In 2017 word was getting around about what an awesome thing we were doing at the 32nd, and all of Heritage Area decided to join us on our bike camp. Unfortunately it ended up being cancelled due to the extreme flooding we were experiencing that spring, but this year Heritage decided to give it another go - and it was a huge success!
On Saturday we met at 11 am behind Tunney's Pasture where the bike path meets the parking lot. By 11:30 we had all the logistics sorted out and were on our way. This time around we were not able to be completely self-sufficient because we had a lot more Scouts and were only able to muster up 3 bike trailers. With 18 Scouts and 7 leaders there was just no way all the gear would fit so we sent some tents and some group gear in a car to meet us there. But Scouts were responsible for transporting their own gear and food - either in panniers or in a backpack.
The drive out was slow and a bit tedious, with a lot of stops as Scouts got their gear sorted out and have adjustments made. There were a few mechanical issues with bikes as well. Add to that a nice stop for lunch at Andrew Hayden Park, and it took us about 3 hours to get to our destination. It was mostly a pretty leisurely bike ride except for that last couple of kilometers up the Kanata hill.
We arrived to find that space was pretty tight at the campground - had we been running this camp ourselves we would have booked 3 campsites but Heritage only had 2 for us. But we adapted and crammed everyone in, and once we were settled it was OK. The Scouts got their tents pitched and then went off to explore the campground on foot and on their bikes, before coming back an hour or so later to start on their supper. The campground is actually pretty nice and if it were not for the constant hum of the nearby highway you would never guess you were in the middle of the city.
As with all of our recent camps the Scouts opted to do their own food on this one. Some patrols decided to each bring their own food so there were no shared meals, others decided to do all shared meals for the patrol, and others still did a combination of the two. Our Thursday night meeting before camp was at the Superstore where Scouters tried to guide Scouts to better choices, with varying degrees of success. But in the end we figured that given we were still in the middle of the city there was no great danger in letting them make poor food choices, and it was better to have them learn a lesson than to make decisions for them. Most Scouts made pretty reasonable choices with only 1 or 2 exceptions.
After supper Scouts did more exploring until we all got together to fire our rockets. Heritage provided a rocket to each troop, which they assembled earlier in the day. We were the first to shoot off ours which ended up being unfortunate because that's when we discovered the wind was much stronger further up than it was on the ground. Our rocket flew pretty high but the wind then caught it and carried it off pretty far into the distance. After that we did some adjustments on the launch pad to launch the rockets into the wind, and as we fine-tuned the direction we were able to recover most of the subsequent ones.
Heritage provided a "mug up" of hot chocolate, and those Scouts who brought campfire treats prepared them over our pseudo-campfire. There was a fire ban on but we planned ahead and brought a large bag of BBQ briquettes, which do not count as an open fire. So we had a pretty decent campfire experience and watched as the other troops placed flashlights under a piles of sticks to make their best effort at simulating one.
By 10:00 Scouts were in bed, and shortly thereafter all the Scouters were as well.
The first Scouts were up around 6, but some remained in bed until almost 8:00 am. Some were very efficient at preparing their breakfast and cleaning up afterwards, while others were not so much. But everyone was done and mostly packed up by the time of the Heritage closing ceremony at 10:00am. After that we did a final sweep of our campsites to ensure that no garbage was left behind, and shortly after 11:00 we were on our way back home. I can assure you that the big Kanata hill was a lot more fun going down than it was going up the day before when many Scouts had to walk the last kilometer to the campground!
We were much quicker getting home and were there in less than 2 hours. This was in part due to the fact that we stopped at Britannia Beach for lunch but Scouts voted unanimously to just continue on to home.
It was a great camp with no major incidents, and lots of fun!
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