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Leave No Trace | Past Campouts | Cold Weather Camping

LET'S GO CAMPING!!!


Camp at the Squaw Lake Trail bridge in the Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado - July 17, 2001 - still one of our favorite places!

Here is the plan:

Troop 445 loves to camp!  We go camping at least 11 times per year (usually December is just too busy, but we have gone in December before).  We are just like the post-office.  The weather does not keep us home.  Our planned destination may have to change (due to flood, etc.) but we go camping.

Every summer we attend a week-long Boy Scout sponsored summer camp with many activities and the opportunity to earn several merit badges.  Sometimes the summer camp we attend is close to home (Worth Ranch, Sid Richardson Scout Ranch) and sometimes we go further away (Camp Wehinahpay in New Mexico, Slippery Falls Ranch in Oklahoma).

Troop 445's high adventure camping is covered on the high adventure page.  Check out that page to see the details of our 2001 Continental Divide Trail trip and our 2002 & 2005 Philmont expeditions, plus details on any upcoming high adventure activities.

 The methods to this madness:
There are 3 basic ways Troop 445 goes camping - 
Low-Impact camping (Leave No Trace) - When we really want to get away, we put the backpacks on and carry everything we need to get by on our backs, and walk away from civilization for the weekend.  This type of camping requires the most skill, and seems to provide the most satisfaction for the Troop.  We try to go "low-impact camping" at least 3 to 4 times a year.

High-Impact camping - When at camporees or summer camps, we bring EVERYTHING.  The tables, propane stoves, lanterns, and fuel bottles, chuck boxes, coolers, dutch-ovens, and everything else we can think of gets packed into the Troop trailers, and we set up a mini-city at our campsite.  We usually "high-impact camp" two or three times a year.

Something In-between - There are campouts where we may need some of the Troop gear (lanterns, stoves, etc.) but are trying to be as low-impact as possible.  This is the most common type of camping we do.

Troop camping gear:  See the "Equipment" page for Scout's Personal Equipment

Troop 445 provides all of the "patrol gear"  that each patrol will need for successful camping.  This equipment is provided with the understanding that it is the patrol's responsibility to properly care for and maintain the equipment, and that the patrol is responsible for the replacement of any items with the exact same equipment.

Troop 445 provides:

tents -  For 2006 we have purchased new tents.  We now use Alps Mountaineering Meramac 4 ZF AL tents for our non-backpacking campouts and Kelty Gunnison 2 tents for our backpacking campouts
patrol chuck box - used to keep all patrol cooking gear and dry foods in
cooking equipment - backpacking stoves and fuel, propane stoves and fuel, all cooking utensils including Dutch-ovens (patrol has to provide the charcoal for Dutch-ovens!!!)
propane lanterns and fuel
clean-up equipment - 3 wash basins, soap, bleach, scouring pads
other equipment - patrol tables, dining flies, water containers, hand-tools (shovels, saws, etc.)

The July 2006 through June 2007 Troop program:

July, 2006

Aquatics
August, 2006
Wilderness Survival

September, 2006

Backpacking

October, 2006

Camperall

November, 2006
Rocket Launching

December, 2006
Shooting

January, 2007
Space Exploration

February, 2007
Climbing

March, 2007
Fishing/Fish Hatchery Tour

April, 2007
Camporee/Pioneering

May, 2007
Cooking

June, 2007
Summer Camp

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This page was last edited on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 04:46 PM.
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