Tent Camping Addict - AF Baker: Natural Bridge & Red River Gorge

Troop 215 October Outing - October 21 to 23, 2016

Location - Natural Bridge for younger scouts, and Red River Gorge Backpack Camping for older scouts.

Total Mileage - 145 miles round trip from Georgetown KY and return. Roughly the same distance as going to Camp McKee from Frankfort.

Weather - Arrival Friday at 8 PM, temperature 50 degrees. Woke up 6:15 AM Saturday, temperature 41 degrees. Hiking Saturday morning, temperature 46 to 55. Bed Saturday night 11 PM, temperature 43. Departure Sunday morning 9:30 PM, temperature 46. (temperature given by weather underground website). NO RAIN!

Clothing - Shorts. Hiking Socks. Thermal undershirt, Flannel Shirt, Fleece jacket overnight. Sock cap and neck warmer

Shoes - Keen Sandals in the campsite. Hiking boots while hiking.

Tent - I slept in my Slumberjack Trail Tent 4. Super easy to put up, and it's a double layer tent. Very sturdy!

Sleeping Bag - Teton 0 Sleeping bag. My favorite bag! I always look forward to cold camping so I can use this bag!

Main Activity - Hiking Saturday morning. We hiked from the Whittleton Campground where we camped to the top of Natural Bridge. We went around past the bridge to the place that was close to Lovers Leap, but we didn't continue. We then hiked back to the campsite. We hiked 5 miles.

Upon arrival back to the campsite, we had lunch. After lunch, we rested for a while, and then a few of the older scouts taught Scout Skills to the younger Scouts.

We started a fire in the campsite around 5 PM, and kept the fire going until the other Scoutleader and I went to bed around 11 PM.

The older scouts went backpack camping at Red River Gorge, which was only about 15 miles away from Natural Bridge. My two sons were in this group. I was originally scheduled to hike with them, but I had to back out since another leader backed out of the Natural Bridge campout because of work (caused by Hurricane Matthew). For that reason I switched groups.

Extra Gear - I really only had one piece of extra gear. I had purchased a neck warmer a week or so before the campout. I used it for the first time, other than testing it at the house, during this campout. I really like it! I kept it on my neck the entire time.

I kept wool socks in my tent to change into at night. That way I didn't sleep with cold feet. On Sunday morning, I wore the wool socks home.

Food -

Friday night cracker barrel was skipped due to the fact that the scouts asked to go to bed around 9:30. It was awesome!

Saturday morning I cooked scrambled eggs, link sausage, toasted bagels with cream cheese, and I had instant Starbucks coffee.

Saturday lunch, I cooked sausage, South Western Flavored Chicken, and Refried Beans in once skillet. When it was cooked fully, I wrapped the mixture in a tortilla shell. It was good.

Saturday supper was cooked over campfire. It was bratwurst, sauerkraut, and pre cooked cheese broccoli that we cooked in foil packs. It was really good!

Sunday monring - We at the rest of the bagels and cream cheese that we didn't eat for breakfast the morning before.

It was a good eating weekend. There were only two adults, and we split the cost of the food by buying what we wanted to eat. I took breakfast and lunch, and Mark, the other scout leader, brought supper and snacks.

Nights Camping - 2.

Next Campout - Troop 215 will be visiting the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge Tennessee on Saturday November 19 after camping at BSA Camp Pellissippi on Norris Lake. We will visit the Lost Sea Caves and camp in the cave on Saturday evening. I will only get 1 night out of this campout since I have a board meeting Saturday morning, November 19. I will then drive to Tennessee to join my troop at Lost Sea Caves in Sweetwater Tennessee.

Total Camping nights in 2016 - 21 nights so far this year.