May 13, 2006 - Jamboree on the Trail: Crew unites for first time on the Skyline Trail.

Connecticut and the rest of New England experienced record rainfall in the month of May, 2006. Before we knew what was to unfold, we declared the event "rain or shine", not knowing that whole roads would be flooded over in the days leading into Jamboree on the Trail. Craig Brown assured us via cellphone that it was all just "Rover Sunshine" - we deliberated whether to drag a bunch of tenderfoots out for a very wet adventure, or maybe just ceremoniously step out onto the trail just to say we did it. All this, and our crew had not yet even been all together in our first five months. What's a new Rover Scout Leader to do?

Well, I'll tell you what we did. We met anyways and altered the plans a little. Lucky for us, but unlucky for the Boston area, most of the rain shifted north just hours before we set out onto the trail. We met at or designated point, and rather than going point to point, we hiked in and back in case of a sudden relentless downpour. At the start of our trip, Jeff and Tina were presented with their crew neckers. Finally we were all together! Jay and Tina brought their daughter Luna, our guest photographer and future Wolf Cub! Later in the hike, Dave realized he had a Rover Second stripe still sitting in his pocket and presented it to Jeff right then and there.

We hiked 2 hours or three miles on the Skyline Trail in the bittermost northeast corner of our fair state. The trail was a former railroad with tracks removed... soon to be converted to a "rails to trails". , The scenery was wonderful - the old stone culverts and stone walls were in great shape. We had fun identifying plants and interpreting deer tracks. We found old rail spikes and clips as Jeff told us all the stories he could about the old rail line. Apparently it was the site of the greatest steam train wreck in history - four trains in all!

In the end, we got really, REALLY lucky. We only had to withstand cold, dampness and drizzle. We went back to Jeff's house for a crew meeting and hot pot of potato and sausage soup to take the chill out of our bones. We weren't back more than fifteen minutes when the sky opened up again. In one day, our state got five inches of rain - which is a lot for us.

We really got a big kick out of the idea of being part of a worldwide Jamboree where Scouts everywhere hit the trail on the same day. We know we're just one small crew in the grand scheme of things, but it's fun to be part of something bigger than us.