Pere Marquette Camping and Hiking

This past weekend our troop camped at Pere Marquette State Park. While there, we used the opportunity to do a little Philmont prep.

A Weekend at Duncan Hill

This past weekend, our troop camped at Pere Marquette State Park. This is a location we’ve been to many times. Often we go there for the day to enjoy some of their numerous hiking trails. Other times, (like this past weekend), we incorporate the trip with a weekend campout.

Just down the road from the Visitor’s Center and Lodge is a group camp area called Duncan Hill. This is the park’s youth tent camp area. It’s a wide-open area that has several sites for groups. While it doesn’t have direct access to the park’s numerous trails, they are accessible via the bike trail that runs along the highway.

Spring Is Approaching

Less than 4 days before our campout, the weather was almost unbearable. The temps struggled to get above freezing, it was snowing, and the winds were relentless. There were reports of winds hitting 50 MPH bursts. It was less than pleasant to be outside, to say the least.

As the saying goes in our area… “Don’t like the weather? Just wait a few hours.”

Fast forward to this past weekend… While we still had to wake up to frost on everything, the days were sunny, the winds were gentle, and the temps were in the 60s. It was a GREAT weekend for a campout!

Prepping for Philmont

While we’re not perfect, our troop’s PLC attempts to pair each campout with a specific topic or theme. For this event, the theme was all about hiking.

In June, a bunch of our Scouts are heading to Philmont for a 12-day trek. We’ve been preparing for a while, but it’s been fairly casual. We’ve had group hiking events, but the emphasis has been on individual training and preparation. Now that we’re getting closer, it’s time to take things to the next level.

We planned a (roughly) 10.5-mile hike using park roads and various hiking trails. We don’t have a lot of hills in our area, so incorporating elevation changes into our hiking training is sometimes difficult. Fortunately, this park is located along the bluffs, and the roads/trails include lots of ups and downs. It’s not the same thing we’ll experience at Philmont, but it’s better than the typical flat areas of Illinois.

This was one of the first opportunities we’ve had to test out our gear. Scouts and adult leaders brought their hiking boots, backpacks, and other gear along to see how well it worked. For some items (like hiking boots and a backpack), proper fit is critical. Trying something on is fine, but you don’t really know how well it fits until you use it in a representative environment. It’s much better to find that some equipment adjustments are needed now, rather than in the middle of a 12-day trek at Philmont!

Of course, this wasn’t just about the crews going to Philmont. These weekend events are for the whole troop. We had several Scouts with us who were not going to Philmont. While they may not have been training for a long hike in New Mexico, they were all able to complete one of the 10-mile hike requirements for the Hiking Merit Badge.

Hot Meals On A Cool Evening Are A Great Combination

As mentioned above… While it was great during the day, the mornings and evenings were fairly cool. The Scouts did a great job at planning meals for this event. The hot breakfast on Saturday morning, and the two Dutch Ovens full of chili for dinner paired perfectly with the cool temps.

This Is Just The Beginning…

While we occasionally plan weekend camping trips over the Winter months, it is difficult. The weather is completely unpredictable, and it is a very busy time of the year.

Summer may not be here yet, but this campout solidified the start of this year’s camping season. From this point forward, we have a camping event planned nearly every month. It’s great to be able to enjoy the outdoors again!