On November 7, the Troop launched its first fundraiser. The idea of having a hike-a-thon was suggested by a parent and worked well in the warmer fall weather. Trailmen put together their ideas and decided how many miles they wanted to walk. Then they either joined us for our 7-mile Navigators hike or hiked on their own with their family.
December 7 was a beautiful, crisp day. The temperature being somewhere around 38 degrees—with the sun on our backs and very little breeze, it felt warmer than that. Trailmen hit it off right away with a snowball fight. After a brief safety meeting, we set off for the 7-mile journey along the Buckhill Management Loop Hike.
The first leg was relatively easy walking along the Benson Mountain Trail service road. There was somewhat of a hill, but nothing our brave Trailmen couldn’t handle.
After overshooting the turnoff a bit, we finally found the North-South trail—a single file trail that could only really be followed due to the blue markings on the trees. It was absolutely beautiful seeing the sunlight peering through the trees and seeing the giant boulders all around. After a short bathroom and snack break, we continued on towards the junction of the Yellow Dot Trail. It was about at the 2.5 mile marker that some Trailmen really starting to feel the pangs of the hike. But their comradery helped them persist through the snow.
Lunch at the junction of the Yellow Dot Trail. There were pizzas and sandwiches—Troopmaster Andrew had his backpacking stove and gourmet meal. Afterward, some parted ways to head back down the Yellow Dot trail to go back, and the rest of the Troop pressed onward on the Mid-State Trail and eventually connecting towards the tri-state marker.
After a while, we arrived at the RI-CT-MA tri-state marker. The view was breathtaking from the top of the small hill and the leaders dreamt of how much further we really could go.
After a group photo and some more snowball throwing, we continued down the Border Trail and connected to Starr Road. This is where the hike got interesting—some of the Trailmen started slowing down, but with sundown in just a short while, leaders pressed them to continue on and to not to give up. “Just imagine the delicious cup of hot cocoa you get to have when you get home,” leaders dangled the idea in front of them. Other Trailmen even were motivated with, “Let’s see how quickly you can catch up with our Trailmaster” (who was by leaps and bounds way at the front). This worked. Trailmen persisted and after 4 hours 32 minutes and 11 seconds and 7.2 miles, we made it back!
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