This piedra blanca trip was, as usual, a great success. The scouts had a great time hiking in our wilderness, and witnessed many beautiful feats of nature as always.
We got to camp about 11 AM, and spent about 1 ½ hours setting up and eating lunch. Jasper once again brought the Big Tent and it was of course big hit. After lunch we split into 2 groups, one heading back to the rock ridge for some rock hopping and hide and seek:
Meals were had without the benefit of stoves, so a little challenging. However, no one went hungry. For dinner the adults really enjoyed the pasta salad Mr. Beckstrand assembled on the spot, but Jasper’s MRE’s with their heating packets and integral plastic mess kits were a big. Maybe not so great environmentally with all of the disposable items, but warm and good to eat nonetheless.
SM Johnson was the last to bed and was rewarded with a few brief visits from a grey fox. Silent, quick, more or less unafraid, and scouring the area for food. He missed the hanging trash bag fortunately. The motivation and persistent courage these little critters out in the wild hold never ceases to amaze me.
With no fire to keep warm by, bedtime was pretty much 8PM. A small spattering of rain at 6AM woke everyone up, with excited chatter emitting from all tents, but tents have a way of amplifying rain and it all went away after a few moments. It is a beautiful thing waking up to the pitter patter all around you, just as long as your rain fly is in good condition that is!
We were all up early, enjoying our cold breakfast and after a camp sweep to ensure we were leaving things better than we found them, we broke camp around 9AM. Stopping on the way back to the cars at a picturesque rock amphitheater, we observed scout Sunday and everyone offered up their appreciations one at a time.
A quick lunch back at the cars (Thank You Mr. Brown for the tri-tip sandwiches!) and then back to the church. As aforementioned, this trip was a great time, and we all hope to continue to do it every year!
