To: Troop 316

From: John D. McCarthy

Re: Lake Michigan Outing

When: June 15-17, 2002 (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday)

Where: Michigan State Recreation Area / Nordhouse Dunes

Theme: Hiking

Purpose: Provide opportunity for new Scouts to complete Second Class 1.b. and for older Scouts to prepare for the High Adventure Outing with Troop 430 in August.

Ideas for Outing (provided by Mrs. Miloch and approved by the Patrol Leaders Council):

We plan to depart from Vermontville on Saturday at 8:00 a.m.. If possible, we would like to pack most of the supplies on Friday evening. Arrangements will need to be made ahead of time to get the kitchens / supplies from where they are currently stored.

There is an approximately 3 to 3.5 hour drive time to Michigan State Recreation Area / Nordhouse Dunes.

On Saturday, our campsite is not officially ours until 2:00 p.m. although it is entirely possible that we can get in earlier. If we can get in and set up right away, we could have lunch, and get on to the 5 mile hike by 1:00 p.m..

If we are delayed, we plan to work on one of the following projects: (1) Make a few lashing projects for items we can use in camp (wood for these would have to be brought along with us) such as a hand washing station, a bulletin board, name plates for the entrances of tents. (2) Go over to the beach and put together buoys for marking off the swimming area (per safe swim defense). These could be made with milk jugs, rope and sand.

In the above case, we could be on our hike by 3:00 p.m.. Hopefully (Mrs. Miloch will talk to the camp ranger about this before we go) we can leave closer to 1:00 p.m.

Mrs. Miloch and Mrs. Batdorff will direct the following parts of our menu plans for this outing: (1) a dessert cracker barrel for Saturday night, (2) a pot luck dinner on Sunday night consisting of Dutch oven meals, (3) breakfast on Sunday morning. They will be introducing our scouts to new and delicious food ideas that they may not have tried before.

Our older scouts will be conducting a longer hike to prepare for the High Adventure Outing in August. This is an idea that the outing leaders and committee members have discussed and are willing to support with 2 leaders: The Anaconda patrol accompanies the Lightning and Flaming Arrow patrols on the five mile hike, carrying backpacks (actually, some of the Lightning and Flaming Arrows scouts may have backpacks to fulfill a backpacking requirement). At the end of the 5 mile loop, the Anaconda patrol will go on for another 5 mile loop. At approximately the seven and a half mile or more point, they will stop for the night, putting up a natural or tarp shelter, and in the morning plan to be back in camp by 10:00 a.m. for devotional time. This would involve planning a backpack dinner and breakfast using a camp stove, and carrying a sleeping bag and shelter, food and water or purifier. (There is no water in the wilderness area.) This may serve to fulfill certain merit badge requirements that these scouts may be working on, and would give them more practice in endurance for longer hikes and rustic camping.

Mrs. Miloch is looking into the possibility of conducting a 2 hour service project on Monday before we leave the campground, but after we have broken camp. This would be in keeping with a scout's goal of being helpful and giving back to the community. We could then have lunch and leave by approximately 2:00 p.m., arriving back to Lansing by 5:30 p.m..

At our Evening Troop Meeting on June 4, we plan to go over hiking guidelines, discussing hiking shoes, rules of safe hiking and what to do if lost (Tenderfoot 5). At this meeting, we also need to make sure that everyone knows what to bring. To this end, we will conduct a partial shakedown. Bring the shoes and socks you intend to wear, and items you might need for a safe hike, like sunscreen, bug spray, moleskin, etc..

According to troop policy, electronic equipment (CD players, electronic games, etc.) is not allowed on campouts. We plan to include a non-electric music jam at the campfire along with skits.