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Archive for the '2007 Fall' Category

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Rim of the Bay Hike at Mission Peak

Posted by troop_leadership on November 30th, 2007 filed in Uncategorized, Outings, 2007 Fall, 2007 Winter




Come along on this great Rim of the Bay Hike at Mission Peak!
It’s a great hike that will earn yourself another patch to your collection, and will also burn off any unwanted calories from the night before.
Once at the top, we will eat lunch while at the same time view the entire bay area with excellent views all around. On a good day, you may even be able to see the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The hike will be Saturday, December 8th. Meet at the scout  house at 7:45am for an 8:00am departure. You will be back home no later than 5:00pm.
Read the flyer for more info.
All you need is personal sack lunch, water, ten essentials, and appropriate clothing/footwear.  (no cost).
Reply deadline is Wednesday, December 5th.

Ocean Fishing Trip recap

Posted by robert_fox on November 12th, 2007 filed in Outings, 2007 Fall




By Andreas Vought, Patrol 2 Scribe

We had a great Ocean Fishing trip on the 13th of October. The trip was lead by scout leader Alex Sholtz. We went rock fishing off of Pigeon Point. Everyone had a blast.
    We started by spending the night at San Pedro  Valley County Park in Pacifica. We got there early, giving us lots of time to play football and relax. We had a fantastic salmon and potato dinner. We also had asparagus for dinner followed by a fire and marshmallows. We got to bed pretty early because of the big day ahead of us. We go up early, around 5:00. We drove to the dock and left the Half Moon Bay Marina before 6:00, it was still quite dark. We spent four hours fishing. Everyone caught at least two fish. The fish we caught where rock fish, ling cod, and Cabazon. Some scouts caught as many as 19! I caught five, which my family and I enjoyed that very evening. Last time Troop 57 went Ocean Fishing, almost everyone got very seasick and had an unpleasant time. This year, we only had one person who got sick. I had a great time last year but think this year’s trip was even better. 
Over all I would highly recommend this trip to anybody. If you have any questions about that trip that I have not answered, please feel free to ask



Recap of 2007 Mountain Man Rendezvous

Posted by scout_master on October 24th, 2007 filed in Outings, 2007 Fall




Here’s an email from Mark Christopherson, the Troop 57 ASM outing leader at the 2007 Mountain Man Rendezvous.

Hi Dave,

We had a great trip, but we didn’t bring any camera equipment so I’ll have to write about our experiences instead of show pictures.

Troop Guide Steven Wilbourn did a great job of leading the outing and was ably assisted by Patrol Guides Scotty McComas and Grant Harmon.  We had four drivers (John Crouch, Kien Vi and Howard Look plus me) taking up 14 Scouts so our ratio of adults to kids was also excellent.

The Mountain Man staff at the Boulder Creek camp was expecting 400 Scouts for the Rendezvous (the camp is supposed to hold 300) so they were very meticulous about a tightly packed parking lot and filling the lower campsites first with Weblos and first years.  We were set up in Cubland on Friday night and if you recall that area it is like a sloping football field.  It was filled with a sea of nylon tents and we all shared the covered pavilion with picnic tables for meals.  Naturally, making fire and playing in the fire ring consumed most of that evening and everything was pretty loud and crazy.  But a well-timed rain at just after 10 PM chased everyone into their tents and quickly to sleep.

The morning broke with a slight overcast and quickly burned off to blue skies and perfect temperatures.  Breakfast was dollar pancakes, sausages, oranges, and hot chocolate.  (I forgot coffee for the adults and we searched in vain for the Mountain Man Starbucks!).  We met for a camp wide Flag ceremony and then spent the day going to the various Mountain Man exhibits.  They had Black powder rifles, archery, tomahawk/knife throwing, Dutch-oven cooking, Indian Lore, Spanish vacqueros, candle making, blacksmithing, flint & steel firestarting, panning for real gold, rope-making, and a number of other old-time set-ups.  The volunteers were dressed in period costumes and did an outstanding job of keeping things moving so the throng of boys could get to as many activities as possible.  There was also a trading post where boys could buy “assorted trinkets & mercantile.”

Some of the boys cooked their lunch over an open fire to earn that requirement for Second Class while the rest snacked on sack lunched from home.  Dinner was Hobo Stew and each Scout and adult had to fashion their own foil pouch and fill to taste with hamburger, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, carrots, etc.  After about 30-40 minutes over the coals, we had our feast.  Most of our party pronounced dinner as a success; although, a few struggled with keeping their pouch well-sealed and had a somewhat drier evening repast!

We then spent the evening at a camp-wide campfire with a very talented folk singer/guitarist and a cowboy singer.  Any songs about “road kill” or dismemberment were particularly well-enjoyed by the boys, while the standards like Blowin’ in the Wind and Puff the Magic Dragon were better aimed at an older (much older) audience.  After the long day, some Olympic-caliber log rolling sapped the rest of the group’s energy and it was lights out.


Our breakfast was a mixture of bear claw pastries, bacon, oatmeal and any leftovers.  We quickly struck camp and headed down the mountain in time to get the first year Scouts back to Palo Alto in plenty of time for their Skill Session.

Next year will be the 20^th Mountain Man Rendezvous and they hope to make it even better.


