Scouting, Volume 82, Number 3, May-June 1994 Page: 38
50 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Maine Event (from page 19)
Trekkers aren't accompanied by out-
side guides and are free to set their
own itinerary. However, they do
leave a planned route at Loon Lodge,
the private hunting cabin where the
Robert E. Lee Council equipment is
stored off season. They're also asked
to call in twice a day to the lodge with
their location and plans for the next
leg. Other than that, the expedition is
their choice, Vincent says.
"T3 is set up to give you a lot of
freedom to plan your own program,"
confirms Troop 867 Scoutmaster Lee
Warnick. "I like that aspect—the un-
structuredness of it."
T3 also encourages troops to design
the 2,000-mile roundtrip drive to
Maine as an important part of the ad-
venture. Boys are asked to research
various sites along the way and to
suggest sightseeing stops.
That responsibility weighed heavi-
ly on the mind of Star Scout Rusty
Rowland, 15, who was in charge of re-
searching a visit to New York City on
the way home. One night by a camp-
fire in the Maine woods, 500 miles and
a lot of trees north of the Big Apple,
Rusty expressed how concerned he
was with the success of his recom-
mendations. "That's all I care about—
visiting New York City!" he declared.
In New York, the visit Rusty re-
searched and planned was a hit, high-
lighted by an elevator ride to the top
of the World Trade Center. Then the
group drove to Baltimore, where they
watched the hometown Orioles defeat
the Milwaukee Brewers in the new
Camden Yards Stadium, before head-
ing south to Richmond and home.
"That baseball game was a real
highlight," said Scoutmaster Warnick.
"We had good seats and it was a great
stadium. The boys really enjoyed
that."
The trip up to Maine also included
memorable stops along the way.
Outside Philadelphia, the Scouts
camped in the backyard of a relative.
Following a quick trip into downtown
Philly to see Independence Hall and
the Liberty Bell, they took off for the
next stop, Boston. There they visited
the more-than-200-year-old frigate,
the U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Iron-
sides") in Boston Harbor before head-
ing to their last stop before Loon
Lodge.
The final leg to the lodge—two and
a half hours over 90 miles of unim-
proved (dirt) logging road—was tax-
ing to travelers and vehicles alike.
Along the way, a logging truck bar-
reled toward them down the middle
of the road. And the only way to avoid
the oncoming behemoth was to pull to
one side as quickly as possible.
Countless potholes added to the ad-
venture. The group was able to ma-
neuver its two minivans and one sta-
tion wagon (none of which had four-
wheel drive) around most such haz-
ards and experienced only one flat
tire.
A key to the T3 program's success
involves the cooperation of Loon
Lodge owner Mike Yencha, an Eagle
Scout and former Philmont Scout
Ranch staffer. He stores the council
gear and provides a base from which
the treks operate.
T3 planners purchased canoes and
other equipment left over from the
closing of the BSA's Maine base at
Seboomook Lake. Program organizer
"Herman, you ve gotta learn to relax.
MATAGAMON BASE IS
ALIVE AND WELL
Scouts can still enjoy the
wilderness trek opportunities at
Matagamon High Adventure
Base in northern Maine.
Although the BSA ceased
operation of the site as a national
high adventure facility in 1991,
a group of the base's original
organizers, including private
woodland owners and Maine's
two BSA councils, reorganized
the program in 1993. The base
now offers canoeing and
backpacking high adventure
programs through 10,000 square
miles of wilderness.
For information, contact
Maine High Adventure, BSA,
HC 76, Box 1158, Jackman, Me.
04945, phone (207) 668-4221.
Joe Peace took the canoes to Loon
Lodge the day the BSA base closed,
where they waited for the first of two
crews to break in the T3 concept in
the summer of 1992. And T3 has been
going strong ever since.
"Cost of the entire trip from the
lodge comes to $50," said Bennie
Ward, one of the T3 program leaders.
"That includes canoes, paddles, per-
sonal flotation devices, tents, canoe
packs, pots, and other gear. Boys are
responsible for their personal equip-
ment, food, and travel costs on the
drive up and back. A $6-a-day fee,
paid to the land manager, is added to
the charge, but the whole trek can be
done for under $300 per person."
Other Maine wilderness programs
are available to Scouts from the
northeast and the rest of the United
States as well. Among these is the re-
organized high adventure base at
Lake Matagamon (see above), and
some troops from the Robert E. Lee
Council have used its programs,
rather than T3, for a wilderness expe-
rience. The Richmond-based council,
however, plans to continue its T3 op-
tion, because the low-cost makes it af-
fordable for nearly any of its Scouts.
Setting up and administering such
a long-distance, summer high-adven-
ture program "was no cinch," admits
T3 Committee Chairman John Vin-
cent. "But we did it and it works well
for us." ■
38
Scouting May-June 1994
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 82, Number 3, May-June 1994, periodical, May 1994; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353686/m1/38/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.