By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Brandon Twp. — The Ortonville Recreation Area on the banks of Big Fish Lake once again hosted hundreds of scouts for their annual “Lost in the Boonies” two-day hiking event.
Amidst a few late April snow showers about 170 scouts braved the cool, damp nights warmed only by a myriad of campfires.
Formerly known as the Hike in the Boonies, the event started in the mud from the horse camp on Fox Lake Road with about three or four scout troops in 2008 and has grown over the years. The original camp was small so the leaders asked the DNR if the scouts could camp overnight at Big Fish Lake in April before it was busier later in the summer. Since the Ortonville Troop was the farthest north in the Pontiac-Manito District the Big Fish Lake area was tagged “The Boonies.”
This year troops from Capac, Clarkston, Croswell, Davisburg, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford, Waterford and Yale, plus more attended. The scout districts represented were Blue Star, Chippewa, Ottawa, Pontiac-Manito, Rivers North, Sunset and Three Fires.

The two-day overnight continues to be one of the area’s largest scout gatherings and recently added an extra challenge on the trails in a series of orienteering courses.
Southern Michigan Orienteering Club challenged the youth to navigate a series of courses through the wilderness using maps and compasses. A brainchild of SMOC member Jen Pineau, the event swelled the numbers of scouts to 250, along with more than 50 from the club participated, a substantial increase in attendance over recent years.

“I’ve been a part of that club for 20 years, and I’ve put on other orienteering events,” Pineau said. “They were very excited for the opportunity to work with that many Scouts.”
Pineau arranged for multiple courses of varying difficulties: white-Cubs only (1.5 km), yellow (3.1 km), orange (3.8 km easy plus visiting an old, abandoned car), brown (4.4 km intermediate), green (6 km short advanced) and red (7 km advanced). Volunteers were present to “retrieve” any teams that strayed too far off course, with only a few Scouts ultimately requiring their assistance.
“This year there’s an old car included, also a little pet cemetery in the woods,” she said. “Similar to last year many scouts said they did not know as much about orienteering as they thought they did. Others really sharpened their skills since the 2023 event and many felt more prepared.”
One group of girls did get lost and finally made their way back to the pavilion, however they were still very happy that they went on the trek, added Pineau.

“There were no rescues and everyone made it back,” she said.
Troop 199 of Clarkston successfully defended their title and won the day keeping the coveted “Boot” award for their performance on the courses. The trophy is theirs until the next camp out, when troops from across the region will once again vie for the bragging rights it validates.