Regards,

Mark Christopherson

Yosemite Recap

Posted by robert_fox on October 22nd, 2007 filed in Outings, 2007 Fall




By Ryan Vertelney, Patrol 4 Scribe
 
            This year at Yosemite, we had a great turn out. Fifty eight kids and seventeen adults showed up for the kickoff Scouting event of the year. Everyone arrived at the Scout House at 4:30, and we started to head \ to Yosemite shortly after that. In my car was Walker Mees, Sam Moses, and myself. My driver was my dad, Harry Vertelney. About a 1/3 of the way up, many scouts and their drivers stopped at an In-n-Out Burger in Manteca. After we ate, we continued our trip up to Yosemite. Once we arrived, we had to set up our tents in the cold, dark campground. Once our tents were set up, most of us went straight to sleep. The next morning we got up at 7:00 am and started to make breakfast in the freezing cold. To make matters worse, our fire did not want to start, but thankfully we had hot chocolate to warm us up. A little bit later, the leaders had a  meeting to decide which hike each patrol was going to go on. My patrol (patrol 4) got North Dome. Our hike started out great and everyone liked it, but then it started to get up hill. Many of our scouts did not like how it was so hilly. Finally after 4 hard miles, we stopped for lunch. After a short break, the adults on our hike (Harry Vertelney and Tom Haverstock) decided that we should go to the point of north dome. It was a mile out and a mile back out of our way. It was a very downhill slope on the way there, and an uphill climb on the way back. Once we got to the point, we looked of a cliff to see a great view. While we were there, a Spanish speaking lady talked to us, and our patrol leader Joey translated for us. When we started to head back up, everyone’s feet hurt really bad. When we hit the very uphill part, they were really stinging. The hike finally ended at 4:45 pm. Aside from our feet hurting, (especially mine because I had bad shoes and they gave me quarter sized blisters) and some of the scouts were angry that we had to go an extra two miles with hurting feet, we had a very good time. When we got back to camp, we made dinner. My patrol made hobo stew. Everyone thought it was very good. Following dinner were troop skits. Patrol 4’s skit was J.C. Penny. Then everyone went to sleep. When we woke up in the morning, we packed everything up and ate breakfast. We headed out by 9:30 to take pictures on Olmstead point. At 10:15, we went to a campground and did an hour of community service, cleaning up campgrounds. After that, we drove back to Palo Alto. It was a very fun trip for all.

Pictures from the trip:
Troop 57 Pictures from Olmstead Point
Patrol 3 hike pictures
Patrol 4 hike pictures

Rock Climbing Trip photos

Posted by robert_fox on September 21st, 2007 filed in Outings, 2007 Fall




Here are some photos taken on the recent rock climbing half-day by Byron Jones. More rock climbing trips are coming this semester.

Click here to see the photos

 

 

 

2007 Kayak Trip

Posted by asm_group on September 17th, 2007 filed in Outings, 2007 Fall




With 2 person ocean Kayaks, cross Tomalas bay, explore Hog Island, then camp on a beach in the Point Reyes Elk Range practising Leave No Trace camping. All water, food, and equipment must be carried in your kayak. All waste must be packed out leaving a clean pristene beach. After a campfire and restfull night, get on the water as the morning fog lifts and return back to Palo Alto by mid-afternoon.
Trip Flyer;
Pack List;
Rental Agreement;
Medical Release;
Map;
Itinerary

Año Nuevo Rock Cod Ocean Fishing Trip

Posted by asm_group on September 7th, 2007 filed in Outings, 2007 Fall




Join us for a day on the ocean October 14, 2007, in the vicinity of Año Nuevo, fishing for rock fish, lingcod & cabazon, and watching for whales and great white sharks.

The California Department of Fish & Game shut down the rockfish season north of Pigeon Point two months early, so we won’t be going to the Farallones, BUT there are still lots of great places to fish south of Pigeon Point.  Since we are fishing for rockfish, we WILL be catching fish this year (unlike some of the salmon trips the last couple of years).

We will be teaching the fishing merit badge, and I see no reason why everyone on the trip who wants to can’t complete every requirement while on the boat (except for cooking the fish, which you can satisfy with an e-mail to me from your folks attesting that you indeed cooked your fish).

We are going in October, which is the best time for both calm water and for seeing great white sharks gorging on the local elephant seals (Año Nuevo is now the largest mainland breeding colony in the world for the northern elephant seals).  The area from Año Nuevo north to Point Reyes and then out to the Farallon Islands 27 miles offshore forms a region called the "Red Triangle", and more great white shark attacks occur in this region than anywhere else in the world.  The name Red Triangle is a rather gruesome one, likely originating from the blood slicks that often make the ocean run red after a shark attack. And right smack in the middle of this triangle is…? You guessed it! Año Nuevo Point.

Although we have a good chance of calm waters, I would encourage everyone to take motion sickness medication.  It is cheap & easy insurance to make sure you have a good time on the water, instead of hanging over the rail.  There is no shame in taking the drugs — many of the best fishermen are, believe it or not, prone to motion sickness and take meds religiously before setting out.

Check out the flyer (click here), sign up, and see you on the water.

Fall Yosemite Trip

Posted by swilbourn on September 4th, 2007 filed in Outings, Announcement, 2007 Fall




Yosemite is glorious in the fall with the meadows starting to change colors and the days becoming cooler.  We will have our fall Yosemite trip on the weekend of September 30th this year, and as usual, we will be going to Porcupine Flats campground up near Toulumne Meadows with the troop leadership working with each of the patrols to choose a 5-10 mile hike in the Yosemite Sierra.  We will clean up campgrounds as a conservation project on the Sunday before heading back for Palo Alto.

This is the trip for everybody in the troop to come together and establish the patrol structure as well as get your camping gear ready for action.  It’s a combination of introduction for the new scouts, great hiking, and leadership for the boys who have been in the troop for a while.  If there is one trip that you want to have on your fall calendar, this is it.