It’s not your average summer camp. 

National Jamboree is 360-degrees of fun, friends and fellowship with hands-on adventure that takes scouts places they never thought they'd go and challenges them to try things they never thought they could.

This high adventure scout reservation is situated in The New River Gorge, West Virginia.

Comprised of more than 10,000 acres, the Summit has many adventures in store for us:  hiking, biking, the skate park, paddle boarding, climbing, swimming, cooking, rowing, shooting sports, gatherings…the list goes on!

We gathered May 5-7th at the Ingersoll Scout Reservation to meet scouts and get prepared for our adventure.  

For this campout, we needed to pack everything we are bringing just as we would for Jambo.

And wow, what an amazing weekend!  

It was evident that an extensive amount of time and effort had been put into making it a success.   Thank you to the leadership team!

The 5 scouts in our van all agreed that not only was it a great experience, but also that they had managed to make "all that learning fun."    

Bonus that no one was spooked by the thunder too badly!  

Scouts are thrifty and we work hard to make our dreams come true.  This trip is no exception.  Many of us have been working hard to earn our way to Jamboree.  Here are a few ways we have earned funds:

Yard work, housework, baby sitting, garage sale, and, of course, selling POPCORN!

By Emily Ries, Jon Schoenheider and Victoria Williams for 25News Now
For the first time since 2017, thousands of Scouts will gather for the National Scout Jamboree, including Troops from Central Illinois.

Excitement was in the air as 63 Scouts from the W. D. Boyce Council contingent gathered in East Peoria Tuesday morning to leave for their 10-day adventure.

The Scouts are on their way to the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, which they’ll arrive at Wednesday after spending the night camping in Friendship, Ohio. They’ll be joined by 20 more Scouts from Champaign’s Prairielands Council.

For the full story, click here.

By Andy Kravetz for WMBD

On Tuesday, nearly two dozen scouts from the Peoria area will join dozens more from Central Illinois to head east for the Scouts BSA National Jamboree for an 12-day adventure.

Celeste Saul, 20, who was the area’s first girl to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, said it’s about having new experiences and seeing new things.

Her brother, Carson, 15, said it was about meeting people from across the country and seeing things that you can’t see here in Illinois like whitewater rafting or a massive zip line or a tent city for thousands upon thousands of teenagers.

Full article available here.

Departure day!  Nothing could contain the excitement after months of hard work  and preparation.  Scouts were well-prepared and all the hours put in by the leadership team were obvious: organized check in lines, bags with labels to their destination, seating charts, itineraries... you name it.   Because of the smooth process, scouts barely noticed when we repeated the process one more time to pick up the rest of our group in Bloomington, Illinois.

Our first stop on the adventure set the tone for the trip.  Jimmy Johns and lots of ways to get the wiggles out.  Scouts had a fabulous time and would have stayed longer if we didn't have an even more exciting destination in mind.

Thanks for a great night, Camp Oyo!  We had some real rib-sticking dinner and breakfast. The cabins kept us dry and - bonus - they had outlets to recharge gear!

Scouts were up bright and early and are excited to reach our destination.

Even though they were told we will be likely setting up in the rain, there were smiles and excited scouts everywhere.

Around noon, we arrived and set up camp. With the singing and good spirits we completely avoided all the rain that was expected during set up!

The Scouts did a fabulous job working as a team and pitching in to get things ready.

Our first dinner was chicken alfredo pasta and some of our patrol were up first as cooks!

The girls were a little apprehensive about leaving subcamp for the first time.   Bechtel Summit is an enormous facility.  The sixteen square miles (10,600 acres) is divided in to subcamps.  Our troop is located in subcamp Charlie.  It can definitely be overwhelming at first, but as Scouts, we were prepared and practiced for this.  

One of the biggest problems they faced as a patrol was that they did not have a cell phone.   Only being 12 years old can be a real challenge at times.   There were some definite learning opportunities at first but by midweek they had the drill down. 

In an exciting turn of events, Mrs. Hartman had a medical issue that gained her a fun ride in the army ambulance!  After a short visit to the medical clinic and a check over by a doctor, she was on her way back to subcamp almost as good as new.  She hung back and kept an eye over the campsite while the Scouts explored their newfound land.

By the second full day of camp, the girls felt more more confident in the lay of the land.  Their goal for the morning was to make it out to one of the four lakes on the property and to kayak before an afternoon hike.  It was hard not to stop and do everything as they passed.

On this day, however, we had one thing on our minds: the hike up the Summit to Leadership Heights.  This moderate difficulty ascent included many switchbacks, a few mud runs, and gave us the challenge we didn't know we needed.  

Once at the top, we were already champions.  Some had taken a step toward overcoming their fear of heights, others had worked hard through athletic injuries that threatened a scouts ability to attend, many were simply challenged by the heat, the incline, and the terrain. 

