Winter Camp 2014

Camp T.L. James

Last year, my tent leaked and as a result, my sleeping bag and poncho liner got wet.  Not good...  When I got home I went over all seams with seam sealer and re-sprayed the rain fly and bottom of tent with a waterproof silicone spray.  I also found a tiny hole in my rain fly that I patched with tape.

I debated rather to bring the tent or buy a new one.  I opted for the latter and bought a REI half-dome 2 along with the footprint.

Coming out of the bag, this is what it looked like.  

When it was set up:

Looking at the forecast ahead of time, I decided to pack the following:

In the orange and gray dry bag is my cold weather gear: stocking cap, gloves, neck balaclava, and an underarmor stocking cap for sleeping.  The green dry bag has my raincoat and frogg togg pants.  The small black and larger green dry bags had my personal hygiene stuff.  The blue compression sack had shower stuff like a towel, face cloth and bandana.  The large green sack had my poncho liner for extra warmth at night when put over or inside my sleeping bag.

Our troop set up camp at Cherokee:

Some of our boys hanging out at camp:

 

Camp T.L. James is one of the most scenic camps I have visited:

There are the tree houses that make this camp unique:

My job is to watch over the boys while at camp: make sure they go to class, they are not causing trouble back at out camp site and they are accounted for at meal time.  In my free time, besides napping, I went to the archery range and practiced shooting a bow and arrow.  I was pretty consistent.  You can't tell from the picture below but my arrows were all clustered together off to the right.  Not bad for a hack.

Before we leave camp, we take the traditional troop picture by the camp sign.
First a serious picture:

Then a goofy one:

Thoughts on Camp:

• I love going every year.  The atmosphere is casual and laid back.
• My rules during camp for the boys:
• Be where you are supposed to be.
• Do what you are supposed to do.
• Stay out of trouble. 
• We had a little bit of everything regarding the weather.  It was warm the first day then it rained overnight and into the next morning through noon.  That night and the next got cold (mid 30's) but warmed up nicely during the day. 
• Since we man the kitchen, the food is pretty good and the conversation at meal time is entertaining and informative.  (In fact, one night after dinner 4 years ago I was talking to some ladies from a Louisiana troop who were telling me about their trip to Sea Base in South Florida.  It was that conversation that served as the impetus for our troop going to Sea Base.  We have sent 2 crews since that time and will be sending a 3rd in 2015 to South Florida.)
• After dinner we adults stay in the dining hall sitting at a table talking, telling funny stories and solving the world's problems.  Priceless...
• I was very impressed with our boys.  We only had a few wet sleeping bags and clothes.  The boys didn't whine or complain, they just dealt with and adjusted to the weather.
• My favorite part of camp is when I take the boys to the tree houses.  It is truly music to my ears and makes my heart smile.  Just to hear the boys laughing, running up and down the stairs and yelling makes all of the time and effort to plan the trip worth it.  This is what life should be like for the boys.
• Until next year's camp....