aCAMP MONTGOMERY HIKE 04.01.06


04.01.06 FLORIDA TRAIL HIKE CAMP MONTGOMERY


The following is a personal account of Clayton II of what happened on the hike of terror.
After driving for a couple of hours we reached the starting point. The scouts waited while I followed one of the vehicles to the camping spot. When we returned we were ready to go. One of the scouts was slow to get up. James Signorelli had a cold or the flu and he had wanted to come on the hike. Well after about a half mile he was really dragging. I offered to carry his bed roll which over the course of the next half mile came undone and I ended up wearing it until we stopped for a break by which time I was sweating profusely as the temp was 31 C and his bag was very hot around my neck.

When we were ready to move James' condition had worsened. Even the weight of his pack had become too heavy and since I was the only one without a pack the leaders asked me to carry his. Well it wouldn't fit, but Clayton's heavier pack would so we switched. Then the experienced guide we were following got lost and walked two or three miles out of our way through trackless undergrowth. Finally some soldiers stopped to warn us of the "live fire" exercises going on just down the road and with the help of their more detailed map we got headed back in the right direction.

Now we were marching in deep sand and my shoes began to fill up with it. Later we crossed a creek and the sand turned to mud. I was beginning to regret my initial decision.

Finally we made it to camp. I still had to drive fourteen miles to pick up the other vehicles. The boys managed to go for a swim and as they needed an adult I had to do that as well. By now, and after a hearty meal of cold sardines and red beans I headed off to the bunk house.

I wish I had had a tent and the night passed fitfully as I got a cramp in one leg and about every two minutes Seabrook would move around in his sleep and the his bunk would go.........creak, creak, creak. I was so tired and between awake and asleep that just as I'd fall back deeply asleep he'd make the creaking sound so I called out his name in that "Army" voice I have and the creaking stopped only start again a few minutes later and once again - only this this time more forcefully "Seabrook!!!!!!!!!" Once again silence. Two minutes later the same creaking sound again. By now I'm angry and wide awake. Only then did I realize that the ceiling fan made a creaking sound every two minutes. In the morning the boys complained that they otherwise would have slept soundly except I kept yelling out "Seabrook" all night long.
 
 
 
   
 

TROOP 161