The idea of a weekend outing for those in the Md. area was suggested a while back, and it sounded like a good one for those close enough to make it. How about an "Equipped weekend" for those in the Midwest? There are a few of us in the Illinois area, how many would like to plan a Saturday get-together and where might you have in mind for a rallying point? As for myself, being in LaSalle county, Starved Rock state park or Mathiasen park come to mind. There's plenty of camping/lodging facilities in the area, and there's other local interest stuff for friends/family. Anybody interested???

Oddly enough I was idly kicking that sort of thing around in my mind yesterday... I'm in Rock Island County. Time is the problem for me, but let's kick it around anyway.

For a simple friendly get-together, nearly any state park would be OK. For anything more primative, I think private land or a Boy Scout reservation offers better opportunities. IIRC, we have a couple of regulars south of me, but most of us are clustered in the northern parts of the state - AFAIK, I'm the farthest West in IL.

Understand, while I think this is a cool idea, I'm booked one way or another most weekends, so I may not be able to participate personally.

WRT Scout Camps: There are 3 Scout Camps in this part of the state that I know of - ours (Loud Thunder), Ingersol (entrance actually in my council, but camp is WD Boyce's - about 45 min West of Peoria), and Canyon Camp (West of Rockford). Ingersol is probably the largest and offers the most primative opportunites AFAIK. I haven't been to Caynon Camp but I think Willie Vannerson has visited there. My local camp is probably too far to be a convenient drive for most folks, but it is available and has common boundaries with a 2,000+ acre county forest preserve (same name) with a decently sized lake and Mississippi River frontage on one side (the fp, not our camp).

So - you started this - what do you have in mind?

Tom

Time frame-wise, my weekends are pretty much open right now. Weather-wise, we'd probably be best to look at May or June, if we need more time to get it together, September would probably be our best bet.
As far as location goes, if anybody's got access to private land, I'm all ears. If we're going to go the State Park route, I'm still open to suggestion. If it's going to happen in my area, I'd be happy to do the leg-work for info on campgrounds/motels/whatever, and also look into neccesary permits and such.
If we can get enough interested parties, this is something I'd really like to see us put together, and with enough interest, I've already got some places in mind to talk to about group discounts for lodging. Just let me know who, where and when.

Troy

Troy,

I'm taking the day off tomorrow to take the scout Troop and Crew to Mississippi Palisades for a long weekend. Park's not very open this time of year <grumble> - we're gonna be denied permission to use the hike-in camp areas and get stuck in a car campsite close to the gate - pet peeve of mine with that State Park, but otherwise should be a great weekend. Anyway, I probably won't check back here until Sunday late PM at the earliest

Other than getting a bunch of us together (good enough), do you have anything particular in mind?

Maybe Ted (?Vermillion County?) yak a bit about SAR? A group-built expedient shelter? Gear gazing? True stories "There I was, knee deep in grenade pins..."? Purely social? It's your idea and I'm NOT trying to over organize it or anything - maybe I'm not tracking right on this...

The other folks in the region need to chime in one way or another...

Regards,

Tom

Ditto on everybody chiming in, I hadn't given a lot of thought yet as how to structure it, the idea of a get-together just hit me and I thought I'd put it before the group, so far, I'd just envisioned a social get together to put some faces with the names, shake some hands, and share a few ideas face to face, but I'm open to suggestions, anybody else interested???
As far as that goes, we don't have to limit it to those close by, come one, come all, if you're willing to travel.

Hi all.

As for me, I am interested in getting together. I am feeling a bit like a poser for not having used my camping equipment but once last year. My weekends are pretty booked as well. I work one out of every 3, and honestly the fall is much better for me than summer. Late spring could be worked out though. Getting married in early August, so that is out.

Thanks for the reply, so far there have only been a few members to show interest. I had suggested some time in the Fall hoping that it would give us enough time to coordinate dates/times/etc. Let's keep this going and maybe by then we can get a decent sized group together <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Troy