The High adventure fun just continues.  We have entered the lottery for the 2018 OKPIK season.  It’s been a few years since we’ve been there and it’s time to go back.  People may not understand winter camping.

The best explaination of winter camping, is the goal is not to just survive, but thrive!

We should find out in about a month, if we have a crew going.

I finally have photos from our 2013 OKPIK added to the galleries at the bottom of the page. It was a great time as you can hopefully tell from the pictures. Even though it was REALLY cold, sub-zero most of the time, the trip was great. They make sure you have the proper gear before you go out. With the correct gear, you can handle any temperature.

14 adults and scouts from Troop 55 headed north of Ely, Mn for our OKPIK trip. It’s a long trip up north, about 8 hours. The weather was good for the start, but north of Hinckley, it started to snow and blow. The last 100 miles were on bad roads. Had a nice stop in Ely, Mn. Lots of great outfitter shops and more. We stopped for supperat Sir G’s for great pizza, and then headed north to Northern Tier.
We had a very cold weekend at Northern Tier. Highs were 5 above at best, one day the high was -5. Wind chills put it 20 below or less. As long as you have the right gear, you will stay warm. They do a great job of making sure everyone has the appropriate gear before you go out. Any gear you are lacking, they can supply.

Those out on the ice stayed warm in some of the largest quinzees I’ve ever seen. Most were 6 feet tall and 10-12 feet i diameter. Plenty of room inside. They had lots of snow up there to use to build. One group even built the first Quinzee duplex! Complete with connecting tunnel.
The musher camp was awesome! 2 days spent working with the dogs and the entire time spent dog sledding. It’s a lot more wor than it looks, but was a great time! I’d do it again without even thinking about it. Our interpreters were great to work with.
For those who haven’t been up there for a while, they have a new building in the last 2 years. The dining hall is now down by the equipment building. Really nice inside. They also have a new trading post there. About 3 times larger than the old one and has even more stuff!
Photos to be posted soon . . .

Yes, another High Adventure is just over the horizon. Our troop will be at OKPIK over Martin Luther King weekend. We have 2 crews going over the long weekend. After several years of trying, we have a Musher trek. All dogs, all the time for 3 days – should be a great time! Our other crew will be a normal trek out to the ice for 2 nights. Having done this 3 other times, it is a great trip.
Winter camping has its own set of challenges, but is really fun.

An expedition to OKPIK takes a lot of hard work and planning.  While we have meetings to try and get information out to everyone and answer questions; sometimes it doesn’t work.  My hope is that this area will be a resource for questions, concerns, issues or just general discussion about previous/current/or future treks.