Sabattis Log 12 July 2004

I see leaders emerging from our cadre of boys. Or are they just men that can't drive yet? Anyhoo, one of the boys sits quietly during some free time to build a coup stick or perhaps his own walking stick. He is embracing the scouting experience - its his own now, not just something he does at his parent's or Scoutmasters' nagging. This is one of the goals that we as leaders trive towards with any endeavor. When the mentored begins to take ownership of what is being taught then we know that true learning has begun.

Overnight, we didn't see or hear any bears in the site. I think the onslaught of hundreds of scouts has scared away most of our black, furry buddies. However, some of the boys observed two deer behind Kevin's tent two tents down from mine.

Drew moved out into Ethan and Syd's tent last night. Based on our 2.5 mile hike yesterday, I can understand why there wasn't any noise coming from the tent by the time us leaders went to bed.

The only industrialized sound emminating from the camp is the sound of the generator at "main rez". In fact, we could hear it from Lookout Mtn when we were hiking on Sunday. Aside from the generator and the occasional high flying aircraft, the camp is void of modern devices which makes this trip salve for the soul.

23:30 We just settled in from a very wet afternoon which started with an aborted tour of the various islands and other trek destinations that are available. Our original plan was to spend the night on Frying pan islad. Since the rain was so heavy, we decided to just go on a quick paddle trip of the islands. Despite the abundance of rain prior to our departure, the rain stopped just as we entered the water from the trek center. What compensated us for the soaked boots and soggy sneakers was a spectacular sighting of a loon that makes its home on the pond. A second loon swan peacefully about the same distance from our canoes. Despite the number of canoes and boys, the loon stayed in its location for quite some time while we observed and snapped a few photos. I can see why various Adirondack nick-nacks use the loon for decorating.