We camped at Park Creek Bible Camp, near Jenkinson Lake, returning to this camp for our second year. The campout started Friday night and ended Sunday morning.
Category: Camping trip
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.
This was our first camp out as a troop, and we reached max capacity at our group camp site, having over 12 fathers with their sons attend. It was a cold and rainy weekend, but that didn’t dampen the trip too much or the spirit of our cadets. Friday evening included a quick dinner and a campfire rosary. Saturday morning started off with lauds, the divine office morning prayers, and then breakfast. After breakfast and some archery practice, the cadets then hiked down to the lake, with fishing, kayaking, and canoeing. A majority of the cadets had some luck catching small fish in the lake, and one group even got a catch on their canoe! After lunch, we then hiked to the historic Malakoff Diggins mining town, which included a museum tour and video talking about the history of hydraulic mining, which was the reason for the town’s success (and ultimate demise) in the mid 1800’s. After the museum tour, the group split up with some dads touring the town, and some dads going down to the river to gold pan with their sons. The evening concluded with another campfire rosary, as well as smores. Sunday morning started with lauds once again, and then a generous breakfast, and finally camp break down. This was a great first campout for the troop, which was mostly paid for by the boys fundraising efforts selling pastries, coffee, and hotdogs the prior year.
