2014 Summer Camp

The troop chose Camp Royaneh in nearby Cazadero for this year’s summer camp.  Despite the camp's proximity (only 45 minutes away) it has been about 6 years since we visited.  In fact, the senior scouts that were on the trip pointed out that this was their first ever summer camp and it would end up being their final summer camp as well.  It would be great if every scout could have this coincidence happen, but it would make for a difficult schedule to keep. 

One great thing about the camp being so close is the short travel time.  The troop was able to meet mid morning and still make it to the camp in a leisurely fashion.  Another nice thing, we actually had to turn drivers down this year as we had too many.  That never happens!  It also meant that we could switch leaders out over the course of the week and leaders that couldn’t make a full commitment could still make the trip.

Unlike last year, this year’s meet up was painfully easy with everyone arriving on time and getting on the road in an orderly fashion.  Then it was off for a lovely trip through the redwoods to Cazadero.  The drive there was not a problem, but things were a little choked when we got to the camp.  A bus had just pulled in and was in the process of turning around in the parking lot.  We ended up parking in a lower parking area, loading all of the gear onto two of the pickups to be driven to the site, and then walking to the campsite which was only a short distance away.  The drivers then returned to the cars later on and reparked in the proper lot.

Then it was time for the mandatory tour of the camp and swim checks.  The troop followed our two guides to all of the activity areas in camp and then to the pool (yes a pool) for med checks and swim checks.  Then it was off to the far flung areas of the camp to see the shooting ranges and the Mountain Man area.  The latter lives up to its name!  While all of Camp Royaneh is uphill from the parking lot (some less - some more), Mountain Man is the tallest and steepest climb from the main activity area. 

With check in done the troop settled into camp, tried the dining hall for the first time, and headed off to opening campfire.  Royaneh has a tremendous stage which allows them to be one of the few camps anywhere that offers the Theater merit badge.  Unfortunately we found that while the location was great, it may have given the staff a little too much to work with.   A lot of the staff skits had a beginning, middle but no end,  took forever, and dragged the end of the campfires past Taps!  It is kind of hard for the Scoutmaster to have the troop in bed by Taps if they are still in their seats in the amphitheater. 

The next morning, the troop took off for their merit badge sessions and that’s when chaos ensued!  A couple of boys we knew were going to have to rearrange their schedules, either because they had rethought their choices or because activities they had chosen were unavailable.  This is when we found out about the perils of attending the last week of camp!  As this was the last week that camp was offered, it was less than full and this caused a weird dichotomy in the classes.  Some of the merit badges and activities had too few participants and had to be cancelled while others (perhaps because of the cancellations) were overly full and had to be closed to new additions.  These put some of the scouts (especially senior scouts) in a bind where their activity choices were either full, canceled, or were badges they had already done!  While the vast majority of boys were just fine, the leaders were kept hopping the first day getting everyone settled into their classes.  By Tuesday morning however everything had been smoothed out and everyone had a full schedule.

Then it was off to the daily grind of summer camp – morning flags, breakfast, sessions 1 and 2, lunch, sessions 3 and 4, evening flags, dinner, open time, and evening program.  The evening programs were fun with the traditional opening and closing staff campfires, a troop skit night, a competition night (balloon stomp, ice throw, water cup balancing), a patrol competition night (memory games, team puzzles, tug of war, 1^st aid carries), and a couple of troop campfires back in the troop campsites. 

All too soon the week was over and things were winding down with only the dreaded Friday afternoon and Saturday morning scramble to finish up missing merit badge requirements.  Then all was packed up and it was time to take the hike down the hill to the parking lot and load up for the return journey home after a fun week.

A fun week it was too!  Everything went as smoothly as we could ask (despite the merit badge problems).  Only one boy threw up (and he was better an hour later), and only two boys were home sick (for just an hour) and they were better after we dragged them out to the campfire and they had FUN.    Everyone was busy, fun, and got a ton of advancement done in one week!  Hopefully it won’t be 6 years before we visit Royaneh again.  It’s a wonderful camp. 

The only question that remains is where to go next year?  The troop has a tradition of selecting a different camp each year.  Is it time to go back to one of the camps we’ve visited before or perhaps try one that is new?

