06/16/2012 – 06/17/2012
We left on June 16 to head up to Caratunk Maine. We stayed at a resort called Adventure Bound. This resort had a bunch of activities like rock climbing, a bunch of ropes courses, and you could even go white water rafting on a variety of different rivers internationally. The resort our troop went to offered white water rafting on the Kennebec River. When you did not have anything to do, they also had an arcade, pool, a TV with movies that you can borrow and watch and they even had a built in hot-tub! This resort was awesome.
On the first day, after we arrived and got settled in, our troop went and participated in a couple of ropes courses that all involved teamwork. They had 3 different ones planed for us and it was a ton of fun. The first one was called “The Catwalk”. On this one, there were two trees parallel to each other. They were connected by a gigantic log nailed on the top of both trees. This log was nailed about 60 feet off the ground! Two people were hoisted up on opposite ends of the nailed log. The two climbers hoisted up would have to try to come up with a way to pass each other and make it to the opposite side that they started on. This activity required patience cooperation and teamwork to complete but in the end, it was worth it.
The second ropes course that was a little different. On this one, you climbed up a single tree to a platform. When you get the top of this tree, you notice that in front of you is a trapeze like the ones they usually have in the circus. That is exactly what they had. They wanted you to climb up to this platform and then take a step back and leap with your hands above you to try to land onto this trapeze. It was really hard to get onto but once you did, you could do crazy stuff like pull-ups and see if you can hang upside down. This part of the ropes course was very cool and it also tested out your physical strength in a very interesting way.
The third part of the ropes course was a gigantic rope swing. This swing was called Holy Cow. Unlike all of the other ones, this one was the most involved. First, you had to put the ladder up and get the climber secured in. Next the people with the latter had to get out of the way. Then everyone else had to pull with all of their might to hoist the climber with a pulley system. Finally when the climber was at the top of the tree, they had to pull a cord that releases them from the pulley and gravity pushed them all the way to the other side of the tree that they are swinging on with a separate rope. This one was the most awesome part of the ropes course that we did today. This is because in the time it takes from the time you are standing still from the time you pull the cord and gravity pushes you down, it is very scary on how much you move in like 3 seconds. You will have a blast the first time you try it. It is so much fun!
Later that night, we did a rock climbing course. They had one in the resort in the same room that had the TV. This rock climbing course was well set up. They had 12 different lanes and 2 different people assisting you climb the walls. The walls varied by skill level like the one on the right hand side was the easiest and the one on the far left was the hardest to climb up. This made it so easy to choose the appropriate skill level to climb up. If one was too easy, you could go back down and try another one. The rock climbing course was fun because the most challenging course to climb up took a lot of strategy and really made a good work out!
The next day was our final day at this resort. We packed up our stuff and carried them to our cars. We didn’t leave yet though. Our troop went right back into the main building and got briefed about whitewater rafting. Later that morning, we would borrow helmets PFDs and oars from Adventure bound hop on a bus and go to the river. The drop off point was about 40 minutes away from the raft. This was because the resort was located on the bottom of the Kennebec River. After the amazing ride up to the top of the river, we unloaded our rafts from the bus and then Briefed again. The river is divided into 2 parts. The first one is the one where you get soaking wet and stuff. Then our group will stop and have lunch. After lunch we will set off again on the more mellow part of the river
The Kennebec River is very interesting. The water going into it is controlled by a hydro power plant. Part of our admission price for the resort pays the power company to control the dam in the hydroelectric power plant to let them release the water into the Kennebec River so that we can go rafting. I thought that this was pretty cool. Out on the first part of the river, I liked how the river felt so rough that it seemed like someone showing aggression to someone they really hate. The two most awesome waves on the river were “Magic Falls” and “Big Mama”. This is because first in “Big Mama” you are going down the river very calmly and all of a sudden WOOOSH SPLASH!! The next thing you know, everyone is soaking wet. The wave Big Mama is also so fun because it is one big wave followed by 3 smaller ones. So, you experience the big one first and then the second ones help you dry off. The second part of the river that was pretty fun was Magic Falls. On magic falls, it is basically a hidden drop in the depth of the water. It is basically like a gigantic jump that you go off of. The cool part about Magic Falls is that you cannot see the jump until it is too late. The Rafting on the Kennebec River felt like a once in a lifetime experience.
After rafting was over, we returned our equipment. Unlike everyone else in our group, Troop 28 went to a tiny room above the arcade to see a video and take a test. This test was one of the requirements for the White Water Rafting merit badge. It was an automatic partial because you also needed to get the canoeing merit badge to get the white water rafting merit badge. Overall, this trip was very awesome and I hope that someday, the troop will be able to come back here because it was awesome!
Respectfully submitted,
Adam Koropey, Troop 28 Historian