Monterey Bike Trip, October 2012

We had a wonderful time on this trip, the weather was perfect and the 2 adult leaders and 11 Scouts who went on the trip all enjoyed it. The 18-mile bike ride was beautiful, and Bubba Gump's (AKA "The happiest place on Earth", according to Stevie) was as good as ever.
We had a great time for the 2nd year in a row, and we hope to return next year!

Return to Kibbie Lake, September 2012

7 Scouts and 3 leaders had a beautiful trip into Yosemite Wilderness for the second time this year.
All of us want to return next year.
Check out the photos in the gallery.

Great Sierra Mine Hike

We had a fantastic hike last Saturday to the old Great Sierra Mine site, located near Tioga Pass.
The 5-mile round trip hike was a bit steep at the beginning (especially at 10,000 ft.!), but the scenery was spectacular. The 2 small alpine lakes we passed were beautiful, and we had a great time exploring the mine site, which dates from 1883. Luckily, no Scouts fell down the 35-ft deep mineshaft that we found.
The pictures tell it all. Many thanks to the 7 Scouts and 4 adult leaders who came along for the adventure.

 

Yellowstone High Adventure Trip

This year I had the greatest privilege of embarking on the most ambitious scouting trip that our troop has envisioned, going to Yellowstone. It was hatched from a conversation that Mitch and I had with a scoutmaster at Camp John Mensinger in 2011 about a scout camp in Wyoming, and one that Mitch then went on to pursue. Mitch's research revealed that there was not much our scouts could accomplish at this camp so he though maybe we could just do a trip to Wyoming. After several discussions the Wyoming trip turned into a Yellowstone trip and the more we discussed it the more we started believing it could work, and once we pitched it to the High Adventure aged scouts, they were interested too. We started meeting early in the year to discuss the many details that would make this trip a reality, and as the months started getting closer it no longer was a plan or a dream, it was a reality. Over 3000 miles were driven, thousands of pictures taken, precious moments of video captured, and memories created that will span a lifetime.

Thank you for a being such a great group and sharing in these memories with me,
Shaan

Mother Lode Ranch, July 20-22, 2012

Arrived Friday. The Scouts got to it immediately, and started to clean the firepit as soon as we got there. MLR owner Don Rumsey provided a small tractor for the ashes and weeds from the cleanout.
The Troop set up camp in the shade of the trees lining the creek bed, had a Cracker Barrel in the evening, and later, had a great campfire under the bright Milky Way.

On Saturday, the Troop hiked to a (clean) water trough up the road about 1/2 mile and splashed around in it while goldfish nibbled at their feet (they eat the algae.) Back at camp, sharps were practiced and a BBQ chicken dinner was prepared for the families that came over for a overnight campout with the Troop.
Sunday morning, the Scouts made a pancake breakfast for everyone at camp before packing up and heading home.

MLR is a great place in both the frost of November or the 100 degree heat of July. Don is always a wonderful host and loves to see the Scouts use this peaceful site. We had a wonderful time, and hope to come back soon.

2012 CAMP JOHN MENSINGER

Camp John Mensinger was a blast this year. We camped in a different site for the first time in four years, so it was a nice change of scenery, and much closer to flags so we were only late one time. We had the privilege to host an Adventure Troop in our camp, these are scouts who spend additional weeks in camp without their own troop. The added bonus this year was that there were only 54 total campers in camp when we would normally see around 200 campers. So this enabled scouts to get better instruction in their merit badge classes.

We had two scouts complete the cycling merit badge that culminated in a 50 mile trip. We won the "Camp Wide Games" for the first time ever. Shaan took 2nd in the "Scoutmaster" shoot. John took the initiative to have the scouts participate in a nice service project, that included assembling a camp sign for our specific camp, digging holes to set it, and then painting it. We had several scouts do the polar bear swim, and nearly half our troop did the Wilderness Survival merit badge that culminated in an overnight campout in the shelter they built.

The Troop held its elections for the SPL and PL's. So we have a new group of leaders to enjoy over the next year.

So many fun memories from this years camp. A special thanks goes out to John Scott our Scoutmaster for being an exceptional leader and being the "glue" that keeps this troop together.

Check out the photo gallery for the pictures from this camp.

Shaan

Kibbie Lake backpacking trip 2012

We backpacked 5 miles into Yosemite Wilderness and camped at Kibbie lake. We arrived at the lake on Friday, just before sundown. Saturday was windy, overcast and too cold to get in to the lake. Instead, we did some nature studies and map triangulation at camp.Sunday was beautiful, but we had to leave. We left camp at about 10:30 AM, and got back to the trailhead at 1:30. This is a great destination that is unspoiled, and we hope to return there soon.

East Carson River Rafting Trip

The High Adventure Patrol had and awesome rafting trip on the East Carson River. It was a cool weekend on this Class 2 River. It was nice to see many of the older scouts working and having fun together. Our Saturday stop featured several hot-springs next to the river, which was nice because it was 24 degrees overnight. The scouts made foil dinners for us on Saturday, and on Sunday we had an terrific breakfast with french toast, bacon, and slop (leftover potatoes, and vegetables from the previous nights dinner). We pulled out of the river in Gardnerville Nevada around 5:30pm on Sunday. We celebrated by having  Mexican food in Garnerville.

Thanks for a great trip,
Shaan

20-Miler

The Troop successfully completed another 20-Miler this year! The event took place on Saturday, March 10, with a large group of Scouts and adults completing the entire route from Evergreen Road to Cherry Oil Road. We had a lot of fun, enjoyed some beautiful scenery and had a fantastic barbecue at the end. All the Scouts worked hard and did an awesome job. Congratulations to everyone!

More pictures from the 20-Miler can be found at Picasa Photo Albums.

Upcoming event for April

The Greater Yosemite Council's Camporall/Jamborall is coming up on the weekend of April 20-22.
It will be at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock. Here is a flier with more information:

Camporall/Jamborall flier.pdf

Updated 20 Miler pledge form

This is the updated 20 miler pledge form. To print it, click on the link, then click on the printer icon at the top of the page. Here it is: Updated 20 miler pledge form.pdf  
(Note: You must have Adobe Reader installed in order to print the document. If you don't, copies will be available at the next meeting.)