Participants: Landon, Bryce, Owen, Sebastian, Carl, James, Matt. Marcus, Adam, Mitch, Andrew P., Joseph, Andrew W., Quinn, Evan, Zack, Josh, Payton, Daniel, Jordan, John, Eric C., Ewan, John-Robert, Brian, Gerrit, Sam, Eric M. 

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mrs. Reese, Mr. Frazee, Mr. Baier, Mr. Brisgel, Mr. Perez, Mr. Morris, Mr. Carver

Lessons Learned:  Royaneh is a great camp, but don't go in the last week.  It is one of the few camps that has a horse program.  It's all uphill from the parking lot.  

2014 James's Eagle Project

One of the great moments in scouting is the Eagle Project.  Ostensibly it is all for one boy, for his advancement, yet an entire scout troop pitches in.  Granted there are collateral benefits.  They boys volunteering their time also get service hours credited towards their own advancement.  For most of the boys though, they have already completed their service requirement and are there for the simple reason that they are supporting their fellow scout.  Call it paying it forward.  The scouts climbing the ladder helping out the boy on the top run in the earnest hope, that when they hold that position, the climbers behind them will follow suit and aid their project. 

This wonderful phenomenon happened once again for us this summer as James completed his Eagle Project.  The project was to build four planter boxes outside the YMCA building at Jack London Elementary / Piner Olivet Charter School (they share a campus).  It was the quintessential Eagle Project. 

When the troop approached the site, it was an unpromising field over grown with weeds.  In the days before the project, the field was mowed and rototilled to make it ready.  As the day of the event dawned, the troop descended on a field dotted with wood, mulch, and bark.  Most of the scouts attacked the field, leveling the site and excavating holes for the planted bed boxes to fit in.  Meanwhile a cadre of older scouts and leaders assembled the pile of lumber into the boxes.  Each crew worked their area and the sites were ready at just about the time the boxes were.  Then it was time to plant the planter boxes in the ground.  This necessitated a bit of fine tuning as the holes weren’t always exactly where they needed to be. 

As the first boxes were planted, half of the field crew

moved over to wheelbarrow duty carting loads of mulch for the pile delivered to the boxes.  Others joined in from the other direction, carting wood chips from another pile to finish the site.  This continued till all four of the boxes were settled into their locations.

Then it was time for lunch and a well earned break. 

When everyone had refueled and recharged, it was time for the dash to the finish.  The boxes were done and now it was just moving the mulch and the wood chips into place.  Wheelbarrows, shovels, and rakes were flying back and forth as the piles disappeared.  Finally the last handful of workers toted the final loads of mulch and the site was cleaned up.  Another successful project for the troop!

Participants: Landon, Bryce, Owen, Sebastian, Diego, Carl, James, Matt. Marcus, Adam, Mitch, Andrew, Devon, Joseph

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mrs. Reese, Mr. Frazee, Mr. Baier, Mr. Bell, Mr. Franceschi, Mr. Brisgel, Mr. O'Brien, Mrs. Perez, Mr. Morris, Mrs. Simmons, Mr. St. John, Mrs. Baier, Mrs. Mobley

Lessons Learned:  It's always amazing what the troop and do all together.  Don't eat too much junk food at once.

2014 Water Park Outing

For the “Water” outing this year, the troop chose to go to the Water World park in Concord.  You’ll notice I put water in quotes.  The Scoutmaster didn’t really consider this a water outing when there are so many good water outings to be had in the area between Lake Sonoma, the Russian River, Richardson Bay, the Petaluma Slough, and Tomales Bay.  Still, it’s what the boys voted for, so away we went.  The Scoutmaster wasn’t about to let the boys get away with a day trip to the water slides though, so we made reservations that the nearby Briones regional park which is part of the impressive East Bay Regional Park system. 

The outing was scheduled on the second weekend after school was out so as to miss all of the graduation parties on the first weekend.  This may have backfired though, as a lot of the families seemed to have already left for vacation.  So it was with a smaller group that we took off for the East Bay. 

