TN-5667

There’s something about the frontier spirit that stirs a man’s soul. The call of the wild, the test of character, the proving ground of adventure—this is where boys become men. And few names loom larger on the American frontier than Davy Crockett.

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.” —Laurence Binyon

“Don’t Invite Me to Church” Brandon didn’t mince words. He was here for Trail Life—for his son, for the boys—but church? No thanks. He’d seen too much. Pastor Darrell Cooper didn’t flinch. He didn’t argue. He didn’t push. He just smiled and said, “Okay.”

“When my husband left our family, my prayer for my sons was simple: ‘God, please send godly men into their lives.’”

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As the last light faded over Fisheating Creek, the Everglades came alive. Palmettos glowed gold in the twilight. Cypress trees cast long shadows in the tannin-stained water. Crickets chirped. Tree frogs sang. And the boys—well, the boys were stirring chili.

Let Boys Be Boys There was a time when boyhood was an untamed, unhurried thing. When creek beds turned into racetracks for hand-carved boats, the tops of hay bales became mountain peaks to be conquered, and backyard disputes ended in a wrestling match and a handshake.

Imagine being 12 years old, bunking with your dad and best friends aboard a real aircraft carrier, drifting off to sleep after a full day of hands-on exploration. The creak of the ship, the distant hum of the harbor, the lingering excitement of standing where real sailors once stood—it’s the kind of experience that sticks…

There’s No Offseason for AdventureWhen the world falls asleep beneath a blanket of snow, when bears slumber in their dens and squirrels hunker down, waiting for warmer days—boys see something different. To them, winter is a blank canvas for adventure.

The rain started the night before, a steady drumbeat on the tents that turned the ground into a quagmire by morning. But no amount of mud was going to dampen the spirits of the Trailmen. This was the Yukon Adventure—one of Trail Life’s longest-running and most challenging events—and they had come prepared.