Senior Kyle Shenton, who is a part of Boy Scout Troop 265, went on a camping trip to canoe the Allagash RIver in Maine from July 18-27. 

     Over the course of the 9 days, they had planned on canoeing only on 7 days, Shenton says that he and his troop members, canoed 82 miles of the river all the way up to the U.S.–Canada border. He added that they intended on doing 92 miles, however the water level was too low for the canoes to float through, therefore they did not complete the other 10 miles.

     “My troop has gone on this trip before, but I have never gone up until this year and I would definitely go again. I think it would be a little better if it was shortened a little bit and we had a rest day in between, but despite how long it was, I still had a really good time,” the scout says. 

     During his time in scouts, Shenton has ranked up all the way to his Eagle Scout, where he will be working towards getting that honor soon. “I have already planned my project and we are actively fundraising, to be able to make it all happen,” according to Shenton. He then adds, “This trip definitely helped me get closer with my friends and they will either help me complete my project or help donate to make the project happen.”

     The scout stated that there were 10 kids and six adults that attended this trip. To make it more COVID-safe, Shenton commented, “Since we had over 12 people within our group, every now and again, the Park Ranger would make us split up to keep us more distanced.”

     In the mornings, Shenton said, “[We] woke up at six o’clock to clean up camp, [we] took down tents and made breakfast and had to be on the river by half-past seven.”

     Leading up to the trip, the scouts partook in something called ‘shakedown’. Shenton described, “For months leading up to the trip, [we] had to canoe a certain number of miles each day, which would correspond with our canoe schedule at Allagash, in order to prepare ourselves for the trip.”

     The senior explains, “The food we had was all dehydrated, so all we had to do was add cold water for breakfast foods, and hot water for dinner. For lunch, we usually just ate snack foods like Chex Mix and Oreos.”

     Each day, the scout stated that they canoed around 12 miles, and at most, they canoed 16. He added, “The other people on the trip and I both concluded that if we ever did this same trip again, we would need more breaks, especially a designated day to rest. The distance we covered was really far, which was cool, but we were really tired.”

     Not only does Shenton like scouts, he had said that the nine-day getaway would be a good way for him to hang out with his friends in his troop, but be able to enjoy time outside of Maryland, being able to explore a new place.