The trip was no sure thing once the weather reports started rolling in, the tour leaders had to make numerous calls, e-mail back and forth and were checking the reports on the Internet on a regular basis. We called out to the rangers at the camp site and they did not seem too worried, but there were still lingering doubts. We decided we would go and make a decision once we got out there.
Just prior to departure on Saturday, the clouds rolled in and Scripps got a good drenching. At that point everyone was second guessing even going out at all. Julian was not expecting snow but we all decided to take the longer way out the 8 freeway and avoid what might be icy roads in the mountains. The forecast called for thunderstorms and rain, but never said how much, along with some general warnings about high winds in the county the weather forecast seemed very uncertain.
The drive out ended up not being too bad, there were a few moments of heavy rain, but most of the time the roads were fine and there was no wind. By the time we got out of the mountains and into the desert the skies had cleared up and there were even blue skies overhead. We sent one last text message home letting everyone know of our good fortune and headed off to camp with no cell coverage.
Once we got there, we got our spots and put up the tents. There happens to be a two tent max in each spot and we were well over that. One year the rangers gave us a bit of grief and made us rearrange the tents so we did our best to spread out and not be too obvious about every site having 3 or 4 tents in it. Turns out the rangers never even stopped by and we worried about it for no good reason. But some thought next time the caravan area would be worth considering.
After the tents were up, most got something to eat. We decided to start with geocaching and delay the trip to the pictographs until sometime later. The leaders said a few things about geocache rules and we made our way off to find our first cache. It was close and easy to find. By the time the last hiker got to the cache area, the cache had been found, passed around and fully inspected. We left Mr Zimmers geo-coin in it since it was close to camp and got him off the hook of having bad Mojo since we knew it would only be a matter of time until someone claimed it. The cache wasn’t in good shape and mostly had some business cards in it, it had a nice prayer in it that we read aloud.
We only had a handful of GPS devices on the trip and those that had them almost immediately ran off in search of the next cache. Most of those that didn’t have the devices decided that they would prefer to go back and swim or hang out in camp. So we went our separate ways.
The second cache could actually be seen from the first cache and was only a few hundred feet away on the other side of a dry gully. It was found quickly too and didn’t have much in it. More business cards and prayers. Undeterred we headed out to the third cache. It was another 1/2 mile up the trail. It was also a pretty easy find, but this cache was advertised to be in good shape and it was. It was filled with patches from visiting scouts and Indian guides. We found a travel bug in it too. We dropped in a trinket or two, plus a patch and in true Scouting fashion left the cache in better condition than we found it. We took the travel bug and replaced it with our own.
We found out latter that the bug we found belonged to cub scout troop 797 in Encinitas. Upon our return I wrote to them through their website, but have yet to hear back. The mission of this bug was to meet other scout groups, so it appears we can help fulfill the mission. We plan on placing the bug in a container in the SR area sometime soon. The mission of our bug was to make it to the ancestral home of Shane S’s family in Germany. Maybe he will meet up with it again.
http://scoutpack797.org
The geocachers headed back, some went swimming with the other scouts and others just hung out in camp.
It wasn’t too long before it was dinner time and the camp was filled with the sights, sounds and smells of scouts working on their cooking merit badges. We set up three of the pop ups since the weather looked like it would turn and we would get some rain. For the most part it stayed nice and we all had an excellent dinner. Most of the scouts shared with the ASMs knowing it was the easiest way to get signed off on the MB. There were some really excellent dishes.
When dinner was over, everything got cleaned up and we started to plan the skits, songs and yells and start the fire. Soon after the fire got going, the rain started and we decided to put the gathering on hold to see if the rain would let up. It didn’t. The rain was just enough to keep us from wanting to sit on the ground during campfire and one of the tents got enough water in it to abandon it for sleeping. But not bad enough that it put the fire out. Some brave (or replace your own word ) scouts and ASMs stood near the fire which kept the front of us warm and dry while our back sides got soaked.
Near us in the caravan area the Indian princesses were having a dance complete with music and sound system. Mr Goodrich pointed out the Steve and Karl’s rules for determining when to leave based on the amount of rain, temp, lightning etc, could be replaced by the simple rule of not leaving until the Indian princesses broke camp. We all agreed it seems like a reasonable rule and not too much of a stretch to think that our ASM were almost as tough as the Indian princesses.
The princesses stayed up and partied until past 9, but most of our troop were in the their tents by 8. They were not sleeping, but they were in the tents. The rain came and went and it seemed like the wind blew the entire night, but all in all it was tolerable and kind of fun.
We got up the next morning and the sky was clear and blue. The breakfast meals were as good as the dinners. Special thanks to Tim D and Troy A for the pancakes and eggs, what a treat! Soon after breakfast everyone was packed. We took some time to stow our own cache out near the caravan area. Hopefully it will show up on the geo-cache site soon. We placed some pins, scout stickers, scout patches and our own travel bug on it. The mission of this bug is to come back to SR. It has the 2010 beaver bell attached to it. We got back and not long after rides showed up and we were off.
Mr Stachwick and Mr Aylwin did stop in Blair Valley with their scouts at the pictographs on the way back. They are very cool and worth the short side trip. The hike was short and nice. We took some picutures and drew our own pictographs in the sand, knowing they would be blown away or trampled in a few short hours and the meaning of the Jeep, Snake and Turtle so crudely etched in those sands would be lost forever.
