Sunday, February 22, 2009
First Winter Camp
Things I brought: 2 t-shirts, 1 pair of boots, 4 pairs of extra socks, 1 pair snow pants and two pairs of track pants, mess kit, one hat, bedroll, two sweaters.
My first winter camp was exｃiting, painful and a great experience. I went to Camp Wildman, a camp for the scouts near Georgian Bay. It was much colder there because it was up north. The camp was for the whole weekend and we were to sleep in a cabin for the first night, and in a quincy hut for the second.
We had a hearty breakfast of bacon, sausages and scrambled eggs to begin the day. It was to prepare us for an obstacle course in the woods. It was fairly easy, until I got to the double rope bridge. Using only the two ropes, we were to get ourselves to the other side. There were many ways to do it, but what I was wearing restricted me to one option. I just sat on one rope and pulled myself with my arms across to the other side. It was honestly extremely painful, because of the intense friction on the ropes. A better way was to lie down on our backs and push with our feet. It was also more challenging because if we had fallen off we would fall into a frozen river. Most people made it across, but others were too scared so they walked on the river.
I think the most tiring thing I did at this camp, and ever was building a quincy hut. A quincy hut is a hut created by snow, then digged out so there is space for people to sleep in. It needs to be very big, since we needed to fill four people in the hut with their sleeping bags. It took my partner and I at least 3 hours to finish the snow hut. It was very exhausting, but it was a great experience. A game of capture the flag in the dark was pretty exciting after a dinner with the Cubs in their cabin. Sleeping in the quincy hut was very comfortable, but when you want to go to the washroom, it's a horrible experience. Wearing only a sweater and track pants, you slowly try to put your frozen boots on, with no success. Then you walk over to a tree, shivering so much that you feel you're going to die. It's something like this that makes you realize that you need to improve, on planning things and executing them.
On Sunday, it was a day of mostly free time in the camp. We had snowball fights, fort building and we also had a good walk on Georgian Bay in the evening. The frozen lake was a beauty of nature, and there were icicles everywhere that were as long as swords. A dinner of loads of hot dogs were served, and everyone ate at least three.
It was an exhausting camp, but it was a good experience and also was pretty fun. I realized that I did not bring enough clothing because all of my socks got wet and also, when my boots froze I had to stay in the cabin and wait. It was a good lesson, and I won't make the mistake again. Good equipment is always prior to a good trip. When I got home, all that was in my mind was sleeping.
My first winter camp was exｃiting, painful and a great experience. I went to Camp Wildman, a camp for the scouts near Georgian Bay. It was much colder there because it was up north. The camp was for the whole weekend and we were to sleep in a cabin for the first night, and in a quincy hut for the second.
We had a hearty breakfast of bacon, sausages and scrambled eggs to begin the day. It was to prepare us for an obstacle course in the woods. It was fairly easy, until I got to the double rope bridge. Using only the two ropes, we were to get ourselves to the other side. There were many ways to do it, but what I was wearing restricted me to one option. I just sat on one rope and pulled myself with my arms across to the other side. It was honestly extremely painful, because of the intense friction on the ropes. A better way was to lie down on our backs and push with our feet. It was also more challenging because if we had fallen off we would fall into a frozen river. Most people made it across, but others were too scared so they walked on the river.
I think the most tiring thing I did at this camp, and ever was building a quincy hut. A quincy hut is a hut created by snow, then digged out so there is space for people to sleep in. It needs to be very big, since we needed to fill four people in the hut with their sleeping bags. It took my partner and I at least 3 hours to finish the snow hut. It was very exhausting, but it was a great experience. A game of capture the flag in the dark was pretty exciting after a dinner with the Cubs in their cabin. Sleeping in the quincy hut was very comfortable, but when you want to go to the washroom, it's a horrible experience. Wearing only a sweater and track pants, you slowly try to put your frozen boots on, with no success. Then you walk over to a tree, shivering so much that you feel you're going to die. It's something like this that makes you realize that you need to improve, on planning things and executing them.
On Sunday, it was a day of mostly free time in the camp. We had snowball fights, fort building and we also had a good walk on Georgian Bay in the evening. The frozen lake was a beauty of nature, and there were icicles everywhere that were as long as swords. A dinner of loads of hot dogs were served, and everyone ate at least three.
It was an exhausting camp, but it was a good experience and also was pretty fun. I realized that I did not bring enough clothing because all of my socks got wet and also, when my boots froze I had to stay in the cabin and wait. It was a good lesson, and I won't make the mistake again. Good equipment is always prior to a good trip. When I got home, all that was in my mind was sleeping.
# posted by P4 Andrew Hu @ 5:40 PM 
