Sabine Backpacking Camp Recap!

This year, we took our backpacking camp to the Sabine National Forest! We mapped out about 15 miles of trail to hike on the "Trail Between The Lakes". It would take us 3 days and 2 nights to conquer it all. I've taken some time to archive our journey to share with you so you guys can have a taste of what it's like to be out on the trail.

We had an early start on day one at 8 AM with the kids meeting us at South Park Middle School before heading to Sabine National Forest. Sabine National Forest is right on the Texas/Louisiana border so we had quite a drive ahead of us. Once we got on the road, almost everyone took a nap. We stopped for lunch near Houston and after that, everyone gained some energy! As our Executive Director said, “lunch is magic!”. We got back on the road and everyone was talking and excited about the week ahead of us! Once we got to Lakeview Campgrounds at Sabine, we set up camp, made dinner and then discussed some important backpacking information and packed up our backpacks as much as we could. When we had finished with all that, we went to bed. Everyone was eager to start the trail the next day.

We got up early and had a quick breakfast of eggs and sausage to fuel us on our journey! Then, we packed some last minute things into our bags like tents and toothbrushes and once everyone was ready to go, we hit the trail! We hiked the trail for 6.2 miles the first day. The team made great time and reached the 2-mile marker within the first hour and a half! We hiked for about another hour and then stopped for lunch. We'd all worked up quite an appetite and appreciated the chance to take our backpacks off for a bit. After we had refueled, we strapped our packs back on. We were flying down that trail and made it to our first campsite by 2:30 that afternoon. Everyone was tired so we laid out a tarp and relaxed for awhile before Becky arrived with with the water-drop. Once we got water we set up camp and started dinner. Mac and cheese with beef jerky was on the menu. YUM! We called it a night fairly early cause it was getting dark and everyone was exhausted.

The next morning, we got up with the sun and made oatmeal for breakfast. Once everyone was fed and dishes were washed, we packed up camp and our packs and hit the trail once again. We had 5.7 miles ahead of us and we were ready to knock it out! The team stopped for lunch around the halfway point. The second day was a little more challenging than the last even though it was shorter because our bodies were sore and tired from carrying 50+ pounds on our backs. We made it to our last campsite around 2:30 again and enjoyed relaxing before dinner. We had a camp favorite for dinner, rice and jerky! After dinner, we went to bed almost an hour earlier than the night before. There was lots of resting to do before our last day of hiking.

The last day on the trail was coined “The cakewalk” because it was only a 3 mile trek until the lovely Becky picked us up in the Youth Odyssey van and took us back to basecamp. We finished the in about 2 hours and stopped for lunch at the end before Becky reached us. Everyone was feeling on top of the world! We had just hiked a total of 15 miles carrying all of our clothes, food and equipment on our backs for 3 days. That’s huge accomplishment, right? We all thought so and accomplished is exactly what we felt. When Becky met us at our stopping point, she had popsicles and Powerade for us. It hit the spot! Once we had our lunch and popsicles, we loaded up our packs in the back of the van and piled in.

At basecamp we unpacked all of our backpacks and hung them up to air out (they may have been a bit stinky). Once everything was put away we jumped into our swimsuits and let the lake wash all of the sweat, dirt and B.O. off our tired bodies. It was the most refreshing thing I’d felt in a long time. The team spent an hour or so in the lake and then took a break for snacks and more sunscreen before getting back in. Once we were all prunes, we got out and make some amazing Chicken Alfredo for dinner. After dinner, we played some Spicy Uno and Chess by the lake. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.

Our last day in the Sabine National Forest was a free day! We let the kids sleep in a bit because they earned it. Then after breakfast, everyone was ready to get back in the lake. We swam for a bit, took a break for lunch and more sunscreen then got back in the water for an hour or so. All of us had been in the sun for a while so we took a good break and played some more Spicy Uno under a shady tree before dinner. Once everyone was full, we sat around the campfire and talked about the week. We discussed goals, our favorite and least favorite parts and what we were looking forward to about the next day. Then it was time for s’mores and bedtime. We were still pretty tired and we had an early morning the next day to get back to Corpus at a decent hour.

We woke up before the sun this morning! Immediately we started packing up our things. Everyone was on top of it and we got things done fairly quickly. Once we had everything done, we ate a quick breakfast of bagels and sausage and then hit the road. Everyone crashed out as soon as we got off the dirt roads and slept almost all the way till lunch. We stopped at a Whataburger on the way and had a good break from sitting in the van. We made it back into Corpus around 4 o’clock that afternoon. The kids were excited to see their folks and tell them all about our adventures. All in all it was a GREAT week! There was a lot that was learned, we tried new things and we accomplished a difficult task together as a team. Not to mention all the fun we had swimming, playing Spicy Uno and making new friends. I can’t wait for our next backpacking trip next summer!