Here are some random observations and things I enjoyed, but didn’t put in the daily log. Feel free to add your own, or even disagree. I thought some of these things might be helpful to first year scouts assuming we do a simialr trip next year.
One morning Dr Laura and Mr Stachwick saw a young bear in a campsite near the bathrooms. It was up on the picnic table and really scared the people at that site when they came out of their tent. Those folks chased it away easily. The whole bear box thing may seem like a lot of trouble, but the bears are there, so heed the warnings if you ever go.
Some of us were concerned about not having cold storage and an ice chest. It really works out better to not bring them. The boxes get full enough with everyones food and it’s good practice for the backpacking trip.
First timers should not worry about running out of food. The store is close, so it’s not really necessary to bring lots of extra food too eat. I could have brought half as much as I did.
The daypacks that seemed to work the best are the ones that had some kind of hip belt. It seemed like the boys that did not have a hip belt had a bit harder time of it on the trail after the second day.
On the North Dome hike it might be nice to stash some water a mile or two into the hike on the way out, then pick it up on the return. Nobody ran out, but why carry it all that way.
Dinner out in the meadow was so much nicer than just sitting in camp. It was a little bit of a walk, but it was nice to watch to watch the sun go down and go over the days events.
We did a campfire program one of our first nights there. It was a talk on the Coyote, everyone seemed to enjoy the part where we all howled and yipped.
A couple of the nights there was a camp playing drums. I found it to be kind of creepy, but also relaxing, if that makes any sense. I fell asleep pretty easy the nights the drums played.
On way back from the day hikes where we drove to the trail head, the boys in my car sang along to “American Pie” with SPL David as lead vocalist, we usually did this just as we returned to camp, with the windows down and the boys singing as loud as they could. It made for some interesting looks from those in the camp ground.
Ice Cream really hits the spot after a long hike.
The sun showers worked pretty good, I should have had more than one. The daily “swims” kept everyone mostly clean, but the shower was great.
With all the swimming we did in our shorts and shirts, you don’t need to pack a fresh set of clothes for each day. Just hang your wet things on the clothes line and let them dry, after getting back from the swim. I could have brought half as many clothes.