Camp Arnes, part one

Back from camp. There's so much to say but I'll start with my favorite.

Back in 1987 I worked at Camp Arnes as a camp counseller. One of the programs they ran at the time was called "Outpost" where a counseller or two were taken out into the bush for 5 days with a number of hardy campers to experience camping in a more authentic style. We brought in enough food to cook for ourselves for the duration, and everything was cooked over an open fire which we ourselves constructed using tinder, kindling , and fuel which was scrounged from the surrounding woods. In '87 there was some extreme summer weather, with temps rising above 35 degrees. It was so hot that we were unable to use the lake to cool off in since the algae really loved the hot, hot weather. You guessed it- these were the circumstances within which me and a couple of miserable kids tried to survive 5 days in the bush. Imagine the idea of having to COOK over a fire in weather like that!

Fast forward to February,2006 and two bus fulls of grade 6 kids travel up to Camp Arnes. Our winter this year has been unusually balmy- warm enough for daily walks even with pre-schoolers. About 3 minutes before the scheduled trip to Arnes, we were hit with a cold front which caused the temperatures to plummet to below record temps. When we arrived at camp, it was minus 32, and minus 44 when you calculate in the windchill. It was SO COLD!!! As we received the tour, some kids had to be taken indoors because they were unabashedly crying from the pain of freezing feet and faces. We all emptied our duffel bags and donned every scarf, undie, sock, sweater, and pair of pants that we could. Then it was off to outdoor activities.

On the agenda? Building a fire in the bush, using birch bark, tinder, kindling, and fuel found in the surrounding woods. This time, the idea of slipping off my double pair of mitts to snap the tinder into burning size filled me with dread. Wrapping bannock dough around sticks with bare hands made me whimper like a wee baby. One of the boys in our group removed his boots and two pair of wool socks beside the fire to warm up his toes before they succombed to frostbite. I selflessly sacrificed one of my four scarfs to a girl whose cheeks were turning from deep ruby to spotty white.

All this in the very same woods where I nearly grew chaffed, sweaty, black-flied boils when I built fires to cook Camp Arnes food some 19 years ago.

Only on the Canadian prairies.