Despite the Friday Night traffic, the drive out was quite enjoyable.  We ran down through the North Bay and then through the Caldecott Tunnel to the inland East Bay and we had no trouble pulling into the park.  That’s where things got interesting.  The group campsites at Briones are about a mile from the parking lot.  Groups are allowed to bring several vehicles in and out to transport supplies and we certainly could have driven the scouts to the campsite that way, but we’re scouts!  So we dismounted and sent the truck with the troop trailer in ahead and the boys hiked in and out the .9 miles to and from the campsite.  And what a campsite it is!  Several football fields in size with a large pavilion/fire ring, water and picnic tables.  This site could hold as big a group as you could care to bring.  The troop settled into their new home and got ready for tomorrow’s fun. 

The next morning, after breakfast was made, the troop made the .9 mile hike back out to the parking lot and took off for the park!  Arriving ahead of schedule, there was a short wait to get in and then it was off to the water slides!  The troop made a home base near the vending and food court area which the leaders watched in rotation.  Originally I was worried that the leader left out would feel bad, but climbing all those stairs for the ride left one wanting a break from time to time! 

So the day went, with the boys wandering from ride to ride and back again.  Sometime in the middle of the day, most of the boys we’re found back at home base with overpriced food in hand.  The leaders kept up the usual refrain of, “Where’s your buddy” to the first year scouts when they showed up without theirs.  Finally as the day was winding down, most of the boys were back at home base (some of them napping).  The final few were rounded up and after a quick rinse off to get rid of the chlorine, it was back to the cars and the campsite.

Back at camp, dinner was put together and then what to do with the rest of the time?  A fire of course!  The senior scouts put together a quick class on fire building for the new scouts and then it was time to sit back and watch the cheery flames.  Finally, as the flames died down, it was time to head off for bed. 

The next morning, the troop made breakfast and broke camp.  The boys took the road for the last hike out and everyone was on the road for home.  This time the group took the back roads north out of the East Bay and got to see that pretty scenery.  In a little over an hour everyone was home.

Participants: Sam, Zack, Landon, Payton, Bryce, Owen, Sebastian, Diego, Carl

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mrs. Reese, Mr. Frazee

Lessons Learned:  Briones is a beautiful park but a the campsites are a ways from the parking lot.  Water world is fun.  Make sure to reapply your sunscreen!!!!

2014 Hood Mountain RRC Service Project

Every year we schedule a service project at one of the Sonoma County Regional Parks in support of the Redwood Regional Challenge program.  This gives us a chance to help the parks out, see a park that may be new to us and to earn the corresponding rockers.  This year however, our plan was preempted by an Eagle Scout candidate.  Austin, a den mate of one of our scouts was setting up projects in a number of RRC parks as his Eagle Project.  Seeing as this was a scout we knew, we jumped in.  This unfortunately meant that we had to bump our spring backpacking trip a week forward which meant that it fell on Mother’s Day, but a bunch of Moms joined us that weekend, so maybe it wasn’t a terribly bad thing. 

As you can imagine, for a program as big as this one was, there had to be a lot of planning, and several meetings were held to orient everyone.  In the process, the troop selected Hood Mountain as their park destination.  The troop has chosen Hood Mountain before.  For the inaugural RRC weekend, we did a back packing service project along with Troops 32 and 707 at the back country campsites and it was awesome!  This time however we would be working at the Pythian Road entrance which we had not seen before. 

The troop formed up and headed over to the proper staging area on Pythian.  Unfortunately, deep in to May, a lot of the spring sports had started and so attendance was light.  Still, 13 scouts and 3 leaders (including one who’s boy wasn’t on the outing) showed up to help out.  We met our ranger and got oriented on the job to be done.  We were clearing vegetation back from the trail where it had become overgrown.  We grabbed tools and started up the trail.

The Pythian Road part of the trail turns out to be just magical!  The trail winds in and out of an oak woodland forest alongside the road.  The troop cut back the vegetation that had crowded the trail and threatened to unseat equestrians.  In the middle of this we encountered a large tree that had fallen and had been cut in half to clear the trail! 

Toward the end of the project, the troop encountered a meadow overgrown with French Broom.  This nasty, invasive plant is encroaching everywhere it seems and is tough to remove.  To do so, we had a tool that was a combinatation of vice grips, a floor jack, and a huge lever.  The boys took to this immediately.  They grabbed the trunks and wrenched the plants from the ground.  In no time a large part of the meadow was cleared.

