Scout Camp in Switzerland

This week you have a real treat...a guest blogger!

I am turning it over to Mike to blog about Scout Camp.  Mike is the scout leader for a lot of boys.  He took 24 of them to scout camp....crazy guy!!  Anyway,  here you go, in MIke's own words.

Two weeks ago Travis and I along with 24 others traveled to Kandersteg Switzerland for a week of scout camp.  Kandersteg Scout camp is located in a narrow valley in the Swiss Alps next to a little town with the same name.  In the winter time skiing is the main event but in the summer it is a destination resort for avid hikers. 

 There are some amazing trails and they range in difficulty from very easy to extremely difficult.  It was a great experience for all of us.  Two or three of the boys had been last year but for most of us it was totally different than any camp we have been to before.  We arrived Monday afternoon and most of the boys signed up for different merit badge classes.  We had the option of one or two days participating in a high adventure activity.

  I wanted to take all the boys on at least one challenging hike, but all the guides were booked on the day we wanted to go so I bought a map and we were off.  We chose a 12 Km (6.2 miles) hike, all up hill, to a Swiss Cheesery.

 Did you know all they have in Switzerland is Swiss Cheese.

  A couple of the boys commented that they had hiked in lots of cool places like Zion National Park but they had never seen anything like this.  There were every color of wild flowers you could imagine.  When we got to the Cheesery at the top it was an old barn with living quarters and the cheese factory upstairs with stalls for the cows downstairs and on the main floor.  Note the cows in the house.  We got to sample the cheese they make and some raw milk.  There are no roads, so the only way to get to the cheesery is hiking.  We left about 8:30 AM and arrived a little after noon.  It was a good hike and everyone made it but some of the leaders did end up carrying extra backpacks up and down the mountain. 

 The final day of camp we were able to book the last 8 slots for a glacier hike.  8 of the boys got to see the trail where Hannibal crossed the Alps with the elephants.  On top of the glacier you could see the Eiger and the Matterhorn I will let Travis tell you about that.

The world cup soccer finals were playing while were at camp and it is a lot bigger event over here than it is in the States.  Try to imagine a month of the playoffs leading up to the Superbowl and multiply it by 10 because every nation gets involved cheering for their team.  The boys played soccer almost every day with kids from several other nations.  Most could speak English but some could not. 

 The last night we had a fireside and skit night from kids from all over the world there were 3 or 4  American troops, a couple from military bases in Europe and one group flew in all the way from Texas.

Mike

And now a word from your regular blogger...me!  

Travis and I have been having a mah-velous time in good ole Boise, Idaho!   The time is flying by and we still have so much more to do...more visiting, more eating, more shopping, more ice cubes, more air conditioning...you get the idea.  

I have loved getting to squeeze on the grandkiddies and catch up with the big kids.  I will blog and add some pictures as soon as I get some extra time...but who wants to waste time blogging, when you only have two weeks to get it all done.    

love and miss you all.

-corri