Echo Gambit on not really knowing your Scouts. I was in a hiking oriented troop and we would have been fine with climb. It is about 2.5 miles, 2000 feet, so not chump change. But the trailbed is pretty well maintained.
It is a pretty dry stretch until you get to Doc’s Knob, about 9.5 out of Pearisburg. So if you’re not confident of making that then you’ll need to haul water.