The plan was to meet at Andrew's house at 6:15 a.m. in the brutally cold morning so we (the members of Boy Scout Troop 254) could leave in time for the 8:30 a.m. check-in at the Valley Forge Pilgrimage. The reality, as you can imagine, was a bit different. One, only half of our struggling troop was up for the pilgrimage, and two, our fourth and final member calls as we are preparing to leave to say that he literally "just woke up." Time waits for no man, so Andrew's dad and acting Scoutmaster, Bob W., decided to wait on Danny and meet us down there. This was a mistake as Bobby or Bob, who has fam in Philly, was the only one who had the directions, but he sent Andrew in his place as navigator and assistant scoutmaster, Jack Pauler, as driver. Andrew taught orienteering (map/compass reading) at Philmont Scout Ranch last year, so it should have been all right. Naturally, we got lost - and as Andrew dutifully and constantly pointed out, "It was all Danny's fault." Finally, we had to stop and [ ahem ] ask for directions at a local Citgo. That might have been helpful if they had sent me inside instead of our intrepid navigator; this kid's idea of giving directions would make the Cheshire Cat's head explode - it's a wonder we got there at all. The pilgrimage is an annual event held by Philadelphia's Cradle of Liberty Council on the weekend of George Washington's Birthday to commemorate the soldiers who encamped here in the winter of 1777-78. The event is now in its 92nd year with over 2,700 scouts and leaders in attendance, who travel there from throughout the tri-state region, it even attracts some troops from Maryland and the state of New York. The event was structured using a "round robin" system where the scout troops were placed in one of eight color-coded groups that rotated between the various stations, which consisted mainly of a microphone and a stage. Most of these mediocre stations (let's be honest) were thematically-centered on Alexander Hamilton as an aide-de-camp, but there were some spots that were legitimately interesting, such as the colonial medicine tent and one on the history of black soldiers in the Revolutionary War. "When I first heard about black soldiers serving in the colonial army, I thought, 'Who cares about a bunch of slaves?'" said Noah Lewis, one of the park's costumed volunteers. "But, when I learned that 10-30% of Washington's soldiers were black, I had to share that with others." But, there was something noticeably missing from our continental camporee - FIRE POWER! The "Popular Stops" demonstration, as made legendary in the November 2003 issue of Scouting magazine, apparently didn't make this year's plan. "I wanted to see the artillery," Danny said. "The reason I came on this was to see the cannons." Personally, so did I and the thing which really confounds me is that council organizers knew that this was their most "Popular" station, they even admitted that it was probably their "biggest draw." But as Pilgrimage organizer Jerry Reed stated it was "time for a change." Oh really Jerry? You had the same stupid To Tell the Truth rip-off from two years ago, so why not change that too? True, we got to see a musket-loading demonstration, but, dammit, we didn't get to see it fired (there must have been a hold on blank musket balls at Wal-Mart). They put in a hot cocoa stand (free for the scouts), which was welcomed on such a brisk, cold day with temperatures hovering in the low thirties. It was a clever idea, but it isn't nearly as dramatic and romantic as say, firing a cannon and muskets in the middle of the park. The last station is where we discussed the history of the pilgrimage itself. One interpreter told of the original memorial service the local scout troops were invited to on Washington's Birthday in 1913 and another discussed the various patches and awards given over the years to worthy participants. The final two discussed the role of scouting at Valley Forge: from the nine-mile Valley Forge Historic Trail Award (offered by the scout council, not the park) to the four national jamborees held there circa 1952-64. "We're definitely doing the hike in the spring," Andrew said. "It's a really neat looking patch." Ummm , assuming we can find our way back home first! Photos by Jonathan Twiggar