Manzana Narrows Backpacking
by Nicolis Inglehart
June 20-21
Troop 26
On June 20th, Troop 26 went on a 7 mile backpacking trip to Manzana Narrows. Because of the heat, amount of younger scouts on the trip, and the information from other hikers that the Narrows were full, we decided not to continue all the way to Manzana Narrows. Instead we only went 4 miles to Ray Camp. This was only an overnight trip and while there was plenty of water in the river, which followed the trail most of the hike, there was poison oak everywhere. Because the water was so close, and it was hot, on many of the river crossings Scouts dipped their hats into the water to cool their body’s down. At the Lost Valley, the first camp, some scouts saw a large water snake slithering down the river.
When we arrived at the trailhead, it was already hot, with almost no breeze to cool us down.
After a brief explanation about the dangers that the trail possessed, and to drink plenty of water, we were hiking away toward Manzana Narrows. Because there was very little shade on the trail, and had a lot of uphill and downhill, we took many breaks. A lot of younger scouts were on the trip, so the older scouts in their patrol took their gear so they could have a lighter load. When we arrived at Fish Camp, which was the lunch spot, we rested and refilled our water bottles. After a 30-35 minute break we hit the trail and arrived in Ray Camp after a 2 mile slog. Most of the scouts dunked their heads into the little pool because they were so hot from the hike. We decided to spend the night there, instead of the Narrows, because we were all incredibly tired. After dinner we had a wonderful campfire. The next morning we packed up our tents, had breakfast, and hit the trail. We arrived at Fish camp after a very fast 3 miles of hiking. There we held a Scouts Own, and said our ups and down of the trip. We also said a prayer of thanks to God. We finally got back to the trailhead after a tiring 1 mile up and down hill climb. At the trailhead, we had a refreshing lunch and some friendship bread. We got into the cars and headed back to the church at approximately 12:00pm. We were all exhausted and ready to go home.
This was an enjoyable, but hot and very tiring hike. It was some of the younger scouts first time backpacking with the troop, giving them experience on what to expect on their next hike.
Here are the Scouts and Adults that went
Bats: Sean Walther, Thomas Eardley, Oorjith Kommarraju, Joey Salgado, David Ebeling
Panther: Owen Schott, Mateo DeFalla, Luke Huang, Tobin Bohley, Sam Schley
Croc: Jonathan Weakliem, Nicolis Inglehart, Jay Miller, Spencer Randall
Fox: Logan Beckstrand, Andrew Duncan, Aidan Pearson
Adults:
Old Goat Patrol: Matt Swider, Kirk Miller, Jim Pearson, Mike Schley
Y-Knot Patrol: Paul Johnson, Steve Schott, Mike Inglehart, Melissa Eardley, Jasonn Beckstrand
