This weekend I went winter camping at Camp No'Chimick with the venturers. It had been a while since I had been winter camping and I was looking forward to it. Camp No'Chimik is not far from home, just a 15 minute drive. We went out Friday night. There were 8 of us spending the night Friday and two more joined us on Saturday and spent Saturday Night.
This was my firt time going to Camp No'Chimick, what a great place. It is actually private property but the owner has been letting scouts use the area for camping for years. There is one small cabin with a wood stove there, a flagpole in a clearing and a bunch of groups have created permenant camp sites in the surrounding area.
Since we didn't arrive until late Friday night we spent the first night in the cabin. Us two adults slept downstairs and we had 4 Venturers and 2 rovers sleeping up in the attick. The cabin is very basic yet very functional. I didn't measure it but I would estimate 15 feet by 15 feet at the most. There is no floor, just stones and dirt. There was an old wood stove in the middle of the room to keep everyone warm. There were two benches along the two side walls that were wide enough to sleep on. The space under the benches served as storage for wood for the stove. There was a table attached to the back wall and teo folding tables as well. The ladder to the attick was beside the door. There were lines surrounding the stove to hang and dry wet clothes and plenty of naile for hanging jackets and other articles. The Attick was large enough that you could sleep 8 people comfortably and there was room on the benches for four more.
So Friday night we didn't have time for much but we did play their favorite game Whistle in a bucket. Basically two people go and hide a bucket with a whistle inside in the woods. Now remember it is night time so it is dark. The rest of the people have to find the bucket and blow the whistle without being caught. If the two people guarding the bucket beam them with a flashlight they have to go back to home base and start again. I didn't see the apeal of the game but once you get into it it can be a lot of fun.
Saturday morning I was the first one up. I managed to get myself changed and put together before anyone else got up. Brady was the first Venturer up and at 'em so he decided to get a start on breakfast. We had bought pre-cooked bacon so all that had to be done was heat it up. I suggested that since they come packaged in a plastic bag he just place the bag in a pot of hot water to heat up. That way there there wouldn't be any mess, no dishes to clean. Brady didn't take my advise and put them in a frying pan and placed it on the wood stove. By the time the rest of the food was ready that bacon was burnt to a crisp. They had some-what of success with the eggs and the sausages turned out fine. Just a typical breakfast at camp.
The morning was spent mostly with preparing their snow shelters for Saturday night. The original plan was to build quinzies but that never happened. Brady wanted to make a lean-to but eventually abandoned that idea. Jake and Hunter salvaged the remains of a snow trench that was left from a previous group and made a nice looking shelter rather quickly. Francesca and Emma decided to go with a snow trench as well but they wanted to start from scratch. It took more time but they pulled off a great shelter. Brady eventaully follwed Hunter and Jakes lead and salvaged one of the snow trenches that was left from the previous group. Adrian decided to join him and when I found out Andy was going to sleep in the cabin that meant I was on my own so I resigned to sleep in the cabin as well.
For lunch we had hot dogs cooked over the fire on sticks and we had some chicken noodle soup. After lunch the owner of the property came to visit with his chainsaw and cut up some fallen trees and our group transported and piled outside the cabin for the next group that would come to use the camp. A little later we all went on an exhausting hike. I am sure glad I rented those snow shoes.
Supper was easy. Emma's mom had made us boil-in-a-bag chili. You take milk bags, cut the top off and wash them out. That you fill them with chili, soup , or whatever you want and seal closed. Freeze them and take with you when you go winter camping. Just boil a large pot of water and place the bags in the pot to unthaw and heat. You eat right out of the bag and there is no mess. You can either burn the bag or place in the garbage.
of course after supper it was more whistle in a bucket. Except this time we changed it to candle in a bucket. The objective was to blow the candle out. We had a lot of fun. For the last name Andy and I were the bucket defenders. We came up with a plan, well actually we cheated. Instead of hiding the bucket we circled around back to the cabin and went it to warm up while they were out searching for us. They were not too amused.
When it was time for bed Brady found his shelter to be wet and decided he didn't want to sleep outside. Adrian felt that it would be fine by adding an extra tarp. Since he really wanted to sleep outside I agreed to take Brady's place and I slept in the Snow Trench. I was dry as a bone and not one bit cold. I had a great nigjht sleep, well except for the aaches and pains from sleeping on the ground.
Breakfats was instamt oatmeal and once everyone was done eating we packed everything up and headed home. I was home by lunchtime. To view the pictures from the camp click on the image below.