All too soon, it was time to head back to the parking lot.  While there, the troop heard a little bit about the history of the park.  Then it was back into the vehicles and home.

Participants: Bryce, Owen, Evan, Sebastian, Diego, Carl, Eric, Angelo, Devon

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mr.St. John, Mr. Frazee, Mr.Bell

Lessons Learned:  You can do a several day backpacking trip through several of the sites on the mountain if you ask nicely! We hate French Broom!

2014 Mt. Whittenburg Backpacking

This year’s spring backpacking trip was also a Rim of the Bay hike to Mt. Whittenburg.  Originally it was scheduled to for the week after Mothers Day so as not to interfere with that important day.  However, an Eagle Candidate arranged projects in a bunch of the Sonoma County Regional Parks for that day, so we were forced to move the camping outing forward to accommodate it.  As it turned out, we had several mothers that went along on the backpacking trip on this Mothers Day!

The day started nicely with no problems getting to the Bear Valley Visitors Center to check in.  After check in, the troop loaded up and prepared to hike.  First everyone did a warm-up lap around the one mile Earthquake Trail that explores the San Andreas Fault Line which separates Pt. Reyes from the North American Plate.  After doing the loop and leaning a bit about our dynamic Earth, it was time to head down the trail and up the hill. 

Up the hill it was.  The trail to Mt. Whittenburg is by far the easiest hike in the Rim of the Bay program.  Still, even if it is gentle, it is all uphill to the peak.  This called for frequent rest stops to recharge and hydrate.  On the way, the troop got to enjoy the beautiful coastal redwood forest and even its most famous resident, the banana slug!

The peak itself is also the least impressive of the various Rim of the Bay peaks.  At one time it afforded panoramic views of the point and the Pacific Ocean.  Since that time though, a conifer forest has overgrown the peak.  New hikers often walk right by the peak benchmark on the loop trail without recognizing it.  This was the case on this outing as we had to inform another troop that they had passed the peak by and lead them back to it. 

With the peak surmounted and lunch in everyone’s belly it was time to head off to sky camp to set up for the night.  This was a pleasant hike down the hill from the peak going from ocean views to and enchanting redwood forest to ocean views again. 

Sky camp has several individual sites and one group campsite with a communal water supply and outhouses on a ridge overlooking the point and the Pacific Ocean.  The group site also has two bear boxes and several picnic tables.  The group site is fairly open and exposed, so the windy weather made tent set up (and staying up) a bit of a challenge.  Thankfully the wind died by early evening and the rest of the night was undisturbed. 

It was about this time that we discovered that a) the site has snakes and b) that Moms don’t like snakes (at all).  Luckily, the snakes weren’t anything more dangerous than common gopher snakes, but we did have 4 of them crawl through camp in during the 24 hours we were there.  After the first experience however, several of the Moms retreated to their tents and weren’t seen for an hour. 

Meanwhile, back in camp, the boys had invented their own role playing game and were avidly playing it in several groups.  Because of the number of characters in the game who were getting sick and dying, the adults christened it Dungeons and Dysentery.  The boys were having fun though and we had our own Blackjack tournament to attend to so the adults let them play on.

A quick after dinner hike familiarized the troop with some more of the trails in the area and then it was back to camp and bed. 

The next morning the troop ate, struck camp, and got on the trail early on Mother’s Day.  They were rewarded with quite a view as they turned one last time to view the ocean before heading into the trees.  The windy conditions the day before had blown any haze out of the air and the view was clear as far as the eye could see.  The Farralon Islands seemed close enough to reach out and touch!  The we turned and headed down the hill.  The trip down was done on the Meadow trail which rewarded the troop with some beautiful meadow vistas as they hiked.   When the troop arrived back at the visitors center, they had some time to kill, so they took a look at the exhibits and even had a moment to view a movie about the park.  Then it was back into the vehicles and home after a fun, Mother’s Day campout. 

Participants: Bryce, Owen, Evan, Sebastian, Diego, Ewan, Quinn, Brian, Carl, James, Ben, Payton, Gerrit, Eric

Leaders:  Mr. Polkinghorn, Mrs. Jacobs, Mrs. Delao, Mr. Frazee, Mrs. Fisher

Lessons Learned:  Moms don't like snakes.  Sky camp can be windy.  The boys like role playing games.