B-17 Crash Site: Post II, June 14-16, 2013

Now that we successfully found the wreckage and experienced the terrain first hand we started to gear up for the actual troop outing.  In the year since the idea was officially presented and approved the plan went through many different adaptions.  The final version, hammered out by ASM Tom Moore and the scout coordinators, was the result of many hours of prep work and the final result was a trip that no one who was involved will ever forget.

Looking backwards we probably would have made arrangements to camp there at the trail-head instead of the group campsite 20 minutes down the road, but that is for future outing coordinators to worry about.  As far as this trip is concerned everything worked out beautifully.  Tom and his team did a really a good job trying out a new idea for our troop and they pulled it off very successfully.

A quick word about how Scouting Troops are organized.  Each troop does things differently in such a way that works for them. Typically, when it comes to our Troop Outings, each patrol within our Troop participates as a individual unit within the Troop.  This means that the scouts within one patrol will plan for their eating arrangements (known as grub) together, their sleeping arrangements and what camping equipment they will need.  With a few exceptions this or more or less the norm within all Troops.  The pros to this type of organization is that the boys within a patrol learn teamwork and to trust each other.  The cons are that too often only two or three boys from each patrol will go on an outing, and the troop ends up bringing two or three times as much gear as is really necessary.  So on this trip we changed things up a little to be more efficient.

In May, a month before the scheduled outing, the scouts and adults that signed up for the trip were split up into four different patrols.  The adults, as usual, were considered one patrol, then there was the staff patrol, made up mostly of older scouts that would serve as instructors and guides, then we had patrols Alpha and Bravo -- two patrols made up of younger scouts and scouts under the rank of 1st Class.  For eating arrangements the adults ate with adults, the staff was split between Alpha and Bravo patrols, and those two patrols prepared grub for those within the assigned patrol.

 If you are not involved with Scouting this may seem like a trivial thing.  However the most basic foundation of the Scouting program is the Patrol Method.  This is the process in which a scout is placed in a patrol with 6-7 other boys.  These boys then learn to work together by hiking, cooking and camping together.  Now just how the boys are placed in patrols, and the makeup of scout ages within a patrol will vary greatly from troop to troop.  This is a topic that is very hotly debated between Scouters.  To be fair there really is no right or wrong way.  There is only the way that works best for your particular troop.

As for our experiment, it was not exactly a new concept for us.  Two or three times a year when we go snow camping the troop as a whole will provide meals for everyone going just to make sure everyone, scouts and adults alike, get enough warm food to eat.  In those special outings the patrol method, as far as grub is concerned, is tossed on it's ear.  But this was a summer trip, where cold weather was not a factor and there really was no reason why they couldn't stay within their own patrols.  There was really no reason why they should either.

So we tried it and it worked rather well.

The morning of June 15 started early.  We were up by 6:30 and breakfast was ready by seven.  Austin and Logan (our SPL) were up and moving around making sure all the scouts were awake and eating.  Austin actually surprised me this trip.  Usually he will only "tarp it" when I am, but on this trip I was bunking with ASMs Michael Sullivan and Jamie Robb in the Taj Ma-tent (a very large 4-season tent we use as a command tent whenever we car camp) and he decided to "tarp it" (this means not using a tent and only a tarp that is placed on the ground).  I am proud of him for this.

The Taj Ma-Tent.

After breakfast clean-up our scout leaders mustered everyone and had a very thorough pack check.  They made sure everyone, including the adults, had water, trail food, sunscreen, and most important, at least one whistle.  They spent 10 minutes going over the whistle and the the proper signals to make if they were in trouble.  This may sound trivial, but most people that are lost in the wilderness could be saved within hours if they only knew how to use their whistle (if they bother to have one at all...)

The scouts going through a pack check.

My son Austin double checks his pack.

After the inspection the adults and scouts were split up into groups by vehicle and Tom handed out maps to everyone.  We loaded up and headed out to our assigned trail head.

In his research Tom had found a loop trail that went right by the crash site.  So the plan was that one group of scouts start at one end and the second group at the other end and they would meet roughly in the middle.  Once the two groups rendezvoused they would then head off trail to search for the wreckage.  At each trail head four adults would head in first and set up checkpoints along the trail.  At each checkpoint the scouts would be quizzed on various scout skills such as first aid, knots, and compass orientation.  Once they demonstrated the skill correctly they would be allowed to move on to the next checkpoint.    This made it a race between the two patrols to see who knew the skills better and could move faster from checkpoint to checkpoint.

Somehow I lucked out and got the primo assignment: I was to go all the way to the left wing (the trail went right by it on the way to their rendezvous) and see if the scouts were paying any attention to their location on the map.  With a bop and a wave I was off.

