Patrol 402 held its patrol outing this past weekend. Things got off to a rocky start. After a month of planning, the Foothills Nature Preserve Rangers called to inform us that the campground had been closed because of concerns of falling trees. The Rangers were nice enough to let us camp at the Oak Grove picnic area, so we didn’t have to reschedule. At the Campout two scouts worked on their cooking requirements for the camping merit badge and four scouts performed campfire skits and activities towards their communications merit badges. The next morning we had a early wake up and one of our scouts gave a class on lashings. After that, we met with Ruth from the “Friends of Foothills” and helped clear Yellow Star Thistle, an invasive species from Eastern Europe, from a large section of the Foothills Preserve. Ruth gave a class on the species, how it was to believed to have come to California and the Foothills Preserve, and what the Friends of Foothills is doing to help. Our team of Scouts cleared several large bags in about 3 hours. After that, we broke for a great lunch of veggie burgers and had a “rose, thorn, bud” session as we wound up the Campout and returned home. It was a action packed weekend with many scout choosing as there “bud” a wish to return to Foothills again soon.
