Winter Camping Trip

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Wow, a winter time camping really sounds good , but it turned out to be a miserable experience. Here’s the story.

 

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Winter Camping Trip

 

When I was 11 years old in Scout Troop 77 in Phillips, Texas, our troop took a winter overnight camping trip down to a scenic area down on the Canadian River. The Canadian River was mostly sand in the area north of Phillips unless it rained. The area was full of salt cedar and mesquite bushes, but did have some unusual red clay hills and natural formations that were fun for boys to play on.

Salt Cedars and red clay covered with sand similar to the area we camped in. 

 

 

 

It was early February when we decided to take our trip with a temperature of 25 degrees F in the day and 15 degrees F at night. We left on a Saturday morning and had a good time romping the hills and formations all day. Along about sundown, I was getting cold so I stayed by the mesquite fire pit to keep warm. Some of the older guys in the troop had climbed to the top of a red clay formation about 40 feet tall overlooking the main path below. We had this new kid in the troop that we called Gracie that happened to be walking down the path below, and the guys on the hill decided to pee on him from the top of the hill. Of course, this made Gracie fighting mad and he went straight to the Troop Leader, Paul Warner, and told him what they had done. He literally exploded and called all the troop in and unloaded on them, telling them if they ever even thought of pissing on someone again, they were booted from the Troop. When things calmed down a little, I crawled in my sleeping bag and tried to go to sleep.

 

This photo represents how Gracie must have felt when the pee rained down on him.

 

 

 

It was so cold that I just laid there and shivered. I brought an old sleeping bag that my mother had sewed an army blanket inside that was probably rated for a minimum temperature of 50 degrees F. I got up and got some red clay rocks and put them in the coals and heated them up. Then I wrapped them in my dirty jeans and put them in my sleeping bag and was able to go to sleep. I slept for about three hours and woke up shivering again and suffered until it was time to get up.

 

 

 

Our Troop went on a few more winter camping trips, but I never went again. Later, in life I learned that it’s just a matter of getting a sleeping bag that’s rated below the temperatures you are experiencing. ( If you can afford them)

 

This sleeping bag rated for -15 degrees F costs $225 on today’s market. Stay home in the winter.

 

 

Thanks for reading Winter Camping Trip,
Bill