Outdoor adventure Scouting for All
Camp Hi-Sierra was another amazing week of merit badges, Treagle, overnight adventures, sausage songs and… dust. The water was cooooold this year, so those that managed their swim test at camp deserve some extra kudos!
With ASM Denver as Camp Scoutmaster, supported by a number of parents, Troop 260 had another strong showing with multiple youth either on Staff or as Counsellor-in-Training.
T260 was back at Scout-o-rama with a blast this year after a few years absence during and just after covid. We left our traditional piazz-dilla’s behind and instead turned up with some some outdoor gear on display.
The canoe and backpacks attracted people over; Isabella’s marketing hooked them in with pics of the scouts in action; and then an improvised game of “toss/cornhole” but using bear cans kept them engaged – and coming back.
There’s nothing like the goal of trying to splat a scout with a sponge… 🙂
Finally, after 8 years of Coe trips where China Hole has either been too low (and stinky) or way too flooded to get in for a paddle, April 2023 was the time: great wet winter left waters flowing well, but the April sun was still warm enough.
After having to take our boots off to ford the river on the way down, it was fabuos to cool off (following BSA Safe Swim Defense of course!). However, after cooling down, it was time to heat up again as the troop took the short-sharp path up to Manzanita for the night.
A quick walk back out in the morning has every home before lunch (which given this was pre-exam and extra homework season, was just as well).
“What did you do at Spring Break?”, “Got my Eagle Scout Medal – what about you?!”
We recognised Allison D today, another of our original intake of female youth, at her Eagle Court of Honor. Sibling of existing Eagle, Tristan, and accompanied by Assistant Scoutmasters Emeritus, Phil & Kathy, a great turn out of current and former scouts, adults and wider family and friends turned out to celebrate.
Needless to say, too much food was eaten.
Couple of quick updates to share:
We welcomed our two newest scouts – Isabella and Emily. Great to have the join, and also for making life easy for the Assistant Scoutmasters by having the same names as current scouts 🙂
Scouts presented our in-flight plans for the summer 50-miler to Lost Coast: trip route and meal. We’ll be sure to have enough calories and great places to camp
Our Charter organisation is essential to the Troop: we are officially a program under their legal entity; they provide space for our storage shed; use of the hall at now cost; a place to meet and hold events. In turn, it was great to be able to help them out. T260 turned up on force to make short work of some tough landscaping work, doubling the area the Church had hoped to cover in 2/3 of the time!
A cheeky 10-miler.
Delayed after having to cancel the previous weekend due to a CA state declared State of Emergency, a depleted force set-off to get those miles in. With (mostly) full packs, and a 2:1 adult:scout ratio, we enjoyed glorious spring weather as we romped around a 10-mile loop in Joseph D Grant (thanks Ram for planning). It was still very wet underfoot at parts, providing novel experiences for scouts used to hiking through extended years of drought – but strong ‘À la recherche du temps perdu’ vibes for those raised backpacking in Scotland.
Kudos to Katie for contributing to the story quote with a full slip+fall in the mud (alas, not witnessed by the rest of the Troop).
California after the rain – wheewee, beautiful. Although also pretty cold.
A strong turnout for what was a lovely 8 mile loop on Sunday, topped off with a short 2-3 miler on Sunday for a visit to the waterfall. The temperatures were low, made to feel colder with moisture in the air, and a gusty wind.
The green, lush hills, recently invigorated by the rain were a delight; supplemented by fresh filled streams. There’s nothing that can distract scouts as much as a nice fire – except maybe a flowing stream, and SugarLoaf Ridge delivered on both.
Enjoy the pics – and if you weren’t there, we hope you are inspired to join us next time.
Kicking-off a new year in classic California style: cold nights, stars, no rain.
Except.
We were just coming off the back of 2-3 weeks of some of the heaviest downpours and storms in recent years; multiple trees were down; power had been out; paths were flooded; access roads closed. This required some nimble classic T260 maneuvers as we shifted from our original plan of Joseph Grant day walk + overnight, to an in-overnight-out at Chesebrough (thanks Dylan at the office for squeezing us in at late notice).
As this is coming into the second half of the activity year, we amped up the challenge a little – walking through Castle Rock SP first, before connecting to the roadside trail and down into Chesebrough. Once at Camp, we hung around until all was quiet, careful not to drink from the drowned-squirrel water, before setting up camp. Human Fusbal and some volley ball kept us moving and warm.
The Old Goats got a fire going on attempt #2 [tip: wet wood and a high sided fire ring with no air holes – avoid]. The hardy scouts that stayed up past dark were rewarded with some fire for warmth and some campstove cooked fresh brownies (eat your heat out Mark Cahn!)
We stayed above freezing, and headed back the shorter way [only ~ 6 miles] on Sunday making a total of 14 miles. Nice stamina and spirit from some of newer/less-experienced packers [Cruze and Joshua].
The troop has a tradition of going to a private range in Mt. Umunhum every fall, for a weekend of shooting and archery. I’m glad to say that this year, we got to follow the tradition of the iron chef challenge (last year, we were unable to do it, because of the stormy weather).
After a calm evening at camp on Friday, we went up to the range on Saturday morning for a firearm safety briefing. The rest of the afternoon was fantastic, as scouts were able to handle various types of firearms, with the proper guidance from range-masters (thanks Mr. Ray & Mr. Nic).
On Sunday morning, we had our iron chef challenge! Each patrol went head-on to cook a meal for scoutmaster judges, while on a short time crunch and limited equipment (shout-out to the dragon patrol, which won for their breakfast burritos)!
Another fantastic backpacking trip with the troop!
At Point Reyes, a National Sea Shore north of the SF bay, we were able to experience everything, from lush forests to the coast to misty (and then stormy!) weather.
After a ~1mi hike to camp on Saturday, we hiked downhill to an awesome cove, where we were able to see dolphins. Even though it rained heavily in the night, the trip was filled with fantastic and variable sceneries, and everyone had a great time.
