It has been a very busy August! First, the troop put on a weekend summer camp for our 1st year scouts that were unable to attend the week-long camps earlier in the summer. On the first weekend of August we headed up to Camp Pahatsi, an abandoned scout camp in the Tahoe National Forest just below Donner Summit. The scouts worked on cooking requirements, swimming and water rescue, and basic camping skills. Six of the scouts completed my wilderness survival merit badge course. This is a course I designed last summer for newer scouts that didn't have the chance to go to a regular scout camp. Starting early in the morning the boys worked on survival techniques such as fire starting, water filtration, making recognition symbols and shelter building.
Three of the six scouts survived an early morning survival polar bear dip with me in Kilgore Lake. One of the things I encourage scouts to do with my course is to take a a short walk into the lake fully clothed, then go on a short one mile hike around the camp while soaking wet. Though not a requirement for the merit badge I encourage the boys to do this so they get an idea of how wet and miserable they may be in a real survival situation and how to keep a positive attitude. I am very proud of the scouts that did it and I can say that they kept a positive attitude all through the hike.
Gavin (center) leading the scouts on a hike.
The highlight of the weekend is their survival shelters. The scouts were broken up into two teams of three and they each spent several hours collecting materials and building a shelter just large enough to fit all three. Each team came up with a different design. In addition to the natural materials I allowed each team to use up to two tarps per shelter. Not only did they have a blast doing this but they each spent the night in their shelters. The look on their faces when I woke them up Sunday morning at 6 AM was priceless -- they were all amazed to still be alive!
From left: Spencer, Jeff and Zac work on their shelter.
Hunter and Adam inspect their shelter.
Ready for the night: Spencer, Zac and Jeff (pictured) make final adjustments to their shelter.
Ready for the night: Hunter, Adam and Ben's shelter.
Teaching the scouts how to make a natural water filter out of leaves, pebbles, sand, dirt and charcoal.
Me just chilling on the lake.
The troop followed this outing with a combined backpack/canoe trip to Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe. I wasn't able to attend this outing but all the reports I received were positive, and more than one ASM was surprised that nobody tipped a canoe and ended up swimming their gear to shore.
This last weekend I organized a short backpack trip into Salmon Lake and Loch Leven in the Tahoe National Forest. Considering that it was Labor Day weekend and the last weekend before school started I was expecting somewhere between 4-8 adults/scouts to be interested in the trip. I was pleasantly surprised when 10 adults and 16 scouts made the trip.
One thing I did differently for this outing was to not present a formal program. Typically on an outing such as this the program follows various skill sessions during the hike in, some sort of skill or game to do once you arrive at your destination, then some free time in the evening hours before crawling into your sleeping bag. I decided to do away with the formal program and allow each scout to design his own program based on what rank requirements or merit badges they were working on. Of the 10 adults going nine were ASMs so we had plenty of trained leaders to break the scouts up into small groups to work on their various requirements. This worked out rather well and the scouts seemed to really enjoy the lack of a set program and the freedom of a more informal environment.
A quick word of warning for Scoutmasters and ASMs: Loch Leven is a unique terrain situated to just this type of outing. The back way into the lochs from Salmon Lake is less than three miles and the lochs themselves are a series of three lakes separated only by altitude instead of mileage. Before you decide to try a more informal approach like this one first research the terrain: does it allow enough latitude for the scouts to break up into various groups so they have enough room to work on their various skills without running into the other groups?
There are two ways into the Loch Leven Trail System: a three-mile slog up-hill from I-80 (Tahoe National Forest: Loch Leven Trail System) or a shorter route up past Long Valley Reservoir along dirt roads to the Salmon Lake trail head (Salmon Lake). If you are using this outing for training or just to get mileage then I recommend you start at the I-80 trail head. If you have younger scouts and want a more enjoyable but still challenging outing then the Salmon Lake option is the way to go.
The plan was simple, drive up Friday evening, hike the mile into Salmon Lake, camp, then hike the remaining two miles into the three lochs Saturday morning. From there we would see where the rest of the day would take us. I only had two concerns: one, the smoke from the Rim Fire down in Yosemite, and would the area be crowded with campers looking to get away for the weekend? The first turned out to not be a problem at all. I kept a close watch on the weather reports of the area every day for a week before we left. As it was we saw the smoke layer on our hike in as it was blown east toward Truckee and Tahoe. We had a crystal clear night Friday. The other was something I was gambling on.
