Return to Pointer View home page September 10,  2004

Scouts visit Assateague

Story and photos by Lt. Col. Bill Adams
Scoutmaster

Twenty scouts and ten family members from West Point Boy Scout Troop 23 traveled almost 300 miles last month to Assateague Island State Park, Md. Assistant Scoutmaster Bill Bland organized the trip which ran from Aug. 27 to 29. The scouts went at the invitation of Troop 811, Pilesville, Md, which has traveled to West Point for the past two winters for a joint merit badge fair and ski outing.

Assateague Island is famous for its herd of wild ponies which live among the dunes at the seashore. Legend says that they are the descendents of ponies which survived a Spanish shipwreck off the eastern shore of Maryland in the 16th century.

Another theory is that they are the descendents of ponies which 17th century English farmers kept on the island to graze and avoid English taxes. Whatever their origin, the ponies were a source of delight for the scouts. They were a constant presence the entire weekend, roaming through the campsites and grazing in the dunes. Wild deer also freely roamed through the campsites.

The weekend was beautiful and the scouts were treated to their first rain-free camping trip in more than two years. Many rose early Saturday morning to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful day at the beach and the scouts enjoyed swimming in the surf, looking for shells and digging in the sand. At one point the scouts watched porpoises swimming just a couple of hundred yards off the beach, sometimes leaping out of the water in their playfulness.

Assistant Scoutmaster Todd Messitt took many of the scouts tubing on the Sinepuxent Bay. Chris Powell and Andrew Torok worked on their water rescue skills for 2nd and 1st Class rank requirements. Other scouts stayed on the beach and had a sand castle building contest.

Surprisingly, building sand castles turned out to be a good team-building event for the boys as they worked together to build the large structures and fight the approaching tide. Senior Patrol Leader Tyler Christensen and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader Pat Adams won the contest, but shared the prize of M&M’s with all the other scouts.

Saturday evening, Troop 811 shared  bushels of steamed Maryland crabs with the West Point scouts, who they had to teach how to eat the crabs. The adventurous scouts and leaders enjoyed a messy, but delicious, Maryland delicacy.

The troop’s leaders recognized Chris Powell as the outstanding camper of the weekend. The scouts are planning a return visit to Assateague for next summer and have added it to their list of favorite places to camp.