We got up to Mataguay early, there was more than just Troop 301 there. In all there were about 90 people. We got everything into our packs pretty quickly then headed over to the barn for a quick lecture on bringing enough water and knowing where we were going. Funny thing, they didn’t hand out maps, but they did offer water for those that didn’t have any.
We hiked up the road for a few minutes and then made our first stop, there was some discussion about equipment, mostly about getting good inexpensive shoes. Since most of us had done the 20 mile SR2DaC hike, the talk about having good shoes was a lesson we had already learned. We also heard about the importance of loosening our packs when near water. Since most of had also been to Yosemite in one form or another, it was another lesson that we had already been exposed to. It soon became apparent that many of this trips lessons would reinforce so many of the things we have already learned.
We hiked a bit more until we came to the “tree line”. It wasn’t due to altitude, but it was our last good chance at shade for a while, so we stopped again for snack and a lecture about the importance of sun protection. We continued on for a short while and got to our lunch spot. We stopped here for a good long while, everyone had something to eat and many of the boys climbed on the rocks while the adults just hung out. I think, I heard more than one person from Troop 301 saying, “Mmmmm, Peanut Butter”. Before we took off again we talked about food and nutrition during back packing.
We then hiked out to view point and were shown San Gorgonio, Warner Hot Springs, Mt Palomar and some of the other sights of the San Diego back country. Our guides took an opportunity to give us some first aide advice and some of it was different than the things the boys had been learning up until now. Of course everyone knows the first aide info is always being updated. So it’s not surprising to get conflicting advice. From this point it was all down hill to our camp site. We stopped one more time to discuss back country critters.
We finally arrived in camp and though it wasn’t a long distance, I think about 5 miles, it was a long day. Most everyone pitched their tent. Mr Stachwick soon discovered his tent was missing the poles and rain fly. He did the best he could with what he had and when done it sort of looked like a tent. Shortly after that he crawled into the tent to find the poles and then then the rain fly.
For dinner the boys all had Lasagna and the adults had what ever they happened to bring. The older boys practiced cooking the Philmont way. After dinner we headed out to hear another lecture. This one by “Light Weight Bob”. In case your wondering he gets his name from the fact that his pack and equipment are so light. The highlight of the evening was when Bob demonstrated his alcohol stove and since you can’t see the flame in the light we turned the lights out to see the cool blue glow of his stove. The low light came a few minutes later when two scouts from another troop could not hold down their dinner. Shortly after that we headed back to camp. We all agreed to get up at 6:00 and get an early start.
But by 6:00 that morning it was sooooo cold most could not pull themselves out of their tents until quite some later. It felt like the temperature was about in the mid 30s, but the weather report said it was only down to 40. Of course we know how reliable the weather people can be. After breakfast everyone packed up and headed back to take the “test” to get their patches, which was the last item of the trip.
I think the biggest thing the boys learned was that everyone does things different and different is sometimes not better or worse, it is just different.