My previous experience with the area told me that the backpacking season for Loch Leven started to wind down by mid-August. For Labor Day most of the campers would be heading for more established campgrounds where they could have huge campfires -- typically by August the forest had fire restrictions in place and no ground fires were allowed.
The gamble paid off. When we arrived there were two small sedans at the trail head. As it turned out one of our ASMs had a flat tire on the way up the fire road so we left a handful of adults to wait for him while the rest of us headed up the trail for Salmon Lake. I wanted to get to the lake and see if any sites were available or if the hikers that belonged to the two sedans had already moved on to the lochs.
A mile may not sound like a very long distance and that it should have been covered in no time at all. Let me remind you that we are at altitude, close to 4,000 feet, and even though we are missing the three-mile hike up from I-80 we still have over 800 feet to climb before reaching our destination. Darkness was closing in fast as we came in sight of the lake below. There was a large campfire burning and I could hear a large and somewhat obnoxious group below. I left Logan (our troop SPL) and the adults with the scouts at a large clearing and headed down to scout out the lake and see if there was enough room for us. On the way down I passed another small clearing that I decided would be our campsite for the night if the lake was not a possibility. The closer I got to the lake the louder the group was and by the language and some of the conversation I could tell there was alcohol in abundance.
Not to say anything negative about this group of campers -- they seemed nice enough on the surface and they were simply out looking to relax and enjoy the weekend just like I was. But number one, they had started a fire in an area where restrictions had been placed so they had already placed my life and the lives of my scouts in danger. Second was the alcohol and third was their language. I didn't want my scouts around that so I decided we would camp up above the lake in the clearing I had passed through. I climbed back up to where Logan and the rest of the scouts waited and brought them down to the clearing. By this time darkness had fallen and we were using flashlights to set up camp.
One note about younger scouts that are still new to backpacking: they will take their cues from your older scouts. The more experience they have backpacking, the less explaining you will have to do to your younger scouts as to why here? The majority of the scouts on this trip had maybe two trips under their belts, for the majority it was their first time camping in the back-country. And I was asking them to drop their packs and make camp literally in the middle of nowhere. I want to thank Logan, Brain and Marcus -- all scouts that have been on numerous backpack trips and are used to making camp anywhere at anytime. They didn't miss a beat: they dropped their packs and laid out their bedrolls in less than a few minutes. The younger guys mirrored them and everybody was ready for bed within 20 minutes of arriving.
We had three women on this trip so Emily Malcolm had brought in materials to make a womens-only latrine. She had that up and ready before most of us had even dug into our dinners. We were pretty well spread out so Logan and I made a sweep of the perimeter just so we knew where each adult/scout was located in case of any emergencies. I found two trees that were perfect for my hammock and set up. By 10 PM the camp was quiet and those not asleep were gazing up at the stars.
If you have never slept outside in a wilderness setting then it is difficult to describe how sharp the stars are at night. The stars were crystal clear and once our eyes adjusted to the night the stars provided all the light we needed. The Milky Way was a thin strip of fog stretching across the entire sky and we saw shooting stars every few minutes. As I drifted off to sleep I couldn't think of a better image to have in my head.
It seems to be a fact of life that scouts never sleep in on Saturday, but never seem to want to wake up on Sunday. The opposite holds true for adults. So I was not surprised at all to hear scouts rustling around at 5:30 in the morning. I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and turned over in my hammock hoping for a few more minutes sleep. By six I figured that I was wide awake and might as well get up and start my day. I poked my head out of my hammock only to see Emily stifle a laugh. Apparently she thinks I look like a groundhog popping its head out of its hole to see what's going on.
The campsite, smack in the middle of the trail.
Breakfast time.
Ryan packs his gear.
From left: Marcus, Joey and Angus enjoy breakfast.
My hammock.
By seven everyone was wide awake and chowing down on breakfast. I dressed and packed my gear and went over the morning's agenda with Logan, Brian and Marcus. All three were working on the Search and Rescue merit badge and this morning they were going to be conducting a hasty search for...me. At some point in the next hour I was going to disappear and the three scouts would need to break the party into three teams and search all three lochs until they found me. Once the exercise was complete they could break up into their groups based on what requirements they were working towards and we would plan out the rest of our day. I quickly touched base with all the adults to let them know the plan and headed out toward the lower loch around 8:30. There was no hurry and I took my time going over the next two ridges before the lower loch came into view.
