THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140100
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
The 19 Boy Scouts and five adults stared at the tumbling rapids and fought back their panic.
It was hard to imagine this was the same trickling stream they had skipped across Friday, bounding from each protruding stone to the next, on their way to a weekend of camping in the George Washington National Forest.
It was harder to imagine how they would get across to safety in the darkness.
``I was scared,'' said Glen Adams, a 14-year-old Scout and student at Great Bridge Middle School South. ``I was scared for myself, my father and the rest of the guys. I just hoped everyone could get across.''
On Monday, the Scouts and adults met at their home base - Great Bridge Baptist Church - to talk about their weekend adventure.
The drenching rains Saturday that engorged the stream had also forced the boys from their camp. The Scouts' tents relented to the steady downpour and their sleeping bags soaked up the cold water. The temperature dropped as the sun dipped below the mountains and Scout leader Willie Adams made a decision.
It was time to get out.
A day earlier, under a warm sun, Troop No. 6 began the four-mile trek to a remote area of the national forest. The line of Scouts and parents snaked through worn trails and across streams barely deep enough to wet their boots.
Saturday, they awoke to a steady rain.
``It didn't rain a half-day like it was supposed to,'' the Scout leader, Willie Adams, said. ``It rained all day.''
At 4:30 p.m., the rain-soaked Scouts went into their tents to get ready for dinner. They found that the rain had permeated their fabric shelters and the sleeping bags had soaked up the dampness.
To sleep in the wet bags in near-freezing temperatures meant facing hypothermia, Willie Adams knew.
Two streams near the campsite had been growing steadily, ominously. Finally, one welled over its shallow banks and spilled into the camp.
Adams rallied the boys and adults to hike out.
They walked three miles in the darkness, over trees felled by the storm and through streams that had swelled into twisting rapids. Finally, after reaching the last stream at 9 p.m., they were halted. The stream spread to 40 feet wide and five feet deep. It was impassable.
Adams had left most of his gear at the camp, but he had packed a cellular flip phone. He dialed 911.
The state police answered and connected Adams with the Augusta County Sheriff's Office. But the line was full of static, and Adams frequently lost contact. He left the Scouts at the stream bank and hiked up a mountain to get clearer reception. It worked.
Two hours later, volunteer members of several rescue squads and fire departments stood on the opposite bank and looked at the Scouts.
The Scouts were cold - dangerously so. Adams and the adults feared hypothermia would set in, plummeting the boys' body temperatures. The condition can be disorienting, and deadly.
One Scout, 11-year-old Thomas Barnett, was particularly bad off. His teeth were chattering rapid-fire. He couldn't feel his toes. He couldn't control his feet.
The rescue workers threw a rope across the rushing stream, but it fell short. Again they tried, and again the toss was short. Again and again the rope sailed through the air and slapped short into the water.
Finally, on the sixth time, someone grabbed it.
One by one the Scouts were ferried over the water on a zip line, to the opposite bank where the rescue workers had built a roaring fire.
``The waiting was the hardest part,'' Nathan Walsh, 15, said. ``We were on one side, cold, and the firemen were on the other side with a blazing fire.''
It took several hours to move the Scouts and adults across the river, where they stripped off their wet clothes, swaddled in blankets, and basked in the fire's warmth.
But the rescue wasn't over; there was still another mile to hike.
The strongest Scouts hiked out first and some helped the rescue workers carry equipment. The fatigued hikers soaked up more warmth from the fire and trudged out later.
Barnett, still shivering uncontrollably, was taken out by stretcher. Later, he was airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center.
``I was soaked, pretty much,'' Barnett said. ``I was nervous. It was scary being up in the air. I was scared I wouldn't make it. I'm glad I did.''
His father, who was one of the adults on the trip, didn't know Barnett had been evacuated. He was so engrossed in the rescue efforts he had lost track of his son.
``I was more nervous than everybody,'' said Bill Barnett, an insurance agent. ``My main concern was getting them all out safely.''
By 3 a.m. Sunday, all the Scouts and parents were out safely. All except Thomas Barnett were loaded onto a heated school bus and driven to Augusta Medical Center in nearby Fishers-ville, where heated blankets were waiting.
A few hours later, all the Scouts and parents drove home, arriving in Chesapeake after noon.
This weekend, they will return to the forest, hike back to the camp, and retrieve the equipment they left behind.
``Everyone did exactly as they were supposed to,'' said Willie Adams, the Scout leader. ``They learned the value of their training. And, more important, they learned the value of each other.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
JIM WALKER
The Virginian-Pilot
Ricky Davis, left, and William Rode, center, talk to Thomas Barnett,
11, who was airlifted to the University of Virginia Medical Center
in Charlottesville. Heavy rains over the weekend made streams
impassable and stranded a Chesapeake Boy Scout group on a hiking
trip in the George Washington National Forest. Volunteers from
rescue squads and fire departments came to the aid of the 19 Scouts
and five adults.
Scout leader Willie Adams
by CNB