November Camping Trip

Ockanickon Scout Reservation - Bucks County

21-23 November 2008

Troop 461 spent a chilly weekend at Ockanickon Scout Reservation, Bucks County, during the weekend just prior to the Thanksgiving Day holiday.  Despite temperatures that were forecast to dip into the low 20s, seven (7) Scouts and five (5) adult leaders braved the cold to try their hand at cold weather camping -- looking forward to the Troop's planned winter tent camp at Firestone Explorer Base at Resica Falls Scout Reservation that is scheduled for February.  As a result of Resica Falls being closed to Scouting activities during the months of October and November as a result of hunting activities, the Troop had to find an alternative location for its November camp.

One advantage Ockanickon has over other nearby Scout camps is the availability of Adirondack type shelters that relieve the Scouts from having to pack and pitch their own tents.  Additionally, the Adirondack shelters at Ockanickon have six (6) wooden bunks in each shelter, which allows the Scouts to sleep off of the ground.  The downside is that the Adirondack shelters have only three (3) sides with one side open to the wind and the elements.  Most of our Scouts and leaders took care of this "little" problem by hanging a tarp over the front of the Adirondack to block the wind.  This was an extremely important addition on Friday night when the wind was whipping through the trees and the temperatures plummeted to 20º Fahrenheit overnight.  Each morning we awoke to frozen water jugs and only because we kept our supply of eggs in the cooler did we keep them from freezing.

Naturally, probably the most important thing to provide in a cold-weather camping weekend is a constant supply of hot food and beverages.  Our kitchen area was the one part of our campsite that always had someone around it . . . the other part, quite naturally, was the fire pit.  Keeping warm during the day on Saturday was a challenge when the day's high temperature did not go above freezing.  One enterprising older Scout found that he could warm his cold brownie snack on a camp shovel and turn a cold snack into a hot one.  One other advantage regarding taking Scouts on a cold weather camping trip is that no one had to encourage the Scouts to go hunt, gather and cut firewood.  It is amazing at how keeping warm is a motivating factor for Scouts, young and old alike, to gather and cut firewood so that they can later sit around a warm roaring fire during a cold evening.  There is just something about sitting around a roaring fire, regardless of the time of year,

that symbolises camping to most everybody.  Another thing is that no matter how much firewood you think you have . . . it is always never enough!  It never ceases to amaze most Scouts and novice adults at just how much firewood you can burn over the period of a weekend.  Just think if you had to heat your home by a wood burning fireplace!

  The one thing that Troop 461 has prided itself upon for more than a half-century was the quality of the food that it provides to its Scouts and leaders.  Over the years, our leadership has learned that no matter what other hardships the Scouts may face over the course of a weekend camp or a long-term camp, things go much more smoothly when they are provided with good food and plenty of it.  This weekend was no exception starting with a Friday night snack of hot dogs and hot chocolate finishing up with Sunday breakfast of sausages, eggs and home fries.  The culinary highlight of the weekend, however, was Saturday night's dinner of pork, sauerkraut and fresh mashed potatoes.  Suffice to say that there was little, if anything, left after each of the meals and the Scouts had to make do between meals with hot beverages and other snacks which were available, including an ample supply of freshly baked brownies provided by our resident chef, ASM Scott Forwood.

This page last updated on Sunday, 23 November 2008