The trail to the lochs.
A lot of this trail is over bare rock. Notice the rocks placed to line the trail.
The trail up. Notice the duck on the right (the pile of rocks stacked on top of each other.)
The trail up. The duck in the upper right marks the trail.
Still going up.
Looking back.
Back into the forest.
And back to bare rock...
The final push to the lower loch.
From here I could see the lower loch through the trees.
Lower Loch Leven.
I came across a family of five camping at the lower loch and after a short introduction was able to determine that no one else was camping in the area. I scouted out a few sites around the loch then continued up the main trail to the middle loch. There was a campsite there I had seen a few years before and thought that might make a great location for tonight's camp. Sure enough when I hit the middle loch 15 minutes later it was deserted. I found the site that I remembered and slowly made up camp. I spread out my gear so the search team would be able to see my name written on the various pieces. After I set up my hammock and made the place as comfortable as I could get it I changed into my swim trunks and water shoes then headed up the rock ridge above the camp to sit and wait for the search parties.
The trail up to the middle loch.
Almost there.
The middle loch.
I have to hand it to them, they were a little later than I expected, but they had read the terrain and split up their teams into a high and low. I heard them coming from a long way off, but they didn't allow time for me to answer back, so any noise I would have made would not have been heard. I saw too scouts on the ridge above looking down but they didn't see me because they never looked forward, just down. At that angle they were not able to see my camp below either. The rest of the party marched right by my camp. A scout did mention that he thought it was my gear laid out but they kept right on going. I stepped out into view and the scouts on the ridge above finally saw me and called out. I gathered up the group and we discussed what they had done right and what they can do better next time. It was a great exercise and I think they learned a lot from it.
They headed back to the lower loch to inform everybody where I was then they split up to camp on their own. I was allowing the scouts to make their own camps anywhere between the three lakes. One group led by Emily stayed down at the lower loch and two groups stayed up at the middle loch. Tom Moore led a short hike up to the upper loch to scope out any campsites but decided to stay at the middle loch instead. Jamie Robb, Dean Roberts, Craig Warriner and Steve Wells liked my camp and moved right in. After the adults and scouts made themselves comfortable they quickly ate lunch and Steve and Dean took a group of scouts on a five mile hike around all three lakes. This is a 1st Class requirement and Steve tossed in some geocaching, orienteering and first aid problems to round out the hike. Jamie changed into his swim trunks and helped me set up a swimming area for the scouts.
There isn't much more for to say beyond that for the rest of the day. The other adults took over at that point and went hiking or swimming with the scouts. I crawled onto a rock and played lizard for a while just soaking up the sun. I changed and hiked down to the lower loch to visit with Emily for an hour then headed back to camp just in time for dinner. I had a Knorr packet of Spanish Rice that I added boiling water to and let sit for a few minutes. Then I added some olive oil, packaged tuna and salsa verde packets from Del Taco. I made a cup of Zen tea with the remaining hot water. While the mix was still absorbing the water I gathered up some more water from the lake and set that to boiling for cleanup then dug into my packet. It was delicious. I finished that off with a Hostess Apple Pie and washed it all down with a post-dessert mug of Tang. It may not sound like much of a meal but sitting on a log, watching the sunlight bounce off the lake water just before the sun disappears beyond the ridge: it was a piece of heaven.
The campsite.
The view of the loch from the campsite.
Jamie's humble abode.
Duct tape can fix anything...
Craig and Matt making dinner.
My dinner.
After dinner Jamie and Craig took their sons for a hike to the upper loch and Steve ran three scouts through some first aid drills. Just before twilight Steve told the scouts that they would finish up tomorrow and to go goof off for a while.They didn't need any encouragement and promptly found the nearest rock slab and run up and down it dozen times.
For me, this was it. I was sitting on a log, drinking a mug of semi-warm Tang, enjoying the company of scouts and scouters, looking over a lake that was three miles from the nearest road. I couldn't think of a better place to be, or better people to enjoy it with.
As we were getting ready for bed a group of campers on the other side of the lake started up a big campfire. They must have used some fuel because one second there was nothing then the next a bright orange glow. Some of the scouts asked why we didn't start a fire (at heart all scouts are pyros and the adults are the worst of the bunch) but we had a discussion about the Rim Fire and the restrictions in place because of the fire and the dryness of the area. Most of the scouts were already aware that the dirt in the Sierras isn't really dirt at all but very fine ground up tree bark that can ignite with just the tiniest spark.
