Winter Camp

Report from David Wood 

... Scouter Dave with a staff ...

The Salmon Arm Second LDS Boy Scout troop had an overnight camp November 22 - 23.

Four boys and one parent attended, along with Scouter Tyson and Scouter Dave Wood.

The boys signed off on their fire starting and knife safety badges.

... view to the West

As well all of the boys made their own poplar staff and they produced extras for the boys who could not attend.

They used hatchets, axes and a hand saw.

... a small stream makes it way to the lake ...

The first time someone winter camps they might be worried about being too cold.

The scouters eased the boys into the chilliness of the night by taking them to a nearby hot tub before it was time for bed.

The scouts brought their tin foil dinners from home and cooked them on the fire which they started, even before they began setting up their tents.

There was so much food that there were left-overs of the dessert of marshmallows, bananas and chocolate chips, also cooked in the fire.

... sit down by the fire ...

Scouter Tyson was prepared with a lecture about the stars and a laser pointer with which he created stars in the sky since the real ones were dim that night.

They learned that some of the starlight they could see was created 5 billion light years ago, and now it was just reaching earth.

The boys are mainly 12 years old.

... fresh water flowing out of the woods ...

Sunset is at 4:03 pm so the tents had to be set up in the dark which as their fire was burning itself into coals.

Scouter Del Purnell made a guest visit to the camp and taught the boys a song.

The boys also organized a skit to entertain the leaders and each other.

... early morning train on the mainline ...
... repair equipment lights on the yellow vehicles
have been flashing all night ...

If you have been sleeping near the train all night, then 7:30 am is probably the first time you have been able to really get to sleep.
The trains seem to thunder by on a regular basis when you pillow is on the ground just a 30 yards away from the mainline

At 7:30 am all of the boys were still asleep Scouter Dave hailed the CPR train which was passing by at the time with hand gestures, hoping that the engineer would blow his whistle and wake them up.

Scouter Dave had even a gesture of louder that communicated that information to the engineer.

 ... scrap metal collected by the scouts from along the beach ...

The camp broke up in the afternoon and the scouts left no footprint on the earth but the remains of a fire, which evidence the rising lake water will wash away in the spring.

... view to the North ...

The scouts went home to practise the one last lesson of winter camping: dry out the sleeping bags and tents.

All families will be enjoying some of the sights and smells of the camp as the tents dry out tonight.

Dave Wood