Together we made it to the top and as we learned, when we work as team, it is not only easier, but more fun.

At Leadership Heights we learned about scholarships and opportunities that exist for ROTC.   We enjoyed a special presentation on how great leadership doesn't mean that things always go as planned and failure is only bad when you don't grow from it.

If there was one thing the girls did not want to miss the chance to do it was the: The Big Zip.    To make sure they got a place within the line that guaranteed a zip time , they got up at 4:30  am and hiked the mile over to the sign up  tent.   It was a good thing they did not wait another day.  The line would grow exponentially each day and eventually become the source of frustration for a few.  But not these ladies; as they say, the early bird gets the worm.    

The Big Zip  is five parallel lines that together cover more than 3,000 feet across the camp.  Scouts can reach speeds up to 50 miles per hour!  After a short safety briefing, it was time to hike back up to Leadership Heights and the take off point.  Each girl said they loved it and would do it again if they had the opportunity.

In the afternoon, the girls gathered with 2,500 other scouts to assemble emergency care buckets to be handed out to disaster victims.    They were grateful to able to serve as well for the donations made to fill the buckets.

The rest of the day would be spent earning a special patch by completing the Conservation Trail.

Conservation goes hand in hand with Scouting.  From the beginning, Scouts are taught the principles of Leave No Trace.  With the help of the National Forestry Service, The Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and several other organizations, the Conservation Trail at the Summit provides a close up view to the impact humans have on their environment and specifics on how each scout can be a better steward of their entrusted resources.  

Scouts learned about how to make small fires that have less impact as well as how to camp in ways that leave the area as pristine as they found it.   One exhibit in particular, the Bear Bag Toss, was of keen interest given the recent sighting of some black bear cubs on the Summit.

We only had one Sunday at Jamboree so we decided to really make it count!  Being Reverant is not just about showing respect for what you believe in, it also extends to our fellow Scouts who come from different backgrounds and beliefs.     With knowledge being the key to understanding and understanding being the path to connectedness, many Scouts decided to try a worship service DIFFERENT than they had experienced at home.  Christians could be found at the Jewish temple, Protestants attended Mass, and Scouts that had never been to a religious service tried one for the first time!

With the whole morning dedicated to Reverence, we turned to fellowship for the afternoon.  The Hometown Celebration allowed each Council the opportunity to showcase what makes their area unique or fun.  Scouts traversed the camps to play games, make new friends, and even try new foods!  

Perhaps the sweetest treat one could imagine was ending the day with ice cream.  The summer heat had angrily shown itself every afternoon and the cold dessert really hit the spot.

It was with utmost sadness we learned that the gentelmen who surprised us with the ice cream returned home to find his wife had unexpectedly passed away.  The Scouts continue to hold him and his family in their prayers.

One thing that is hard to understand is the excitement around patch trading.  The activity, while designed to help you meet and connect with other scouts, gets a little wild at times.  In the beginning of the week, Scouts traded patches for patches, but by Day 7, anything goes. 

One Scout laughed hysterically as she exclaimed, "I just got a patch for a beef stick!"  Though those days would be short as the abundance of beef sticks and bean dip began to mount.

And speaking of bean dip, on this day we got tortilla chips.  It was Taco Tuesday, but on a Monday... and we were so excited!  Dinner was delicious and as soon as dishes were done we set out in our Class A's for a special Order of the Arrow callout ceremony.   Mrs. Hartman was called from Troop 888!

The Sustainability Treehouse is a living education center, not only providing information, but also immersing scouts in the concept of sustainability.

Between the local timber used to build the structure, the rainwater recovery system or the wind and solar generated energy, the Sustainability Treehouse provides Scouts with fresh perspective on what it means to be good stewards of our resources.

One thing we challenged the Scouts and Scouters alike was to try something new each day.  Today was no different and the ladies and Mrs. Hartman set out for Archery and Bows.  From crossbows, to longbows, to recurve bows, the girls shot them all and many improved their accuracy from last year.

The evening ended with a hike a dusk to find the perfect spot to watch the drone show.   It was a fantastic alternative  to fireworks and you could hear cheering echoing off the mountains for miles!

One of the biggest challenges of the week and an activity we had all been waiting for was finally here! Whitewater rafting was an amazing experience as we navigated the rapids with our expert guide, Dalton.  The New River Gorge was ready for us as well.  Everyone stayed in the raft, when they wanted to.  It was so much fun we can wait to try it again in August back home.

We are all packed up and on the road.  Girls were nothing short of amazing when we woke up to a surprise downpour.   There was no avoiding the rain.    A few minutes of reprieve and it opened again.   

I didn’t hear anyone whine once.  You heard me correct.  Some may have danced the line of cranky, but no one took that path.  We worked hard together to break camp.  And made it out ahead of schedule.  I know the leaders will all say they are incredibly proud.