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Description: Owasippe Scout Camp is the oldest continuously operating scout camp in the United States. At one time it was made up of about 12,000 acres. Parts of the camp have been sold off taking the size of the camp down to about 4,800 acres. Owasippe is a great scout camp with a great experience for all scouts. In addition to a normal summer camp they offer high adventure programs. The camp is a great place to cross country ski because it is close to Lake Michigan and always has a lot of snow in the winter.

Directions: North of Muskegon, Michigan. Take Russell Road, also known as county highway B23 North of highway 31 just North of Muskegon.

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Description: Really it was only 8.8 miles or so over three days. 2.4 the first day, 4 miles the second and 2.4 the third. Easy right? Well it was on Mt. Washington so you have to be a pretty special 70 year old to tough this trail out. Hell you have to be a pretty fit any year old to do this trip in my opinion.

Day one
We started out in Philadelphia and flew up to Manchester. I love Southwest Air by the way. We rented a car and drove up to Pinkam Notch. We were on the trail by 1:45 after getting our shelter permits and buying some gas from the store at the visitors center.

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The reason for this hike was to test out cold weather gear which we try to do each year since we are gear junkies and buy new stuff each year it seems and have another trip to Argentina next month which will require some cold weather gear. Well this year our plans did not work out. The temps never fell below freezing, unless maybe you count the wind chill on the top.

Back to day one
We made Hermit lake in 2.5 hours and checked in with the care taker. We had the place to our selves so we took shelter number 6 right near the winter bathrooms. We tried to get this shelter last year when B and I did this trip but it was occupied. We made ourselves at home by unpacking all our stuff and hanging things on the many nails that seemed to be every place. Who hikes with nails by the way, I doubt the care taker is pounding all these in, in his spare time. We had dinner and a few shots of scotch and before we knew it, it was dark and we went to hit the sack. We all slept very well and did not get woke up by any mice unlike last year. That was nice.

Day two
Up at the first sign of light. Hell sleeping for about 11 hours is tough so we were happy to get up. We had breakfast and headed up to the top via Tuckerman's Ravine. The weather was in the 40s and misty. Not much wind till we got near the top, then the trusty Kestrel said the winds were 18-22 MPH. This year was nice since there was no snow, so you could see how big the rocks were you had to step over. We made it to the top in 3 hours. The top was socked in and drizzly. We didn't even bother with a summit photo. We ate and hung out a little. Then out of the mist came the fox. He/she was pretty cool, looking for handouts we assumed. We didn't have anything for it so it only came to within 25 feet or so. I think if we would have had something to feed it, it might have walked up to us like a pet dog. Well we packed up and headed back down. This time heading over and down the Lions Head trail. Nice walk down other than the few really interesting spots that B and I slide down last year. The winds at the lookout were really blowing they reached 36 MPH. We were back in the shelter by about 3:30. All of us were tired and damp from the long day. We cooked dinner and had some more scotch and yup hit the sack by 6:30. Winter hiking and no camp fire is kind of a drag.

Day three
Yeah we were waiting for day light to arrive. I do know that the rain overnight was pretty impressive and the shelters are water tight. It rained all night and I was thinking how miserable the hike out would be in the rain. But, day light came and the sky was blue. As I was heating water for the oatmeal I could see the red sky on the horizon. I started thinking back to the old red sky in the morning sailors take warning? saying, and knew this wouldn't last. We break camp by 7 and headed back down Tuckerman's. We weren't fast enough though, it started raining on us about 15 minutes from the visitors center. We were happy to see the car and head back to the airport. We ended the day in my back yard cooking hot dogs on the fire and telling Paul about the trip.

Over all we had a great trip no one got hurt and the adventure was successful. It was a good warm up for our 18 day hike in Argentina next month. We really didn't get to test the gear to it's limits but the boots we will use for our high altitude hikes are going to work well and are very comfortable. I still love SmartWool base layers and SmartWool socks.

Eggs
www.erickpanger.com

Directions: Mt. Washington State Park is on route 16, west of interstate 93. To get there take route 16 South from Gorham about 8 miles and turn right onto Mount Washington Rd. From interstate 93 take route 3 to route 115 at Carrol, New Hampshire. Turn right on route 2 at the end of 115 and follow 2 to Gorham.

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Description: This is a log of a loop we did that starts and ends at the Oak Camp. The trail is very sandy and goes through woods and around game fields. We followed the red and yellow trail East from camp. The trail turns South and wanders for a ways before heading back West. When you start back West the yellow trail will continue South and you will be on the red trail. When you meet up with the blue trail take it to the North. After passing a game field you will join back up with the red trail. You can follow the red trail all the way back to camp, but when we hit the road we took it back North to camp as it was getting late. There are many other options for extending or shortening this trip, but, other than the sandy trails it is an easy walk.

Directions: Sand Ridge State Forest is a few miles North and West of Forest City and Southwest of Pekin, Il near the Illinois River.

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Description: We backpacked from the Pine Hills nature preserve to the group campground in Shades state park. We started at the Pine Hills parking lot on route 234 on the East side of Shades. We hiked South on the road a short distance and picked up trail 10 going into the woods. The trail wanders through the woods, then out along the edge of the woods. You will come out near the Dells picnic shelter. Continue on past the shelter to a small parking area near the pond. Follow the trail around the pond and up the hill. There will be a sign for trail nine and the group campground going off to the left. Follow trail nine a quarter mile or so to the campground.

Directions: From highway 41 take 234 East. Follow this road and the signs about 14 miles. Watch the roads they are very winding near the park.

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Description: This is a really detailed .GPX file of Janes Island State Park in Maryland. The park is on Chesapeake Bay, on the East side South of DC. Use this file to explore the trails of Janes Island State Park.

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