Last year we did a Lumberjack Campout where we camped near where we could harvest firewood (with a permit, which we had). We had some families in our neighborhood that needed firewood to heat their house for the winter, so we cut 4 cords of firewood and brought it to them and some other families.
That was one of our scout's favorite campouts last year, so we did it again this year!
We had the leaders working with the chainsaws to cut up the logs, and then the boys hauled it to the trailers, and split the wood before stacking it in the trailer. We were able to take about 80% of the wood back home already split (the leaders helped split some)! They were working hard!
It was UEA Weekend, so they didn't have school on Friday. We were able to leave early and get started working Friday early. We got all the firewood cut split and loaded on Friday, then drove down into the nearest town and played wallyball at the rec center, and then swam and sat in the hot tub to soothe our aching muscles from a hard day's work. Then we drove back up the mountain to camp, had our campfire and went to bed.
Then next morning we had a lumberjack breakfast (pancakes, eggs and sausage), and packed up and came home. Before dropping off everyone we unloaded the trailers and stacked the wood for the families that needed it.
It was fun to go on a trip that was centered around work, and to have the boys enjoy it! They enjoyed working hard! I think they're too sheltered and don't get to work hard very often, but they enjoyed it on this trip!
