourdes M.	50
Mark M.	50
Al M.	50
Glenn McG.	10
Tom N.	10
Tony N.	10
Stefan N.	50
Patrick O'M.	10
Frank P.	14
Patrick P.	14
Dale R.	25
Paolo R.	40
Brian R.	10
Christina R.	50
Frank R.	50
Michael R.	10
Hugh S.	26
Tom S.	20
Charlie S.	25
Carl "Mountain" S.	25
Fred S.	25
Atom S.	20
Neil S.	50
JJ T.	20
Mark T.	10
Tim T.	10
Chris W.	50
Eric W.	50
"Danger" Rick W.	50

- Dr. Bob, Scoutmaster

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27 June 2002