Boy Troop 1978 in Vienna, Virginia recently went on a Backpacking trip and camped outside in the wilderness near Big Schloss Virginia.
The troop drove into the Wolf Gap parking lot and departed hiking at about 7:00 in the evening. This was a wonderful new experience for many young and old scouts. As separate patrols the troop hiked 1.5 miles uphill with lots of rough terrain and switchback. The scouts set up camp at about eight thirty and most people were asleep at ten or trying to be!
Based on patrols we woke up at different times in the morning. While some scouts became an early riser others slept in for the first time. They hiked for an hour or so, taking only a few breaks, but working vigorously achieved the set goal: Big Scholoss. Everyone was still waking up so, some of us sat our backpacks on the beginning of the small trail. While hiking up it looked like we may see just a tree, but with in a second of walking we swallowed in a breathtaking view of the mountain and the mountains surrounding us, but just the very top because we were high above the clouds and while we couldn’t see any above us we could see mist among us. The troop passed over the bridge connecting the mountain split by a gorge and while different people with different opinions; they all said the same thing, “WOW”. We were just feet away from falling into the valley and some of us did par core while holding each other’s food packets.
