Cubs Backwoods Day

Finally the weather was on our side as 89th Bremore Cubs gathered in the carpark at the Turvey Allotments for our 1st full Backwoods Cooking Day. We have done some small bits and pieces over the winter months and it was the time to put it into practice.

On the Tuesday night, in their sixer groups, Cubs planned out what they wanted to cook. This was organised by them. Scouters helpfully suggested an item here or there but they were confident in their own planning abilities.

So there we were in the glorious spring sunshine ready for our day. Everyone was given a item to carry down to the site. Many hands make light work and all that. It's about a 20 minute walk from the carpark to the fire pit but we all got there in one piece.

Once onsite cubs and Scouters began the prep work. Out into the woods we went collecting kindling and firewood. We had 4 teams around the fire pit and 2 cooking using half barrels. Getting a fire started is not as easy as it looks, keeping it going is even harder. Each team had to assign a team member to watch the fire and top it up if required. Other members began to prep the food they had brought with them.

Oh there was so much smoke. It's a tricky business to gauge where to stand so you don't get blinded by the smoke. Many a cub had streaming eyes and we saw ingenious ways they thought up to protect themselves. Most agreed that a decent pair of swimming goggles would be a must on a similar activity. Slowly cooking took shape. Some group's food choices worked better then others. I seemed to see a lot of peppers, strawberries and marshmallows! Notable dishes included veggie skewers, beans on toast, pasta and chicken, minute steaks on garlic ciabattas ( the Scouters really went all out) and an amazing desert of Belgian waffles, whipped cream strawberries topped with melted chocolate!

The thing about good weather is that the day just flys in and before we knew it it was time to clean up. One of our guiding principles in Scouting is "Leave No Trace". Scouters and Cubs scoured the site to make sure all the fires were put out properly and all rubbish was taken back with us. We aim to leave all sites as we find them.

Back up the track to the carpark. On our way we met a troop of Beaver and Cub scouts from Donabate and further up the track a troop from Malahide. It was a wonderful moment as each group passed each other out in the sunshine. Not much was said, a quick hello, "isn't the weather fab?" , "what group are you with?" But there was an understanding. Scouters and Cubs knew it. We are all scouts, out learning new skills, refining old ones, working on team building and having so much fun. The only difference was the colour of our neckers.

Finally as we reached the end of the track parents were waiting to collect and take home a muddier, smokier and tired Cub.

The Cub Team hope everyone had as good a day as we did. Getting outdoors builds and cements us as a group and we are now looking forward to our next 2 activities in the coming weeks.