At the end of June, our Troop went to Sisters for a three-night backpack through the scenic Matthieu Lakes. It was fun! A few dips in the lake, a bunch of card games, some great advancement, and a boulder up to the top of some of Sisters' lava flow.
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June 29th - 
It was a two-mile hike from the parking lot to the South Lake. While a two-mile hike normally isn't much trouble, some scouts had trouble because of the heat. Lucky for us, though, we all brought plenty of water, so it just took us longer than usual. 

Our oldest patrol, the Ravens, arrived at our campsite first. After taking a dip in the lake, they found a spot to set up tents (and hammocks). The rest of the night we spent getting settled in, eating dinner, and avoiding mosquitoes.

June 30th-
Starting Day Two, some morale was a bit low, mosquitoes proving a damper on some's experience. However, a scout is persistent! And they did not stop us from going on a hike to the North Matthieu Lake before lunch, a good opportunity to get some TTFC requirements for our youngest patrol, the Panthers.

After getting back to camp and eating a mountain house lunch, the Leaders started off a bunch of Camping Merit Badges for the Panthers and the Stingrays.

With most advancement out of the way for the day, time was freed up for loads of games! I ran a map-making game for the younger scouts, and then we all took turns teaching each other card games (give up and down the river a shot, it rules!). Later, once it was dark and the mosquitoes had gone to sleep, the older scouts played some games too!
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July 1st-
After a slow start to our last full day at Matthieu Lakes, our Scoutmaster, Ted, suggested we climb up to the top of the nearby lava flow. We were reluctant at first, but it was fantastic! Climbing is fun, and you had a beautiful view of the lake, (another pro- no mosquitoes!) and there were an immense amount of monarch butterflies just lazily gliding around. It was wonderful, we wanted to stay there for the rest of the campout, but you can't really stake a tent into a boulder! 
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July 2nd-
Say what you will about mosquitoes, but I don't think there's a better motivator for packing up camp quickly! Many of us agreed to wake up earlier than usual, and I didn't have to tell anyone twice to get up and moving. We were back at the cars about two and a half hours after we woke up.

To spend some time, we stopped at the Dee Wright Observatory, explored, and went on a small hike through the cooled lava rivers.

Later that day, we got pizza for lunch and then made our way home getting back in the mid-afternoon. Campout complete!

Overall, this campout was certainly one to remember, for better or for worse. As the SPL, it was exciting to see everyone work together to make the best of a buggy situation, and their efforts were worth it! Playing games, bouldering up the lava flow, and soaking in the lake were all great times, so I'd say our Matthieu Lakes outing went pretty well.

George Boutwell,
​Troop 221 SPL