A little after midnight we had our first surprise: rain drops. Even though Emily had spotted some thunder clouds earlier in the day they seemed to be moving away from us and there was no other indication of rain in the forecast. But we were in the Sierras, and the Sierras sometimes has a mind of its own. But scouts being scouts, especially the group we had with us, the only sound you heard in camp was everyone rearranging their tarps to cover themselves and their buddy. There were no complaints about the weather, no complaints about not having tents...just the matter of fact way of scouts solving a problem. This is one of the perks of being a scouter -- the sense of pride that I felt in those scouts at that moment was overwhelming and hard to describe. The Sierras had thrown them a curveball and they knocked it down the right field line for a base hit.
My breakfast part I...well and a cinnamon roll.
My breakfast part II...my wife Ami made these delicious muffins with chocolate and marshmallows inside.
We had a little bit more rain that night but nothing that really concerned us. Everybody woke up refreshed and dry in the morning. I packed up a little early, ate a quick breakfast and headed out to the camp at the lower loch. I told Jamie, Dean and Steve that there was no hurry and I would meet them at the lower camp. When I arrived Logan and Brian were just getting up and drying out their gear. Marcus was climbing rocks and eating Slim Jims. Emily was packing up her gear and everyone else was down at the lake filtering water.
The trail to the lower loch. You can tell how much it rained.
The women's latrine.
Logan sucking on a squeeze bottle of Nutella.
Brian and Marcus.
Everyone arrived at the lower camp an hour later and all the scouts did a quick sweep of the area to collect any trash we might have left behind. Before we pulled on our packs for the hike out I asked the younger scouts if anyone knew the way out. Travis, a two-year scout raised his hand very confidently and said he knew the way back to the trail head. I remembered Travis on his first backpack trip to Black Mountain in the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve just nine months before and was impressed with how he had matured as a scout from then to now. Then he was a bundle of nerves that was positive we were all going to be eaten by a pack of ravenous deer. Now he was raising his hand quite high and very confident and take charge in his answer. His eyes sparked up a bit when I told him he was the lead for the group.
On the way out, Tyler (front) and Harrison ham it up for the camera.
One thing I encourage, and to some point demand, on hikes that I organize is group hiking. I have been on trips before where the entire group was on the trail and headed to the same destination, but we might be spread out over a mile or more in smaller groups. What I wanted our scouts to learn was that group hiking was about the group as a whole, and not how fast any one person could travel. My rule was that we start together and we finish together. If you can't see the guy, or gal, behind you it is time to call a halt. There are any number of safety reasons for this and I go over all of them before we start a hike. We hike by Crew Rules which means we have a designated leader, a point and a sweep. Anybody in the line can call a halt and the whole line stops. I am proud to say that Travis did a wonderful job as point, he kept us all together and we all ended up the trail head at the same time.
On the way back to the trail head.
We did this in the dark?
I don't remember this section!
Trail break!
Emily Malcolm.
The final push to the trail head...
On the way home we stopped off at our favorite hole-in-the-wall burger joint Colfax Max in Colfax and enjoyed their tasty burgers and even better milkshakes. Whenever the troop is on an outing along I-80 this is the place we eat lunch at on the way home. I usually feel bad for the handful of people running the place when we arrive because when we arrive we invade the place. For a diner that has two corner booths, four regular booths and a dozen bar seats we really fill up the place. I always let our waitress know that we just came back from a camping trip and that we are no hurry to eat, you get to us when you get to us. I always enjoy seeing the flushed face relax just a little with the knowledge that we are not going to give her a hard time. Our scouts are always polite when we are there and make sure they thank the waitress and the cook for their hard work. If you have have the opportunity to stop in I recommend any of the burgers and my personal favorite is the eggnog milkshake.
I want to thank all the adults that went on the trip: Emily Malcolm, Tom Moore, both Dean Mar and Dean Roberts, Jamie Robb, Sharon Rich, Craig Warriner, Steve Wells, and especially Jessica Wingert for going way out of her comfort zone. Without your support and guidance trips like this wouldn't be possible. I may dream up the crazy idea but you are the ones that make it happen.
Efharisto poli!
