Historian Post – Scouting for Food
By Alex Randall
Scouting for food is an event where the local Boy Scout troops go out and gather food from the community to donate to the food bank. On Tuesday the 10th of March, troop 26 went out to drop off bags for people to donate food in the first part of this trip. We conducted the drop off before the meeting and pizzas were provided after. The final stage of this activity consisted of picking up any bags filled with food on March 14 Saturday morning.
After the troop collected the bags we headed back to the church to put all of the food in our backpacks in order to hike the food to the food bank. Once we got to the food bank we emptied our bags of food into a container to get weighed. However, there was no scale this year which is different compared to other years where the grand total of the amount of food was weighed and was a competition between other troops. This year there was less food donated this year compared to other years past. We suspect the coronavirus is too blame to the shortage of food being donated due to a shortage of non-perishable foods in stores. This trip consisted of 14 scouts being Keenan B, Thomas and Charlie E, Jay Miller, Evan P, Aiden P, Jaxon P, Jonathan R, Sam S, Alex R, Jonathan W, Cash Williams, and Duke.
Troop 26 Newsletter – May 2019
Scoutmasters Message:
Welcome back to the Troop 26 newsletter! We’re doing a lot of great activities, and want everyone to know what’s coming up and what has happened We’re just back from a great trip to Horseshoe Bend – about 10 miles total hiking, but lots of swimming, playing in the creek, relaxing, etc. I think this trip will appear on the calendar again next year with as much as everyone seemed to enjoy it!
We have a number of other trips coming up as we gear up for two Sierra Treks (the ‘older’ trip will be the final one for a number of our scouts) – and we’re welcoming some new scouts to our troop this spring too, so come on out, and let’s show our newest troop members how it’s done in Troop 26!
Upcoming Events:
Tues May 7, Parent Committee meeting
May 17-19 OA Ordeal
Sat May 18 – Playground Day hike (Johnson)
Sat June 1 – night hike (Belfiore)
Sat/Sun June 7/8 – Overnight backpacking (SB Backcountry – Bear Creek?) (Weakliem)
Tues June 11, Timmy Hirsch Eagle Court of Honor
Thurs June 20 – Stow House Parking volunteering (4-8pm)
Sun June 23 – Sun June 29 – Emerald Bay Summer camp
Catalina Island Backpacking Trek:
March 25-29, 2019
Fifteen Scouts and three ASMs (Belfiore, Brown & Schley) enjoyed a beautiful five-day trip on Catalina Island. We drove early on March 25 from Big 5 to San Pedro and took the Catalina Express Ferry to Two Harbors. We then hiked to Little Harbor for a one-night stay, and hiked back to Two Harbors for the second night stay. We hiked the next day to Parsons Landing. This included a stop and a tour at Cherry Valley, a good option to consider for future Catalina summer camp stays.
Parsons Landing was particularly beautiful. We had virtually no company. We camped on the beach and played in the surf. Several scouts got signoffs for building fires, cooking and other skills.
Between the two nights at Parsons Landing, we took a day hike to Starlight Beach. The trail down the cliff to this beach was washed out, so we did not actually stop and play on the beach. However, the trail and beach scenery were well worth the trip.
Catalina was a deep, rich green all around, with scattered patches of spring flowers. The weather was optimal – cool in the daytime, and not really cold at night. We saw two buffalo in front of us after we turned a corner on the trail climbing from Two Harbors. They were peacefully chomping grass, but we didn’t stick around to get acquainted.
On March 29 we hiked to Two Harbors, where we spent several hours, then returned on the ferry to San Pedro and drove home to St. Marks, arriving near midnight.
Overall mileage: 37 miles Total elevation gain: 9,026 (Source: Gaia GPS mapping)
Scout meals: 180 packed, 177 consumed by humans, 3 consumed by very sneaky scavengers.
Report by Mike Schley, ASM
Trail Talk – Ultralight Backpacking and Gear
Trail Talk: Ultralight Backpacking and Gear with Litehikers Rik Christensen and Paul Cronshaw – Central
Thursday, March 21, 2019 – 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
At Central Library – Faulkner Gallery
Event Details
Learn the benefits of ultralight gear and how to lighten your load on the trail. Rik and Paul are both avid outdoorsmen and have logged many a mile surveying and maintaining trails as Volunteer Wilderness Rangers for Los Padres National Forest. Through their expertise they have also provided design ideas to Gossamer Gear which manufactures ultralight gear.