November 23-24 - Canoeing / Camping at Cheraw State Park

From Ronnie :

The plan is to go to Cheraw State Park on the morning of Saturday, November 23rd.We will canoe approximately 1 mile to their primitive boat in camping site and stay one night. Camping cost will be $5-$6 per person dependant on group size. It is about an hour away.
http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/cheraw/camping.aspx

http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/cheraw/introduction.aspx

November 8-9 - Meeting, Longhouse

Our next meeting will be Friday the 8th - we are planning to meet and camp Friday night.  We are also planning to make breakfast Saturday morning for any of the Indian Guides who camp with us and to help out with Longhouse by running a branding iron station and making a Dutch oven dessert.

I made some prototype branding irons with various size rod / wire and found that a coat hanger works - that should let the Dads/kids make their own custom irons easily.  To get a good brand, I found it helped to have a block to press the iron into the branded surface - wood worked, but metal would be better.


More details soon.

If you are planning to eat the YMCA meals Saturday and Sunday, please register for Longhouse :
Fall Longhouse Registration

You can save a few bucks by skipping that, but we need a headcount - please shoot me an e-mail if you are planning to attend.

Happy trails -

Scott

September 22 - Volunteering at the Greek Festival

Trailblazers helping at the Greek Festival - 9/22, 3-5pm

Sign up form

The Trailblazers are helping to serve food at the Greek Festival hosted by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. We will be helping on Sunday, September 22 from 3-5pm. Helpers need to be 12 years old as we will be handling hot food. Please use this form to sign up

Please sign up if you are coming via this online form :

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1iwiYWcmqsBzvPDA5Or15zw00sVY4kbCqnMKPh6SAlBw/viewform

September 14th Apple Picking in York

At the Dads meeting we talked about trying a new place - lets go to Windy Hill Orchard in York.  It looks like it is about 2 hours from Lexington, less from Columbia.  While they only have one variety of apple – Stayman Winesap –  they do have donuts and the other regular things.

http://windyhillorchard.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Windy-Hill-Orchard-Cider-Mill/107144012665218

Several of us will be carpooling from Lexington to arrive there at 10:00.  Contact Scott if you are interested in caravanning with us.

August 16-18 Camping near Saluda, NC

Orchard Lakes turned out to be a great campground - it seemed a little pricey at first, but it included a lot - a zip line, rec room (games were free), soccer field, several holes of golf, a pond, canoes, kayaks, etc.  

Pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/103868908476097872378/TrailblazersCampingNearSaludaNC

Trip map :
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=202888110398211134349.0004e412662b82215037f&dg=feature

From Ronnie :

Okay, here is the scoop. We are going to be staying at Orchard Lake Campground in Saluda NC. It is a lot closer than going to Mile High.  Their street address is:

460 Orchard Lake Rd.

Saluda, NC 28773

website:

http://www.orchardlakecampground.com/

The group site was taken so I reserved 3 sites (33,34,35) for Friday and Saturday nights. The cost is $35 per site per night. We'll divide up the cost based on headcount. They said we can come in early Friday for anyone who wants. The current plan is to go tube on the Green River on Saturday dependent on water level. It is not very far to Pisgah if the group would rather go to Sliding Rock. The campground also has lots of stuff to do there. I am going to take some fishing gear as well. I am taking Friday off and plan to head up there early. We may even go do the Gorges Zipline on Friday if anyone else is interested. Scott may go up early Friday and paddle if anyone is interested as well.

I will put a food list together this weekend. I figure everyone will be on their own Friday due to varying arrival times. Saturday night, if no one objects, I am thinking we will all go to Green River BBQ in Saluda for supper. 

July 26-28 Camping on Lake Keowee

Pictures :
https://picasaweb.google.com/103868908476097872378/TrailblazersJuly2013Outing

Plans :
I called the Oconee County parks department to ask about conditions at Chau-Ram park based on a comment from Ronnie earlier - he said a friend had been there a week or so ago and it was flooded.  The nice lady i spoke to said the river had been as high as she had ever seen it and advised against swimming.  Also, the gate locks at 8:30pm - no exceptions, which might be an issue for those of you leaving late.  So... I asked her about their two other parks : http://www.oconeecountry.com/highsouthparks.html 

South Cove County Park

Location : http://goo.gl/maps/a6awO 

88 sites, most of them on the water, closer to town. gate closes at 10:00pm

High Falls County Park

Location : http://goo.gl/maps/sk4p0 

100 sites, 10 on the water (usually taken), great for kids (better swimming area, volley ball, etc)

The weather looks good, so I don't know how much of a rain plan we need...  Could be talked into taking canoes / boats...