The trail to the left heads off to the crash site.

The hike in was uneventful, other than noticing that this was obviously a trail that not many people visited.  In many places it was almost washed out and one section required ducks (piles of stone) to mark the trail.  This of course meant less hikers which made me happy as a clam.  I reached the crash site in no time at all.  I climbed the ridge, found a nice comfy rock to sit on and munched on some gorp while I waited for the patrol to arrive.  The rendezvous point was a hundred yards down the trail so I knew that if I saw the patrol that started on the opposite trail head someone had misread their map and compass.  I enjoyed the quiet while it lasted.

A view of the trail.

The trial was washed out in this spot.

A duck.

The left wing is at the top of this ridge.

Twenty-five minutes later I heard the group coming down the trail.  I left a marker for them: a large "HI" spelled out in twigs.  I sat up on the ridge, watching them get closer and waiting to see if their point, who just happened to be my older son, would notice it.  Nope, sixty seconds later he went right on by, the rest of the patrol following him like lemmings.  I silently watched as they continued past their assigned checkpoint.  Well, within 10 minutes they would realize they had missed me when they reached the rendezvous point -- if they recognized the rendezvous that is.  The lesson here is to look down at the trail from time to time -- you never know what you might see...

The trail is below. It is hard to tell but the patrol is passing by.

The trail marking I left for the scouts.

I waited another 15 minutes then pulled on my pack and headed out.  I ran into the patrol at the rendezvous point.  Half were taking a break and the other half had moved on in search of the other patrol.  The rendezvous was much closer to the other patrol's starting point and by all reasoning they should have been there first.  I checked in with the adults that had stayed behind and moved further down the trail.  I wasn't concerned with the other patrol.  There was a brand new geocache out here that I was determined to be the first to find.

The geocache is in there.

The week before during our first visit to the area Craig Chalmers, one of our ASMs, placed a geocache just off the trail.  He logged it in to www.geocaching.com that Thursday under the title, Pathway to History.  I already had a rough idea of where it was so after I left the scouts at the rendezvous point I made my way straight there.  He did a really good job placing the cache.  It took me about 10 minutes of searching before I finally found it.  He left a really nice surprise for the person to first find the cache.  Though tempted, I left it behind for the next person to find -- I figured I already had a head start with knowing the rough location of the cache and didn't feel right taking such a treasured prize.

The geocache is under this pine tree.

While I was searching for the cache the other patrol happened by.  I told them I would catch up and off they went.  I met up with them at the left wing.  After a short break both patrols put their heads together and oriented themselves to the area.  They headed out to find the right wing crash site together.

The left wing.

My son Gavin at the rendezvous point.

I split off from the main group and made my way cross country to the site.  Once there our lead scouts called a lunch break and we settled down in the shade.  Tom told the scouts the history of the crash and told a very interesting World War II story about a cousin who had been shot down over China.

Austin, me, and Gavin at the right wing site.

Austin, Logan (the troop SPL), and Kyle (the troop Scribe) at the right wing site.

ASM Tom Moore tells the story of the crash.

The propeller nacelle.

Inside one of the fuel tank supports.

After lunch we split into two groups: those that wanted to go further to the tail site and those that decided to head back to the trail head.  Tom had brought some rope to use as a safety line when we crossed over the creek.  It did not take long to set up and everyone was across the creek and ready to try for the next obstacle in no time.  When we reached the tail a lot of the younger guys enjoyed crawling under the wing to take their picture with the star emblem.  I went on the other side and found some wreckage that I hadn't seen before.

The tail crash site.

The window to the tail gunner position.

The main tail wreckage.

Since we were in the area we decided to search for a fuel tank and wheel well that was supposed to be about 200 yards further along the ridge.  We spent about half-an-hour looking and did find some more tail wreckage and pieces of rubber but did not locate the tank or the wheel.  It was getting a tad late in the day so we called it quits and made our way back to the trail.  In no time at all we hiked back to the trail head where the rest of the troop was waiting.  My best friend, Mike Sullivan, had two very large and very cold Gatorades waiting for me.


We loaded up and headed back to camp.  After dinner (a dutch oven lasagna made by Dave Tacherra) the scouts settled into their campfire program.  ASM Glenn Takeda talked about Executive Order 9066 and the separation of the American Japanese into internment camps.  Having spent all day in the shadow of military history Glenn's story of his family and the camps brought a human element to a piece of history too easily forgotten.  He also discussed the exploits of the 442nd Infantry Regiment and their spectacular record in the European Theater of WWII.  With the campfire slowly dying, the stars shining brightly overhead and Glenn's soft voice stretching across time to another place where fear took the place of common decency, the scouts slowly drifted away to their tents for a well earned rest.