Ice Fishing Campout

[509-T203-KG]

Boy Scouts Ice Fishing Campout.
Gillette Lake - February 21-23, 2020.
Northeastern Washington State.
25 miles South of Canada, 23 miles West of the Washington-Idaho border.

22 Scouts ages 10-16, and 5 Scoutmasters arrived at the boat launch at 8:00 pm Friday night (after getting an SUV and a truck unstuck from the snow). Recent intel told us the ice was about 15” thick and the decision was made to set up camp on the lake. I found a perfect spot just on-shore to hang my REI Quarter Dome Air hammock.

On the first night, I didn’t pitch a tarp. If I know there won’t be rain or snow, my preference is to go tarp-less and make up for the temperature loss with clothing and gear.

The temperature reached a low of 17°F according to my Accurite thermometer. Wind was not a factor.

Clothing: light base layers, heavy merino wool socks, fleece pants, light fleece quarter-zip top, lightweight down hoody, balaclava, merino wool beanie.

Gear: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm air pad (5.7 r-value), piece of Reflectix laid across under pad to keep elbows/arms off the sides of the hammock, Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy (39° comfort, 29° limit), Costco down throw laid over top, puffy jacket laid over feet.

In the morning there was only slight condensation in the area around my mouth. I slept well and stayed warm. The same couldn’t be said for many others. Seems most of the Scouts were quite cold. Several were struggling in the morning, especially with their extremities. We got them warmed up and taken care of.

After breakfast we spent the rest of the day out on the ice fishing. Despite fruitful reports from the previous weekend, the fishing wasn’t very good for us. Our group only caught 7 fish total. 6 rainbow trout & 1 perch.

The boys cooked their fish for dinner, we had a bonfire on the ice, then turned in for bed. There was snow in the forecast so I pitched my tarp. It only got down to 25° the second night. I used the same clothing and gear, and was borderline too warm at times.

In the morning there was only a light dusting of snow. We had breakfast, packed up and headed home. Despite some cold, painful and difficult moments, the Scouts persevered and all ended up having a great time.










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[509-T203-KG]

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[509-T203-KG]

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[Gregori]

Totally Awesome and Excellent Trip Report!!

The pictures were so good I felt I was almost there.

Of course I love winter camping, so maybe that has influenced my perspective.

Hope everyone enjoyed themselves and is planning on going back for more in the future.


G

[Shug]

This is such a right goodie~~~
Those boys are fortunate and look like fish lovers.
Whoooooo Buddy)))))
Shug

[Clisbyclark]

Awesome! Ice fishing is one of my bucket list items for sure.

[slugbait]

Thanks for sharing- and thanks for your service to Scouting.

[509-T203-KG]

Totally Awesome and Excellent Trip Report!!

The pictures were so good I felt I was almost there.

Of course I love winter camping, so maybe that has influenced my perspective.

Hope everyone enjoyed themselves and is planning on going back for more in the future.

G

Thanks for the kind words! I know everyone that went already wants to do it again next year.

This is such a right goodie~~~
Those boys are fortunate and look like fish lovers.
Whoooooo Buddy)))))
Shug

Whoooooo Buddy!

Awesome! Ice fishing is one of my bucket list items for sure.

I loved fishing as a kid, but it didn’t translate to my adult life. I love the excuse to get outdoors, maybe take a nap (the only picture I shared of me is of my son & I both asleep, lol), but I could do with or without the actual fishing. Definitely a cool experience and worth doing. There was a gentleman there helping us who spends all winter ice fishing practically every day!

Thanks for sharing- and thanks for your service to Scouting.

Thanks, slug!


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