From Ronnie's list : 

Dawkins - 2

Broam - 6

Wigley - 3

Villas -4

Himes-3

Madge - 2 pending - didn't assign any food items, bring dessert for Saturday night if you can come?

It looks like we need 3 sites.  We are planning to go up Friday morning and claim as many as they will let us.  Weather looks favorable at this point.  The rivers there have been high, so the wading / swimming / tubing plan will depend on conditions.  I'll plan on bringing some info about area hikes and ask around for other things to do.  

Remember - as always bring your own : snacks and drinks

Menu :

	breakfast	lunch	dinner
Friday	na	na	on your own - we will likely cook in camp
Saturday	pancakes + smokies	sandwiches + chips	bring your own-grillable + something to share - dough boys?
Sunday	breakfast burritos	na	na

Items by meal :

	Saturday Breakfast (14)		Saturday Lunch (16)		Sunday Breakfast (16)
1	pan cake mix	Broam	1 lb ham	Broam	1 pkg tortillas (10)	Broam
2	butter	Broam	bag chips	Broam	bunch bananas	Broam
3	1 lb smokies	Broam	loaf bread	Himes	fruit	Broam
4	paper towels	Broam	1 lb turkey	Himes	shredded mozz	Broam
5	milk	Broam	pkg slice cheese	Villa	1 dz eggs	Himes
6	coffee	Broam	bag chips	Villa	1 dz eggs	Himes
7	syrup	Villa	fruit	Villa	bell peppers	Himes
8	1 lb smokies	Villa	loaf bread	Wigley	onions	Himes
9	fruit	Villa	condiments	Wigley	1 pkg tortillas (10)	Villa
10	plastic utensils	Villa	pkg cookies	Wigley	shredded cheddar	Villa
11	cups (50)	Villa			salsa	Villa
12	1 lb smokies	Wigley			1 lb sausage	Villa
13	bunch bananas	Wigley			1 pkg tortillas (10)	Wigley
14	paper plates 50	Wigley			1 lb sausage	Wigley
15	orange juice	Wigley

May 10-11 - Canoeing for Kids Raft-a-Rama

We camped at Canoeing for Kids HQ Friday night then went rafting as part of their fund raiser on Saturday ( http://www.canoeingforkids.org )

Pictures : https://picasaweb.google.com/103868908476097872378/CanoeingForKidsRaftARama2013

April 13-14 Canoeing, Camping on the Upper Saluda

Pictures :
https://picasaweb.google.com/103868908476097872378/TrailblazersOnTheUpperSaluda

Distance :

I didn't read carefully, so, uh, oops, but the distance from the put-in to the campground is further than I reported earlier - it's about 13 miles not 6-7.  I don't think this will be a problem if we can get  started even as late as 3:00  we will still have 5 hours till sunset (8:00).  There is rain in the forecast Friday so I think we will have very favorable water levels.

Locations :

Here is a map showing the route and camping -

http://goo.gl/maps/8C7oA 

Plan :

Due to events scheduled Sunday, the distance we will paddle Saturday, and to keep things simple, let's just paddle to the campground on Saturday and not paddle on to the Kempson's Bridge landing Sunday. We won't need to carry camping gear in the canoes.

As noted, the Broams have soccer till about noon Saturday.  If we can get somebody else to pull the canoe trailer to the and maybe get some things prepositioned, we can get a timely start.

Meals :

We'll need a dinner Saturday and breakfast Sunday.  Due to the timing of things on Saturday, it would be good to pack a heavy snack for in the canoes.

March 23 - Stronghold Climbing, Historical Walking Tour

A group did a walking tour with Palmetto Outdoor Center (http://palmettooutdoor.com/) while another climbed at Stronghold.

February 9 - Ski Trip to Wolf Ridge

25, including moms, sibs, and guests, went skiing at Wolf Ridge Saturday.