Pathfinder/Ranger Fall Camp

On the weekend of September 20th to 22nd, the 1st Caledonia Pathfinders, 1st Caledonia Rangers, and 1st Kerwood Pathfinders/Rangers camped at Camp Orenda, near London ... in the rain! We were fortunate in that the rain cleared out during Saturday morning and we were able to get in lots of outdoor activities during the day and early evening.

Friday night started with getting the tents set up and equipment put away. Fortunately, this was done before the rain began. We had a facilitator join us about 8pm and had planned to go out on the Low Challenge Course, but couldn't due to the rain. Instead, we played team-building games and made beaded critters.

Saturday started out damp and overcast, but after breakfast the sun came out. The Rangers went off on a geo-caching adventure around the camp while the Pathfinders stayed on site. After lunch cooked in pie irons, the Rangers headed off on their own to work on the Camp Orenda Challenge and the Pathfinders and Guiders went on a hike around the camp property, including sampling wild grapes and berries!

Once everyone was back on the site, we started preparing for dinner. The menu was chicken-in-a-bucket, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, caesar salad and garlic bread - with all cooking done on open fires. We had 3 fires going and everyone pitched in to get all of the food prepared.

After clean-up was finished, we headed to the Low Challenge Course for some team-building activities. The girls worked together to get a tire onto and off poles of two heights, have half the group move past the other half on a beam, guide each person over a narrow beam course, and have the entire group passed through a suspended tire.

Sunday was filled with packing up gear and supplies, taking down tents and cleaning up the site before parents arrived for pickup. After camp, each participant received a jar of wild grape jelly made from grapes at the camp by Miriam, the Guider with the 1st Kerwood Pathfinders/Rangers.