Ernest Thompson Seton Scout Naturalist Program
Seton Canoe Trek
Naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton spent many hours in the wilderness. He kept extensive nature journals and wrote books about the wild animals he observed. Scouts, led by Scout Naturalists, will also experience adventure during week-long Seton learning treks into pristine natural areas. The 2001 Scout Naturalist Program consisted of a one-week canoe trip in the Adirondacks hosted by the Massawepie Scout Reservation Adirondack Trek Program.
A Seton Learning Trek group will consist of two adult leaders and no more than ten Scouts. Les Hathaway, an Adirondack mountain guide, once said, “The problem with people is they’re so busy trying to cover ground, they ain’t got time to notice what’s on the ground they’re coverin.’ ” Naturalists, after participating in a Seton Trek will be able to lead their troop or venture crew members on a trek that enables everyone to interface with nature at a leisurely pace.
Next summer (2020) we will offer a natural history-focused canoe trek in the ______ for Seton Scout Naturalists.
View this video: A canoe trip in the Adirondacks...
Seton Trek Day in the Northwoods
The Venturing crew is led on a trek by Scout Naturalists Heather and Robert.
6:00 A.M.: Scouts rise and participate in an early morning solo. They fan out along a trail that borders Blue Mountain Lake. Eyes and ears look and listen for any wildlife. Observations and drawings are added to journals.
6:45 AM.: Naturalists return to camp while water is being heated for breakfast. The group shares wildlife observations, poetry, and journal drawings over a simple breakfast of oatmeal, dried fruit, and hot chocolate.
7:10 A.M.: Dishes are cleaned and camp is swiftly taken down.
7:30 A.M.: Canoes are silently launched. Everyone paddles across the lake to head for the bog. Scout Naturalist Heather alerts everyone to observe the loons on the lake.
8:30 A.M.: Everyone stashes canoes and walks on a boardwalk that leads to the bog. Robert points out the insectivorous pitcher plants among the sphagnum moss. They are guided to feel the down-pointing hairs inside the pitcher-like leaves. Flies are digested by enzymes in the fluid at the bottom of the leaf vessel. Robert tells everyone how the bog used to be an open lake formed by a block of ice melting during glacial times. Over thousands of years, acid-rich sphagnum moss decays slowly to fill the lake and form a mattress-like mat.
9:30 A.M.: The group paddles along a stream between two lakes. They collect milkweed flowers in a field bordering the stream. Fritters will be made from the blooms at dinner to supplement dehydrated meals. Everyone paddles quietly to observe wildlife. Whispering voices and hand signals alert others about chattering red-winged blackbirds, a soaring osprey, and a frolicking otter. Heather teaches everyone about beaver ecology on a stop along the stream between the lodge and the dam
Noon: Lunch is enjoyed near a waterfall. Robert points out the Canada jays on a nearby tree. After the meal, Scouts gather wood for the evening campfire. Heather informs everyone that birch bark makes a flammable kindling. Oak branches make a good fuel. The wood and kindling is put into plastic bags and stored in the canoes for later use.
1:00 P.M.: Robert leads the flotilla of canoes across the lake for a destination that is marked on his map. Canoes are stowed and everyone walks down a trail to a large tract of virgin Eastern White Pines. Robert points out an osprey nest atop a lightning struck pine. Blueberries are found along the trail. Heather thought ahead and gives everyone Zip-Loc bags. Tomorrow, on a special layover day, blueberry pancakes! A gigantic pine tree is found. Robert tells everyone about how the trees were made into ship masts before the American Revolutionary War. Everyone holds hands in a large circle around the tree.
You will see and hear loons on our trip.
2:00 P.M.: Canoes are shushed into the lake for a scenic campsite destination. Along the way, Heather gathers canoes together to point to a spot once occupied by a grand hotel along the lake. The big wooden hotel burned in 1917. Laminated historical photographs of the hotel are passed around. Heather briefly describes what she researched about the hotel. More will be told in a story during the evening campfire.
2:50 P.M.: Jaren, the youngest Scout, sees a bald eagle atop a pine tree. Everyone stops paddling to watch the eagle. It takes flight.
4:00 P.M.: The group arrives at the campsite. Since a long distance "grueling itinerary" was not planned, there is plenty of time to fish, bird-watch, swim, and write in journals. A few take their turn in preparing a chicken and rice dinner along with milkweed fritters made from the flowers gathered earlier in the day.
8:00 P.M.: Robert plays his guitar and everyone sings around the campfire. Heather tells her made-up story that includes real facts about the hotel. Listeners realize what it must have been like to be a visitor in that wooden hotel in 1910.
9:00 P.M.: Robert takes the crew on a 45-minute night hike along a forest trail. He makes a hooting sound and an owl flies in and perches. Everyone is amazed as they observe a great-horned owl.
10:00 P.M.: Bedtime. Another day's adventure is ahead.