The 8^th of May saw the scouts of Cavan Monaghan gathering to take part in the County competition which was held this year in the Carrickmacross campsite in Dún a Rí

This year’s competition was a standing camp style weekend which included a night hike to prepare the scouts for the Provincial night hike being held later this month.

The Scouts all arrived on Friday evening and began setting up camp for the weekend. The site was quite wet that didn’t bother the scouts as they worked away until after 11 on their sites. After a few patrols ventured into the night for a game of capture the flag with their new friends while others pigeoned out and went to bed.

Early the next morning the leaders were awakened by the sound of scouts battering pegs, giving orders and the gentle patter of rain on the tents. Yes the rain had settled in for what looked like the weekend. Once again the scouts of Cavan Monaghan didn’t let it bother them and the sites really began to take shape. By 11:30 though the rain had stopped and was replaced with the sun shining hard.

The first inspection took place at 12:30 and proved to the leaders that the competition was wide open. After a quick lunch it was straight into the patrol challenges. Every group’s Leaders ran a different challenge which made the afternoon both varied and interesting. The challenges included crossing rivers, compass trails, survival skills, first aid, problem solving and team work. Some scouts came back with wet feet while others were still talking about being able to do CPR on Resusci Anne. The scouts were barely back on site when the smell of smoke could be had as every patrol started preparations for the competition dinner. This, as always proved to be of a very high standard with everything from Spaghetti Bolognese to Chicken Fajita wraps being served.

After the delights the competition had to offer it was off for a camp fire for an evening of songs skits and jokes for all. Every patrol had something to offer to the nights craic...with some more than others!

At 12:30 it was time to get the torches and rain gear out as the patrols were sent off for the night hike. The Patrols were sent out with the PL leading and 15 minutes between each patrol. The hike took them about an hour and covered a large part of Dun a Rí forest park. The hike was a great success with all patrols coming home singing and in high spirits. However as soon as they were in the sleeping bags the tiredness hit and the campsite was finally quiet at 4am except for a few leaders who were fighting over who would sleep at the door...you know who you are lads!

After the night hike and all the hard work on Saturday, it was a slower start for most patrols on Sunday. Luckily the rain stayed away and everyone was able to get most of their gear cleaned up without too much hassle.

The weekend was finished up with the PL’s of every patrol having to decide on the final marks for Patrol spirit over the whole weekend. After a quick tot up, the winners were announced and everyone congratulated on their efforts. Every patrol on the weekend was awarded bronze, silver or gold standard for their participation. The standards were so high that only silver and gold awards were awarded. The winning patrol was from 3^rd Monaghan Carrickmacross followed very closely by 2^nd Monaghan Ballybay. In third place was 4^th Cavan Bailieborough. All the patrols were thanked for their efforts over the weekend. Also thanked, were the leaders who helped make it happen with a special thanks to the leaders from Carrickmacross who helped with getting the site ready and running various things over the weekend.