Death Valley National Park Trip Details

death-valley-national-park

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January 18 – 20, 2014, Troop 26 will be travelling to Death Valley National Park over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend to experience the geology and adventure of the park. Although its name implies a bleak landscape, Death Valley NP is anything but dead. Death Valley is world renowned for its colorful and complex geology. With all the winter storms and accompanying water, its wildlife and wildflowers should be on display.
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Plan

The troop will leave Santa Barbara on Saturday morning, 1/18, at 5:00 am and drive to 2hrs and then stop for breakfast at McDonald’s. From there we’ll drive to the park and have our sack lunch and hike a slot canyon.

After lunch and a hike up the canyon, we’ll drive to the Furnace Creek campground and setup camp. This will be a car camping trip so meals will be prepared as a troop.

On Sunday, we will travel to Badwater, the lowest elevation in the continental United States (-282 ft elevation), visit the Devil’s Golf Course, do an orienteering exercise, see some attractions.

We will pack up Monday morning, drive to the sand dunes and ride the giant sand dunes (bring your plastic toboggans, old boogie boards or skate decks!) After eating our sack lunches, we’ll head for home with arrival in the early evening.

Meeting Time and Place

Big-5 parking lot at 5:00 am Saturday, 18 January 2014

Packing Checklist

We have a handy checklist that you can download to help you prepare for this trip.

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Additional Details

  • Class B Uniform (Troop t-shirt and cap)
  • We’ll be wearing our uniforms during the car ride and day hike
  • Bring a sack lunch for Saturday
  • Drive time to Death Valley is roughly 6 hours
  • Return to Santa Barbara about 7 pm Monday evening.
  • Scouts will call ahead with a 1 hour notice to meet at St. Mark’s church for pickup.
  • We can have campfires if we have enough room to bring firewood with us.
  • Cooking will be done as a troop with patrols assuming rotating chores.
  • All food, besides Saturday’s sack lunch, will be provided by the troop.
  • Bring everything on the equipment list (backside of this sheet), rain is always a possibility so make sure your gear is in good working condition.

Contact Asst. Scoutmaster Pinner with questions at 963-1971 (W) or 448-8760 (C).

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