Troop185

I am 60 and had a hip replacement 5 years ago. I am also a retired Elem. Physical Education teacher and stays in good condition. I gave up the High Adventure with the older scouts several years ago. Now I do Low Adventure with the young scouts. They are a lot of fun.

We still go backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, into the wilderness in Northern Ontario, but very few miles in a day. Since I been around so long, I know where the good campsites, waterfalls, etc. are at, and where there are very few people. I am into giving them a good experience, so they will want more (with a younger leader the following year). Hopefully, I will be able to keep doing this for 10 or 20 more years!

How about shuffleboard?

Can you tell what I do in Florida during the winter?

I have not canoed much in Minnesota, but I have been in Ontario, north of Michigan, for two/three trips every summer for the last 20 years. I have been to Isle Royle twice.

The later in the summer you go, the less bugs you have. The first week of May, you usually have no bugs. The black flies come out around the second week of May, and stay for about a month. They are, in my opinion, a lot worst than the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are thick in June, and you have less of them as the summer goes on. My favorite month for taking the scouts is August. Of course, the water levels in the rivers goes down as the summer goes on.

About 25 years ago, the Knights of Columbus kicked our Boy Scout Troop out of their building. I week or two later, they announced the start up of the Young Squires.

It was hard for six months. The troop met in a classroom in the Catholic school. Then the county sportsman club took us in. A great facility with anything a Boy Scout troop could want. Even a garage for our trailer. I had not heard anything of the Young Squires in the last 24 years!

Last Memorial Weekend, our Troop was on a camping trip to the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. I was with the early group that got to the campsite in the afternoon and set up the tents. We went to bed at about 10:00. The late group arrived after midnight. It got below freezing all three nights we were there.

"David" a 12 yrs. old scout, with a great deal of camping experiences, arrived with the late group and his two older brothers, and his dad (our Troop's Quartermaster). Somehow, David ended up in a tent by himself. When I got up the next morning, I was susprise to see that David was already up. Now David is not the type to complain, but he did meation that he was cold during the night. I assumed it was because he was in a tent by himself, and told him we would have him sleep with some other scouts that night. (Like anarchist's Troop, we often have three or four scouts in a Eureka, Timberline - 4, especially when it is cold.)

After supper, I went over with David to his tent to help him move his gear. David had no sleeping bag! He had forgotten to pack it, and had been too embarrassed to said anything. His dad could not believe it, and of course, all the stores were closed for the day by this time (we had been next to some earlier in the day). His dad ended up borrowing three wool blankets from the boat company that has the Ferry to Manitoulin Island. David slept warm the rest of the weekend. We are going to have him give a speech to all the new scouts next Spring on "what to do if you forget your sleeping bag!"

After a week's canoeing trip in l990 in Northern Ontario, where it rained for 5 days in a row, I have refuse to take anyone (for a wilderness trip) without a rain suit. Two of the scouts had ponchos and one riped the sleeve off his, on a branch the second day. They were wet and cold the whole week.

Rain pants are vital around the campsite when everything is wet, and great to wear over your swimming suit when it is cold or you have to worry about sunburn. On most river trips in Ontario, you are getting in and out of the river a lot. Also, the rain pants protects you legs on the portages.

When we are backpacking, the rain pants serves as our back up pants. We do not have a lot or room for extra clothing. I had a scout fall into the lake last summer, and he wore the rain pants for the next 24 hours. Except for a change of socks and underwear, that is all any of us had for our lower bodies. (Blue geans take forever to dry, but that is another story.)

Youth rain suits are hard to find, but worth it. It is no fun being wet and cold.

Our Troop is chartered by a Catholic Church, but it has its meetings at the County Sportsman Club. A great place for a Boy Scout Troop - nice buildings, great grounds, indoors/outdoors archery ranges, etc, etc., etc. Everyone thinks that we are co-sponsor, but we are not.

Thanks for the information on the Red River Gorge. I forwarded it to our Venture leader. I am sure we will be going there in the future.

Any other favorite areas out there?

We take a day trip every November to the Recreation Center at the University of Toledo. Three swimming pools, indoor waterslide, climbing wall, racketball, etc. We always invited the Webelos. We stop at Cabelas for about an hour on the way down.

I really like the "Tenderfoot Weekend" idea.

I would like to hear more about the Red River Gorge area. Have any other troops been there? Five years ago, I spend half a day there. It look like a interesting area, if you knew where to go. The word I got, was that the locals in the area were into illegal activites (moonshine),and it might not be the best place to take youths.

The Porcupine Mts. are a great place. We had a group of scouts backpack there three years ago, the week after Easter. (They have been doing the Appalachian Mts. the last two years.) The water was high from the snow run off, and they got some wet feet.

I use to take a group of first year scouts every other summer to the Porkies. We would rent the 8 man cabins, and backpack from one cabin to the next for 3 or 4 days (Watch out for the leaches in Mirror Lake!) Also, we stopped at Picture Rock National Lakeshore and at Sylvania Recreation Area, each for a night on the way up.

On the way home, we took the ferry across Lake Michigan from Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan. I guess the reason I stop taking this trip was that I like Ontario better, it is not as crowded, and I do not have to worry about booking cabins a year ahead. If you plan on camping in the campsites along the trail in the Porkies, they fill up fast in the late summer (when the bugs are not so bad). Isle Royal is the same way. You better make camp by 2:00, or you might not get a place.

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The trips north of the Sault are special summer trips, lasting 6 to 8 days. The group size to go into the interior at Lake Superior Provincial Park is 9, and at Pukaskwa, it is 8. The last two summers, we had two groups up the same week in August doing different itinerary. (Again, the bugs are not bad this time of the year!)

This last summer, I charge $125 for a canoeing trip down the Sand River - 8 days; and $110 for the 1st yr. scout trip - 6 days. Each group took the Agawa Train into Sand Lake, the 2nd group took the train out the next day. I own the canoes, canoe trailer, etc. so we do not have to rent.

The trips to the Bruce Peninsula and Hocking Hills are usually every other year, 3 day trips. I had 50 people at the trip to Hocking Hills last April. We do the Bruce Peninsula trip Memorial weekend.

I have never been to North Manitou Island, but have been to the South Island two times. Every June, I backpack one or more scout groups into the Nordhouse Sand Dunes on Lake Michigan (south of the Sleeping Bear) for one night. I believe it is the only Federal Wilderness Area in the lower part of Michigan.

I am a retired Elem. Physical Ed. Teacher & Coach from Michigan.

My wife and I owned a campground for 13 years. We sold the campground in l990, and was the Tripping Director for a Catholic Camp for 4 years. Now I take about 3 scouts trips each summer to Northern Ontario.

In the winter, I play shuffleboard in Flordia. I am still trying to make Pro.

Our troop is located in southeast Michigan. Some of our favorite camping spots are in Ontario. Lake Superior Provincial Park and Pukaskwa National Park, north of Sault Ste. Marie, and the Bruce Peninsula National Park, north of Port Huron/Sarnia. (There is a picture of us playing in a waterfall in the March/April issue of the Scouter Magazine.)

We also like Hocking Hills State Park in southeast Ohio.

Does you troop have any favorite place around here that we could check out?