Troop 251 hikes the Appalachian Trail
Congratulations are in order to the Boy Scout troop 251 for their efforts and commitment to hiking the Appalachian trail this summer. Below is a daily account from Boy Scout and participant, Ben Firestone. this is the timeline of troop 251’s Appalachian trail hike.
the first day was very rough due to the mountainous terrain and steep hills. the first three hours we only went 1.7 miles due to the incline of the region we were hiking. After we completed that portion of the trail we had a relatively easy hike for about five miles then it continued uphill for another five or six miles. We had planned to make it to a campsite another 4 miles from the nearest shelter. Unfortunately we were made to stop due to one of our leaders suffering from exhaustion and shock. Meanwhile, two miles back, another leader hurt his leg, but luckily he was able to hike to us and rest. We were running low on water so we sent a group of scouts and two leaders ahead to the shelter to collect water and meet us the next day. that night we camped on the trail while the other group camped in the shelter. Both leaders recovered fairly fast and we were able to hike the next day.
the next day we started at around 8 a.m. and met the other group at 9:30 a.m. on the trail. We hiked back to the shelter where we relaxed until 12 and then started again. that day was relatively easy for hiking because it was very easy terrain. We made it to the shelter at 5pm and everyone was really excited because we didn’t have to camp on the trail this night. We had the shelter to ourselves and it was actually very comfortable. the one thing I enjoyed about this day was the fellowship we had with all the scouts and leaders.
the third day was a mix of the first and second day. It was
easier at the beginning, but became increasingly more difficult as the day went on. This day gave me an eerie feeling because you couldn’t see ten feet on either side of you due to the thick fog covering the mountain top. Unfortunately it started raining at 1 p.m. and continued to downpour all day. Luckily we were close to the Clingmans Dome parking lot and decided it would be best if we called it quits here because we still had 4 miles to our shelter. Everyone’s bags, shoes, and clothes were sopping wet so there was the risk of hypothermia and maybe pneumonia. We were graciously picked up by a group of moms that came to Tennessee with us and they took us to our cabins where we stayed until Wednesday. On Wednesday we left for home and got back at about 5 p.m. Our troop is very thankful for the leadership of all the adults, especially Shawn Hooley, our scoutmaster, and all of the participants on this trip. It was a valuable experience and we made a lot of memories along the way.