Bosca Dubh

The roads at camp aren’t exactly ideal for cross country skis: far from being groomed, they can actually turn out to be a gravelly if you’re not careful. Our guide took us along the summer horse trails, which weren’t bad, but here’s a Scout from another crew trying to negotiate a trail better suited to an ATV than to skis.

The introduction to orienteering was a hit, and the Scouts were pretty good at it, even though we only found two markers and they didn’t quite get the concept that once you’ve identified your mark and set your compass you don’t have to walk in a straight line through the underbrush.

There are several raised platform trails around Camp Tomahawk that let you pass through the swampy areas without disturbing the fragile environment or getting your feet muddy. In the winter the wetlands are a field of white, with only a few stalks of swamp grass poking out of the snow.

At the end of our snowshoe trail we found a reminder of summer: half of the exoskeleton of a large bug of some sort. It will be a few months before these are flying around the woods again!

I love snowshoes, because they can get you out to places that are impossible to visit in the summer. After we strapped on our shoes (the camp provided green Redfeather shoes exactly like my own), we headed out across the pond and scrambled up a hill, thankful for the sharp cleats.

After a cold lunch (Uncrustables and GORP), we hiked up the trail to do a little cross country skiing, and then challenged another crew to a game of broomball. It was a fun game, if not exactly played in-bounds or with close attention to the score.