2008 Winter Camp

Winter Camping! What a great weekend we had! Sixteen adventurous souls trekked into the deep woods on Zacharias' farm, built shelters, cooked food, slept in the outdoors and had lots of fun. Have a look at our photos from the weekend.

Shelter-building takes a lot of time, if you intend to be comfortable for the night. Some of ours were so comfy it was a shame to use them only once! Quinzees, as we re-discovered, are a LOT of work, but there's something very cool about sleeping in a snow shelter (no pun intended). The big challenge is to keep it from overheating and getting wet inside. Lean-to's can take a variety of forms, and ours ranged from the simple to the 'experimental', as the photos show. Everyone built their own, in teams of two or three, and everyone got some sleep.

The night sky was clear, moonless & perfect for a stargazing hike. We also had some fun with Eric's bear bangers.

The food was great, and the Wardens prepared it all. They even made some excellent ice cream (which is great on the porridge in the morning, by the way).

Winter camping was a completely new experience for one participant. Misaki Kubo, 16, hails from Saga in southern Japan. She was a good sport and pitched in with the work and the fun.

Special thanks to Bruce & Judy Zacharias for the use of their land. Thanks also to Bruce, Eldon and the Wardens who went out the prior weekend to get a few things prepared.

In the words of one Warden, "This was the most fun I've had at a camp in a long time!'