A Memorable Weekend on the Trail
By Jeff Manring
I had a very memorable Memorial Day weekend. Friday and Saturday was a one-night canoe-camping experience, then Monday we walked in a parade.
The canoe-camping “shakedown” on the Huron River in Milford was to prepare for a big trip coming up June 11-18 to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Seven from my Trail Life Warren Troop MI-0518 (5 Adventurer Trailmen aged 14-17 and 2 adults) will spend a week in Kentucky zip-lining on Day 2 and touring Mammoth Cave on Day 7. The highlight of the week will be on Days 3-6 when we will spend 4 days and 3 nights canoe-camping on the Green River around Mammoth Cave.
Trail Life USA’s vision is to be the premier national character development organization for young men which produces godly and responsible husbands, fathers, and citizens. My two sons and I joined Trail Life in 2014. It’s a great organization that provides opportunities for many adventures like this.
The overnight canoe-camping shakedown on May 27-28 on the Huron River was a great experience that taught many lessons that we do not want to repeat when we go four days and three nights on the Green River in Kentucky. I learned that glass containers are a big no when a food bag fell off a picnic table bench onto concrete and we lost the strawberry jam I brought for PBJ wraps for lunch. The PB wraps worked fine, but we missed the jelly. Next time I will get grape jelly in a plastic jar. Others forgot items like a mess kit or utensils, a swimsuit and towel, and a water bottle. Not having these things on an overnight excursion was minor, but hopefully everyone learned and will check the equipment list to make sure they bring everything they need to Kentucky.
The rain set in as soon as we started paddling Friday around 5:00 p.m. It was a light steady rain that persisted for our 45-minute paddle until we got to our campsite, then the rain got heavy for 10-15 minutes. Thankfully, our campsite had a pavilion, so we had shelter from the rain. The heavy rain held off until we got all our gear under the pavilion. We set up tents under the pavilion, attached the rain fly, and then moved each tent into position before staking down.
We heated water on a backpacking stove that I brought and used for the first time. We added the water to freeze-dried meal packs and enjoyed a nice warm dinner. These meal packs are handy but a pricey at around $9.00 per meal. I don’t think anyone is planning on freeze-dried meals in Kentucky.
Saturday, we expected about two hours of paddling. We beached on a lake we had paddled across, and the boys spent about two hours doing canoe rescues (required for the Canoeing Trail Badge) where the boys had to flip a canoe and rescue it with another canoe. After PB wraps for lunch, we then had to cross the rest of the lake and portage around a dam to get from the lake back onto the Huron River. We wrapped up the paddling, retrieved vehicles, and got back to the meeting location right on time. It was a successful shakedown!
We finished the long holiday weekend by walking in the Sterling Heights Memorial Day Parade. We had three Trail Life troops represented and a few American Heritage Girls troops. Trail Life Troop MI-1776 from Shelby Township lowered the colors to half-staff during the ceremony that preceded the parade. The weather was spectacular! I bright sunny day and steady breeze made the low-80 temps very tolerable. The crowd was large along the 1.5-mile route. It was a pleasure to honor those who gave all for our freedoms in this great nation.
I plan to write again about our time in Kentucky. Until then, I leave you with the Trail Life USA motto… Walk Worthy!!
