Enjoying the Fall Colors at Pere Marquette

Last Campout of the Year

It’s Fall, and the weather is definitely changing. While we do our best to schedule camping events all throughout the year, December is one month that is typically omitted from our camping schedule. With our Troop Christmas Party, Christmas itself, and New Years, there just isn’t much time to squeeze in a campout.

That makes November our final camping opportunity of the year. We unfortunately had to cancel our last two scheduled camping events due to numerous conflicts, so we were excited to be able to make this one happen.

It’s late in the year, and daylight-savings has ended, so there was no way to avoid setting up camp in the dark. Fortunately the youth camp area was completely empty, which made it a little easier to find a good spot. (We’ve been there numerous times before, so that helped as well.)

After setting up camp, the Scouts made “Walking Tacos” and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner…the start of our food-filled weekend. Both the setup and meals went surprisingly quick, which gave us a chance to relax and enjoy the beautiful evening.

In Memory of Logan

Back in July, our troop experienced a tragedy that none of us will every forget. Shortly after returning from our 12-day Philmont backpacking trek, we lost one of our Scouts in what turned out to be a fatal car accident. During our adventures at Philmont, Logan discovered his love for hiking, especially during a sunrise. He was on his way for a hike that morning when he apparently dozed off at the wheel and struck a tree when he ran off the road.

This campout was oriented around our remembrance of him. The tree he struck is very close to the entrance of the youth campsite we camped at this past weekend. That Saturday morning, we rose early and walked from camp to the site of the accident. We arrived there around 6:30 AM, which was close to the time of the accident. In our Class A’s, we said a few words in memory of Logan and had a time of silence. While we will forever miss him, we’ll always cherish the memories we had during the short time he was with our troop.

When we started our hike from camp, it was a typically cool, overcast morning. However, once we emerged from the trees to The Great River Road just down from the site of the accident, the sky cleared to reveal an amazing sunrise…the very thing that Logan enjoyed the most on his hikes. It was simply amazing.

Not-So-Typical Lunch

The main activity of this campout was a hike. We wanted something moderately long…10 miles or so. We considered hiking one of the many great trails in the State Park, which we have done many times. To mix things up, the Scouts instead chose to hike along The Great River Road from camp to Grafton, where we’d get some lunch, walk around a bit, and then hike back to camp. Our Scouts cook A LOT during our campouts. So, trying something different and getting (instead of making) our food for one of our meals seemed like a fun change of pace.

While cool at times, the timing of our campout was near perfect, especially with regard to the leaves changing their colors as Winter approaches. The hike to and from Grafton is lined with trees, and the colors were absolutely gorgeous.

Once we reached Grafton, we decided to head to The Loading Dock for lunch. They have a great outdoor eating area that allowed us to enjoy our meal and relax for a bit.

Once we were ready to go, we started heading back, but not after stopping at one of the local ice cream places along the way. We were a little worried about getting rained on during the hike back, but it fortunately went just North of us.

A Breezy Evening

That evening we enjoyed a delicious Dutch oven chicken-pot-pie. The Scouts also had a dessert planned for the evening, but between our oversized lunch and similar dinner, we were all too stuffed for anything more. (It will keep until the next campout.) We instead opted for a big roaring fire.

The evening started out very peaceful, not unlike the previous night. However, once the weather front we had been watching passed through, the wind whipped up and never relented. It got down to the upper 30’s that night, but the wind was the prominent feature. The tents were bending, shaking, and flapping all night. We didn’t have any tent failures, but we did have several poles that had split and needed to be repaired/replaced. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately?) this is something we have experienced before, so the repairs were no big deal.

Logan, this one was for you. We will forever remember and cherish the great times we had together during your all-too-short time with our troop.