This was our first troop camp out for the new season, which was booked at a private site called Park Creek Bible Camp, located on 13 acres in private forestry land in the Sly Park Recreation area, about 4.5 miles from Jenkinson Lake. This was our first time using this camp, and it was developed years back to be used by Christian youth groups. The camp was well developed and in a private location of the forest, right next to Park Creek. The site itself was built with a full kitchen, dining area, 3 full sized cabins (with about 20 bunks each), along with a medium sized cabin, and 2 small cabins. There were several fire pits (with ample fire wood available), a playground, basketball court, and several bridges for crossing the creek.
We started the camp on Friday, September 13th in the late afternoon. The itinerary was as follows:
- Setup camp (George opened gates, turned on water), dads start arriving and either setting up in the cabins or pitching tents if that’s preferred
- 5:00 PM – Cook dinner
- 6:00 PM – Evening prayer from the office of divine readings
- 6:30 PM – Practice color guard ceremony and taking down the flag
- 7:00 PM – Build and light camp fire
- 8:00 PM – Pray the Rosary
- 9:00 PM – Lights out
On Saturday our itinerary was as follows:
- 7:00 AM – Coffee, then morning prayer with the cadets from the office of divine readings (celebrating the Exultation of the Holy Cross)
- 7:30 AM – community breakfast of oatmeal, along with potato & corned beef hash
- 8:00 AM – Knife safety training
- 8:30 AM – Service project: hauling lumber and building materials from a torn down cabin on the other side of the creek and piling them by the wood pile
- 9:00 AM – Prepare sandwiches for lunch to take on the hike to the lake
- 10:00 AM – Begin hike, which was about 4.5 miles down to the lake, and took about 2 hours
- 12:00 PM – Eat lunch at lake, then water play (swimming, fishing, etc)
- 1:30 PM – Started hike back to camp
- 4:00 PM – Free Play
- 5:00 PM – Community dinner of hot dogs and chili
- 6:00 PM – Archery
- 7:00 PM – Campfire and smores
- 8:00 PM – Campfire Rosary
- 9:00 PM – Stargazing hike
- 10:00 PM – Lights out
Sunday morning started with prayers from the office of divine readings, then a community breakfast, and cleaning up camp.
