Anza Borrego Dome Lands Wind Caves Backpack

                                                December 3 – 4, 2022

All,

As mentioned in last week’s Troop meeting, if your scout is interested in going to Summer Camp, we will be attending the July 16^th (week 6) Summer Camp in Emerald Bay, Catalina Island (see details below)!

Our troop gathered in the Target parking lot at 7 AM sharp. Everyone was eager and anxious to start our two day backpacking trek on San Jacinto Mountain. We left promptly at 7:15, allowing us to reach the Palm Springs Arial Tramway station at around 8:45 AM. Following that, we bought tram tickets and rode the 9:30 AM tram to the top of the mountain, climbing almost 6,000 feet in elevation. The temperature on the mountain was a brisk 62 degrees.  We then began our 2.3 mile backpack to our campsite in Round Valley. Although the trail was hard to follow in a few locations and had several switchbacks resulting in some scouts pulling ahead of others, Clayton, our SPL for the trip, managed to stop everyone regularly to make sure we were on the same path. We finally reached Round Valley at 12:45 PM. Clayton and two ASM’s surveyed all available campsites in the valley and located the best one for us to claim.

Dear Troop 636,

Beginning on July 28th, 9 scouts and 3 adults trekked over 50 miles through Yosemite as well as climbing Half Dome. The A trek lasted 8 days and 7 nights. Our first day began with an early morning long drive up the 395 valley and with a Leave no Trace presentation from a ranger where we got our permits. Then, we set off. The first day was short, but it was a fairly steep uphill that helped get everyone accustomed to the altitude. We stopped at May Lake, which was a beautiful and perfectly still lake that made for a very photogenic reflection on the water. The campsite itself had bathrooms that were not in service, and it was a great site for realizing the severity of the mosquito problem we had ahead of us. Mosquitoes aside, it was a great stay and we set off early the next morning. Our hike that day was through the forest at first, where we got slightly off course, then along an exposed path along a rocky edge. There was an amazing view of the forest beneath when we reached the highest point on this trail, then it was downhill from there. Our next stop was Glen Aulin which had a beautiful, rapid waterfall where we went for a swim in very cold water. We sunned ourselves on the rock afterwards. The next morning, we left fairly early and set off across the sketchy wooden walkway in freezing cold morning temperatures. It was a relatively easy trail that day, with beautiful views along waterways. Our next stop was the “car camp” at Tuolumne Meadows where we had our resupply and shuttled the cars. This stop had one of the most fun activities, which was a river with a spot to slide down, and multiple rock jumping spots into frigid water. The next morning, we had some questionable pancakes and trekked up our steepest trail day. It was very open with nice views to make up for the tough trail. Our next stop, Vogelsang, had arguably the best view of any campsite. We were beside a lake just below a peak at around 10,000 feet. There was nothing visible beyond the lake, which really helped emphasize that you were at the highest point in visibility, aside from the peak right next to you. We did some climbing and sledding in trash bags on the snow along the steep hill, which was very fun. The next day was a beautiful hike over Vogelsang Pass, the highest point on our Trek. We then descended to Merced Lake, and the next day to the campsite at the base of Half Dome. There the river was slow moving with an area large and deep enough to jump into from a shallow rock. Most of the scouts spent the remainder of the day playing mafia with another Scout troop, with the remaining scouts having some water filter issues that took up their night. The morning of the climactic Half Dome day was an early one, waking up at 3:45. We began hiking to the base of Half Dome with day packs and headlamps, and just as we reached the base of the “sub dome” (the final steep climb along open rocks before reaching the cables), the sun was climbing over the mountain east of us. After the test of everyone’s cardiovascular system, we reached the cables. The cables run up along a steep rock face, attached to poles coming straight out of it. We climbed the rock with carabiners for extra safety measures and enjoyed the view of all of Yosemite valley beneath us. We made our way back down Half Dome and trekked back into the “normie” world where there were many daytime tourists hiking around crowded trails. By the time we were at our final stop everyone was ready to leave. We were treated to a shower and pizza at Curry Village, slept under the stars, then got out early the next morning after a somewhat emotional rose-bud-thorn.

Dear Troop 636,

Effective immediately BSA has changed the requirements for registered adults camping with scouts. Adults going on campouts of 72 hours or longer must have leader specific online training, in-person Introduction to Outdoor Skills training, youth protection training, and registered at council as an adult volunteer. Please note that in our troop we only pay for adult registration for voluteers that are active participants on the assistant scoutmaster team, or have a position on the committee. After our May Court of Honor we will briefly discuss this.