Having a troop summer camp used to be a standard practice for Scouting.  Over the last few years our troop has been having 5 camps spread through the scouting year with a three day camp in June.  This year we have decided to trim back one of our regular camps to allow for a week long camp at the start of summer….

When: Saturday June 29 to Saturday July 06

Where: Haliburton Scout Reserve:

Haliburton Scout Reserve (HSR) is one of the largest semi-wilderness Scouts Canada camps in Ontario with almost 5000 acres of forest and lakes. With most camp sites only accessible by boat, HSR offers a unique camping environment.

The camp has an on-site doctor, nurse and medical facilities that are open 24-hours, a grocery store and a souvenir shop.

Belonging to Scouts Canada, Greater Toronto Council,  HSR is located just south of Algonquin park.

What:  HSR offers a variety of fun and adventurous activities to enjoy including: canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing, snorkeling, mountain biking and archery & more with program delivery staff on-site.

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Cost:  Approximately $400-500 for the week depending on cost of transport to & from the site

We have had our annual Winter Camp for Winter 2013 Jan 25-27

Like the previous couple of years we held this camp at the beautiful facilities at Gracefield.  We headed out in the morning of January 25 and were setting up tents and piling snow for Quinzees by noon.
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Saturday morning was beautiful and after a satisfying boiling-bag meal we excavated our Quinzees.  In the afternoon we rolled across the lake..Well some of us anyways!
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In the evening we had some stories around the campfire and a night hike under the starry sky, before sleeping snug in our Quinzees

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Here are some more pictures (click to advance)

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On Sat., Feb.09 2013 the 3rd Ottawa Scouts entered  in the annual Heritage Area Klondike Derby which took place at Wakefield, QC this year.

This event in it’s 49th year, with over 20 challenges ranging from compass and fire skills to physical challenges like the infamous gully crossing demands a high level of teamwork and cooperation.

We are proud to say that our team of Scouts, a mix of first, second & third year scouts competing as “cougar patrol”  won FIRST PLACE in their category for the event!  Indeed they finished with 186 points, just half a point back of the overall trophy winners.  Congratulations Scouts on a great effort and fantastic result.

Go 3rd Ottawa!

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The 3rd Ottawa Scouts took advantage of the season to make a trip to the Dominion Arboretum, with a hike to Hog’s Back falls and Vincent Massey Park.

Established in the late 1800’s the arboretum is home to many different varieties of both native and non-native species.  An ideal spot for Scouts to work on their tree Identification Skills.  If you ever want to know what trees are where in the arboretum,  some meticulous soul has mapped the locations of all the different trees!  After some tree-ID we worked on our compass skills, as well as estimating distances.

After a quick lunch we headed over Hartwell’s lock and up the Rideau canal to Hog’s Back Falls

We ended the day with a hike down through Vincent Massey park to catch the O-train at Confederation station, a quick train and bus connection to Dominion station, and a hike back to the church, still mostly dry!

Here are some more pictures (Click to Advance)

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We have had our first camp of Fall 2012…

Survival Camp at Lac Philippe.  We headed out in the evening of September 28th, and were setting up tents in the twilight and under an amazing moon.

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Saturday morning was beautiful and after a satisfying feed on Scout real-deal pancakes with sausages and maple syrup we set out for a hike to the Lusk Caves.

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After testing the subterranean waters…still pretty chilly! we hiked back to our campsite to work on survival shelters.  Saturday evening saw a pre-emtive takedown of out tents while they were still dry,  investiture of 9 new youth and a Scouter in our troop, some songs around the campfire & a mug-up before rolling into our survival shelters with some warm rocks.

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To quote a scout on Sunday morning (after a few overnight showers) “it would have been sort of disappointing if it hadn’t rained”  and to quote another  “The best camp sleep ever”.

We finished up with breaking camp, and working on knife, axe & saw permits

Here are some more pictures (Click to advance):

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We have had our final camp of Spring 2012…

Canoe Camp at Bon Echo Park.  We headed out in the evening of June 15th, and came back home on Monday June 18.

On the first day we took advantage of the calm weather to tour  Mazinaw rock by land & by sea.  The balance of the day was spent tootling around Mazinaw Lake & chilling on the beach.

This was followed up with a day on Joeperry lake, in a bit more wind and waves.  We practiced canoe rescue, had spider dogs on the beach and toured Pearson lake as well.

We finished up with breaking camp, and going for an overland hike to the primo swimming spot we visited on Day one.

Here are some pictures (Click to advance)::

Day One
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Day Two
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Day 3
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On Friday May 11, we camped  in Fitzroy Harbor Provincial Park – about
50 Km west of Ottawa. On Saturday May 12th, we rode our bikes back to Ottawa, ending up at the municipal campground on Corkstown Road in the Greenbelt. We camped there overnight.  On Sunday after a Mother’s Day breakfast of “Real Deal” Scout pancakes, we rode the remainder of the way back to the church – arriving there after lunch (Camping tacos at Britannia Beach)

For the full photo montage, see the Scouts Camping Pics page

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