boy scouts of america Archives - Opossum Creek Retreat

BSA Update, Or, Melting Humans

Up and running, smooth (at least on the outside).

The BSA Jamboree is underway here in the mountains of West Virginia. There have been NO traffic hassles for the locals on the main roads. Way to go BSA. They did close that stupid exit at Glen Jean onto and off of 19. Should never have been built in the first place. Very dangerous spot.

The dreaded traffic jam has not been an issue.

I have not made it onsite of the Bechtel Summit Reserve yet because we are volunteering at the New River Birding and Nature Center located at Wolf Creek Park. Fayette County’s 1,000 acre mixed-use Live, Learn, Work and Play development with a huge green space.

We have had two groups of scouts plus Americorp volunteers there this week to help us out, and have been kicking butt.

We have three modules for the Boy Scout’s service projects: carpentry (that’s us), building board walks and Blue Bird Boxes; invasive plant removal (they seem to like this a lot, maybe because their fearless leaders make it so fun); and trail building, which I have not seen yet but hear is ‘O’ so nice!

And here’s a fun video from our day: Everyone takes their turn working on the bird house.

We have melted a few scouts with the effort in the heat and a few volunteers too.

I made a cooler filled with rags and ice water to help limit the number of people melting into puddles today.

I had mentioned duping my son and a few friends into visiting the Summit Center and that plan was foiled because my son is volunteering to be a Junior counselor at a camp for disadvantaged 7-12 year olds! ATTA BOY!

We are now shooting to be on site for one of the final days of the event.

We will keep you posted. You can check out the scouts’ Flickr feed with a few pics of our projects.

Why 250,000 Boy Scouts are Coming to The New River Gorge And You Should Too (Just Not at the Same Time!)

The beauty of this area is all it takes to understand why the Boy Scouts of America chose to locate their newest camp here in the New River Gorge. Access to so many awesome outdoor activities is what makes it even more special.

The Summit Bechtel Reserve is the 4th High Adventure Base Camp for the Boy Scouts in the United States. The enormity ($400,000,000) of the project is incredible. The 10,000 acre camp is going to thrust the scouts into the future in a magnificent way.

And the reasons that the Scouts chose the New River Gorge as their camp location are the very same reasons this area is great for anyone who enjoys outdoor activities.

The New River Gorge National Park offers truly world class activities in a big way:

Whitewater
Rock climbing
Mountain Biking
Small Mouth Bass Fishing

Darn close to world class (you know I am going to get in trouble for this distinction):

Hiking
Camping
Hunting
Bridge Walk
ATV Trails
Zip Lines
Driving tours
Coal History
Waterfalls

Why not at the same time?

The Boy Scouts report that 50,000 scouts will visit every year in all seasons in small groups. We hope these scouts families will stick around after they drop the kids at High Adventure Camp.

But the big scout event here is the 2013 National Jamboree, which will draw 250,000 people to our area July 15-24 2013. Trust us, it will be crazy. We are excited and a little afraid of the unknown. This area does not play host to that many people all summer let alone in a two week period.

So what we’re trying to say is if you are not coming specifically for the Jamboree then you will want to pick another time to visit.

The Boy Scouts trust us enough to spend four hundred million dollars here.

Come see what the scouts already know.

The Summit Bechtel Family National Scouting Reserve

The Boy Scouts are on their way!

The Boy Scouts of America have made a HUGE investment in Fayette County, West Virginia but more importantly in their own future.

They have purchased more than 10,000 acres of the New River Gorge and are turning it into the next, best thing. 10,000 acres!

We (Fayette County and West Virginia) look forward to hosting the National Jamboree in 2013. And again, every 4 years after that. Each time, bringing 200,000 to 300,000 visitors to our area.

If that weren’t enough to be excited about, consider we could possibly play host to the World Jamboree in 2017. All of this, in addition to my favorite part, High Adventure Camp!

Every High Adventure Camp will bring kids from all around to experience all the “Wild and Wonderful” they can handle!

This is huge! Can you tell I am excited it?

Know what else is huge? The machines being used to move earth.

Check out this video showing the care being taken to offset some of the major earth moving required to get ready for a quarter of a million people.

We welcome The Boy Scouts to Fayette County and look forward to helping make this huge project a huge success.

P.S. My Grampa B would have loved this.

When’s The Best Time To Bring A Youth Group To The New River Gorge?

When I was a kid, long before I knew about the New River Gorge, one of my favorite things to do was get away with a group of like aged and minded kids. Usually the Boy Scouts of America.

Getting out in the woods and exploring and getting in touch with nature was a great way to spend a couple of days. Turning over rocks to see what lived there was a great activity and then to think we are to be responsible for taking care of all of this was a really cool too. It gave a sense of pride and authority.

I would have gone winter, summer, spring, fall… it didn’t matter. So when I think about youth groups coming here to West Virginia, I’ve got to go with my gut: any time of year is a great time to be in the gorge.

Spring is time to get out and explore. When winter begins to turn loose its grip and life begins to renew itself, this is the place to be. At the right time of year you can transition in elevation and experience total leaf-out down in the gorge, and bare trees in the higher elevations such as Cranberry Glades. If you time it just right, you can witness the evolution of spring all in the same day. (FYI: you can find some spectacular deals on area activities and lodging at this time of year.)

Summer rolls around and the weather is warmer. It’s time to get in the water. White water rafting is one of the area’s largest outdoor activities. If the high adventure thing isn’t for you, you can opt to take a scenic, relaxing kayak or canoe tour of one of the local lakes (which happen to be awesome). Canopy tours and the public beach at Summersville lake are also a favorite summer pastime.

Fall is my favorite time of the year. The leaves change and the air turns crisp. Bluebird skies and cool breezes flow over the scenic mountains. A day trip to the highlands to visit some of the scenic overlooks and view the colors of fall is where you want to concentrate your efforts. Fall is also the season for rafting the Gauley River, a controlled release river that offers some of the most technical rafting in the country.

Winter is the time that many church youth groups come to the area to take advantage of our close proximity to some great skiing. Plus nothing says “retreat” like winter in the mountains. The winter wonderland setting of the New River Gorge area is a perfect place to gather your group and have some good old fashioned wintertime fun.

So that’s it. I’m not taking a stand. If you want to know when the best time to come up this way with a youth group is, I’ve got to answer honestly: Anytime. Any time at all.