Winter Canoeing at HoneyRock

By Lauren Welsh, former GPA

Is any one ready to turn off the computer and go out into the cold to experience God’s beauty? I was not too terribly excited about the idea of winter canoeing myself until I was out on the water. Winter canoeing is one of the most peaceful moments I have every experienced in my 25 years of life. No one else is out on the water and there is snow and ice on the banks and on the trees. You see and hear wild life. Once you are out there it is easy to forget the temperature. I have even taken a guest fishing…who needs the fishing shack on ice when you have a canoe! It is also fun to paddle as fast as you can headed straight for ice and see how far you can ‘beach’ the canoe!

You will want to be properly dressed for the weather at HoneyRock. The Northwoods of Wisconsin can be pretty cold. One of our safety rules for winter canoeing is not canoeing when the temperature is below 10 °F. We use a carpet square in order to keep your bottom a little bit warmer. Another important safety rule is never go canoeing alone or in one canoe. The reason for these rules is simple: hypothermia. We want to take every precaution!

Winter canoeing is a wonderful experience and I hope you will enjoy it as well!

Winter Trail Rides

 
Winter Horseback Riding
By: Becky Webber, Ranch Coordinator

 

Riding horses in the winter is a lot of fun.  Going for a ride over HoneyRock's miles of snow-covered trails can be very
relaxing, but at the same time very cold.  For this reason, we often
cannot ride for long periods of time in the cold winter weather.  A 20 or
30 minute trail ride is just about right before fingers and toes start
to go numb.  Trail rides typically consist of 10 guests and two
HoneyRock wranglers to supervise and lead the way.  Deer and other
wildlife can often be seen while riding through the beautiful woods at HoneyRock.

 

Sleigh rides are another popular winter activity.  HoneyRock's
team of two Percheron draft horses pull a sleigh full of passengers
happily through the woods on winter evenings.  Guests are provided with
wool blankets to help keep them warm and can talk or sing songs while
enjoying their sleigh ride.

HoneyRock T-Shirt Design Contest

Calling All HoneyRock Artists! We are having a HoneyRock t-shirt design contest. We will  accept entries from Sunday, March 1, 2009 until Tuesday, March 31, 2009. The winning design will be used for t-shirts sold in the Beehive this summer. We will accept computer graphics and hand-drawn ideas. All ideas MUST be original and incorporate the word "HoneyRock." The winner of the t-shirt design contest will receive a $25 gift certificate to the Beehive this summer and a free t-shirt with their design. For questions about the contest you can email Courtney at courtney@honeyrockcamp.org or call 715.479.7474 ext 235. Only one entry may be submitted per person.  Offer not valid for permanent HoneyRock employees or their families.

Bonfires on the Lake

Bonfires are an integral part of the camp experience.  When I think back on my own days as a camper, I have many special memories that took place around campfires.  Whether it was out on a wilderness trip or sitting around camp, I can still remember the songs that we sang, the conversations we had, and the delicious s’mores and banana boats we made.  More importantly, I remember the things God taught me as I sat in the darkness watching the flames dance around in the fire. 

Bonfires are part of the fiber of HoneyRock.  Every camper and staff member who comes through HoneyRock has had the experience of gathering around a fire and singing “Let Us Adore.”  Less common, however, is the experience of gathering around a campfire in the middle of winter.  What makes this particular experience so unique at HoneyRock is the fact that we build fires in the middle of the lake. 

Last winter I went to my first bonfire on the lake.  Even though I knew that the ice was several feet thick and that large vehicles could have driven safely on the lake, I was still nervous about it.  I mean, lighting a fire on ice just seemed like a foolish idea since I was convinced that the fire would burn a hole in the ice.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the fire remained entirely on top of the ice and that no one fell through.  It didn’t seem to matter to us that it was only 10 degrees out because the stars were clear and bright and the fire was warm.  We made s’mores and sang songs together.  At the end of the night we all gathered in a close circle around the fire and sang “Let Us Adore.” 

Let us adore the ever-living God
And render praise unto Him
Who spreads out the heavens
And establishes the earth
And whose glory
Is manifest throughout the whole earth
He is our God, He is our God
And there is no one else

Now my memory of the fire on the lake can be added to my list of special bonfire memories.  God is continuing to reveal himself to me and to us through the beauty of his creation—even on a cold winter’s night.

God's Creation is All Around Us!

I am often asked by retreat guests and visitors when they come to HoneyRock, “What is your favorite winter activity here at camp?” We all have our favorites—for many it is broomball or tubing, but the immediate answer for me is always cross country skiing.  Not only is it good for you physically (as it is one of the best all body workouts) but it is also good for the soul.  When else can you leave “civilization” and head into the woods on a trail that takes you so deep in the forest, you feel as if you are the last person in the world?  With over 20 miles of groomed trails leading right from the middle of camp to the Nicolet National Forest and all around camp, and plenty of great equipment to choose from, it’s easy to escape to the stillness and quiet of the woods.  Oftentimes the only sound you hear is the ski crisply sliding back and forth along the grooved trail, but if you stop and just stand still, listening, the silence overwhelms you.  It’s alarmingly peaceful.  To be surrounded by God’s creation, to see pine trees covered in fresh, sparkly snow, to truly be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46), this is true beauty: where all seems at rest and all seems right.  God is loud in the silence of His creation.  Job declares the glory of God’s creation when he says in Job 26:7-10,
“He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
        he suspends the earth over nothing.
He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
       yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
He covers the face of the full moon,
      spreading his clouds over it.
He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
      for a boundary between light and darkness.”

And of all this Job says in the end, that it is “but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” (vs. 14)  The beauty and glory of God’s creation is just the fringe of His works.  He is infinitely more than His works and His glory is infinitely more than His beautiful creation.  I get a glimpse of this while skiing through the deserted and refreshingly still forest. 

By: Robyn Walsh , Program Coordinator at HoneyRock

Winter Camping Fun

(From a former GPA, Lauren Welsh’s winter camping experience)

First we taught the campers how to use a map and compass, then how to pack; not only what was needed for camping, but also what was needed for winter camping. We planned a route and grabbed our snowshoes, then headed out into the woods! It was a challenge to walk through snow with a pack on your back and with snowshoes on. Hiking like this made it go quite a bit slower.  All the bogs and marshes were frozen which allowed us to make our own trail. However, stepping over fallen trees in snowshoes with weight on our backs was a recipe for falling down. I did a lot!

Campers SnowShoeing Through The Woods


Winter campers reading the maps.

Setting up camp kept us warm as we were collecting wood for a fire, finding new ways to keep our packs dry, and building tents and snow forts. This was one of the moments where I felt like a kid again! We used stoves to cook with as well as cooking over a fire. Finding water was easy but making sure the snow we melted was white and did not have pine needles in it was a challenge! Also, planning hot meals for breakfast and dinner were an emotional booster for our group. One secret to staying warm through the night was pouring boiling water into a Nalgene and placing it at our feet in the sleeping bag. It was still warm in the morning and our feet were too!

 

This was really fun for a few days and nights then I was ready for some warmth!